A Grief Observed and Discussed

C.S. Lewis' writing in "A Grief Observed" is very raw. Some thoughts seem to pop up out of nowhere as he journals his thoughts and handles the loss of his wife. It reminds me of how I journal, and as things come into my head I write them down. In this book, C.S. Lewis is baring his grief through writing.

In the beginning of this book, I felt that C.S. Lewis was relatable to Sanjeev from "This Blessed House." Lewis says that, "[l]ove is not the whole of a man's life. I was happy before I ever met H." (4). Lewis is stating that he was living life just fine before he loved H. He had a life before and things that he enjoyed that occupied his time. This reminded me of Sanjeev because it is mentioned in "This Blessed House" as Sanjeev reflects about college, how he was quite fond of walking across the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge, going to his favorite Indian restaurant and then writing out his homework again (138). As he reminisces about this period in his life, we can gather that Sanjeev rather enjoyed that period. Sanjeev had a life before Twinkle came in and they got married. He was a successful man, now trying to figure out love, just like Lewis.

As I continued to read through the text, I was reminded of another previously read piece: Raymond Carver's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love." In the two chapters I read, I felt that this expression of Lewis' grief and grieving process could have been renamed to "What We Talk About When We Talk About Grief." In Carver's short story, four friends are discussing the topic of love, the different kinds and the truest examples. Lewis is writing from his heart and talking with himself about what he is feeling during this grieving process. He is talking about his feelings and grieving in his own way. He is just being honest about his sadness, anger, doubts and confusion about life without his wife. We all mourn in different ways, but I am sure that all of us face the similar doubts, anger, sadness and confusion that Lewis is letting us see as he works through this tragedy in his life.

No one really likes to watch as people mourn another person. It's sad when another person, especially someone you are well acquainted with, passes away. There is hurt and frustration to be dealt with at times. As I read this piece by Lewis, I cannot empathize with his loss, but only sympathize, which still makes me sad. I can't imagine his thoughts, even though he writes down a portion of them. He contemplates his trust in God, many times about whether God is good or not, or whether He is there in our times of crisis. There are so many emotions that are overwhelming him. He's not the same since H. died. For those reading this book who have lost loved ones, I am sure that they can relate better to these kinds of feelings and work through the grieving process with C.S. Lewis in this piece of literature.
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