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  • A Grief Observed

  • By: C. S. Lewis
  • Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
  • Length: 1 hr and 50 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (282 ratings)
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A Grief Observed cover art

A Grief Observed

By: C. S. Lewis
Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
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Summary

Written after his wife's tragic death as a way of surviving the "mad midnight moments", A Grief Observed is C.S. Lewis's honest reflection on the fundamental issues of life, death, and faith in the midst of loss. This work contains his concise, genuine reflections on that period: "Nothing will shake a man, or at any rate a man like me, out of his merely verbal thinking and his merely notional beliefs. He has to be knocked silly before he comes to his senses. Only torture will bring out the truth. Only under torture does he discover it himself."

This is a beautiful and unflinchingly honest record of how even a stalwart believer can lose all sense of meaning in the universe, and how he can gradually regain his bearings.
Click here to see all the C. S. Lewis titles in our collection.
©1961 C.S. Lewis Pte., Ltd. (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks
Death & Dying Grief & Loss Relationships Christian Living Religious Studies Spirituality
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Critic reviews

"A very personal, anguished, luminous little book about the meaning of death, marriage, and religion." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about A Grief Observed

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Reflective listening

CS Lewis can be difficult to read, it helped hearing it spoken out loud!

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Beautiful and an outstanding performance

I have listened to this over and over. It is so moving. And Ralph Cosham is outstanding.

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Profile Image for Rosie

A personal account

Excellent observation of thoughts, feelings & pain. No one writes like CS Lewis. Thoughtful & often painful to listen to.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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My review

Mind Blown. This makes sense to me. This Book speaks to my soul.
Thank You

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Profile Image for Amazon Customer

Great short performance of an interesting book

it was a little weird to hear the Oblivion NPC coming out of my speakers at first, but the narrator does a great job. it's pretty heartbreaking to hear everything Lewis went through writing this, and as it's free in the plus catalogue I'd recommend it unless you have some very raw bereavement issues of your own to deal with and think it may trigger you.

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Profile Image for Rosetta Edmonds

Makes me feel like I'm not alone in this

It's like Lewis put all of my thoughts into one little cohesive and intelligible book. I'm so glad I'm not the only one who has thought this way and I'm grateful that God gifted Lewis in such a beautiful way

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Profile Image for MRS D

Wow

Should be called a torture observed. For a brief chapter in his life he felt whole, validated, connected and loved. The saying better to have loved and lost rings very true.

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Profile Image for Dr Andrew M Long

Deep and thoughtful

I listened to this walking the Camino de Santiago. I found it profoundly moving and deeply thought-provoking and has certainly lasted with time. Not for ‘light relief’

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Profile Image for Racheal sanni

Scarily accurate; how comforting

No author has ever been so scarily able to enter my mind and articulate my feelings on the pain of loss.

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Profile Image for Amazon Customer

Fabulous read during a time of pain

Read this whilst not facing grief but a real sense of loss. Encouraging during this time for me

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