In order to avoid identification as the author, Lewis published the book under the pseudonym N.W. Clerk, referring to his wife throughout as "H" (her first name being Helen). The book consists of the contents of four MS. books (or notebooks) in which Lewis expounds on his grief, from the everyday difficulties of his life without Joy to deep-set questions of faith. It is interesting to note that the title is A Grief Observed, not simply "Grief Observed." The article a serves to make it clear that Lewis' is not the quintessential grief experience at the loss of a loved one, but one individual perspective among countless others. A pseudonym (Greek: false name) is a fictitious name used by an individual as an alternative to his or her legal name. ... N.W. Clerk was the pseudonym adopted by C.S. Lewis when he first published A Grief Observed, his reflections after losing his wife, in 1961. ... A funeral in Sarajevo, in 1992-1993. ... The word faith has various uses; its central meaning is similar to belief, trust or confidence, but unlike these terms, faith tends to imply a transpersonal rather than interpersonal relationship – with God or a higher power. ...
Grief is a normal inner experience that follows bereavement and in most cases is overcome with time.
Lewis found that his grief overwhelmed his religious convictions; they were not able to assuage his pain even though he prayed for relief.
A period of intense grief, lasting from a few weeks to several months, when the bereaved are unable to control their feelings, sometimes crying without ceasing for hours at a time, when a strong effort just to carry on with life is essential
Fenichel (1945) observed that grief is at first experienced only in very small doses; if it were released full-strength, the subject would feel overwhelming despair.
Grief is the thwarting and deadening of desire and very much resembles depression; in fact, many depressions are precipitated by losses (Klerman, 1981).
Thus, narcissism too could be subsumed under the heading of grief, and the larger suggestion arises with perhaps greater force: there is something profoundly wrong, something at the heart of all this sorrow, however much it is commonly labelled under various separate categories.
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