Skip to main content
Digital Audiobook
A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis

Listen to a sample

00:00
00:00

A Grief Observed

Narrator
Ralph Cosham
Publisher
Blackstone Publishing
Publish Date
1 January 2006
Run Time
1 hour 52 minutes
Format
Audiobook
Rating
4.0 (1 review)
$13.95

Log in to see your price

Gift

What to expect

Written after his wife’s tragic death as a way of surviving the “mad midnight moments,” A Grief Observed is C. S. Lewis’ 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.

Critics Review

  • “Reading A Grief Observed is to share not only in C. S. Lewis’ grief, but in his understanding of love, and that is richness indeed.”

    Madeline L’Engle, from the foreword

  • “[A Grief Observed] 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.”

    Michael Joseph Gross

  • “A very personal, anguished, luminous little book about the meaning of death, marriage, and religion.”

    Publishers Weekly

  • “Grief exhibits Lewis’ ability to capture the ear…Ralph Cosham gives a fluid and evenhanded reading to this soul-baring expose of emotion itself and the man who wrote about it.”

    AudioFile

User Reviews

Book 4.0

Narration 5.0

  • 4.0 5.0

    Very moving, personal account of his grief after his wife died.

    SunshineRain 2025-06-02

Details

Author
C. S. Lewis
Narrator
Ralph Cosham
Duration
1 hour 52 minutes
Release Date
1 January 2006
ISBN
9781481538077
Format
Audiobook
Publisher
Blackstone Publishing
Genre
Biography: religious and spiritual, Coping with death and bereavement, Christian life and practice, Relationships and families: advice and issues, Christianity, The arts: general issues
Rating
4.0(1 review)
Narration
5.0(1 review)

Synopsis

Written after his wife’s tragic death as a way of surviving the “mad midnight moments,” A Grief Observed is C. S. Lewis’ 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.

About xigxag

xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK's only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.

There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at $13.95. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from $7.95. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.

Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.

Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.