Customer Reviews

On Grieving the Death of a Father

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am 27 years old and my father passed away in March at the age of 52. He died very unexpectedly. I really enjoyed the style of this book, but the personal stories seemed a little out of date for a younger person and also for a daughter. I would suggest this for a male in his middle life, whose father died as an older man. That seems to be the main focus of this book, as that was the author's experience.

This book helped me in the most difficult time of my life. When my father passed away I was looking for a lot of answers to many questions and this book helped me in that regard. I have bought this book seven times because I keep giving it out when someone close to me loses their father. Everyone seems to get a lot out of it. For those who have just lost their father my heart goes out to you because you now know the feelings that come with such a loss and I hope reading this book helps. God Bless

I recently lost my father to lung cancer on March 5, 2000. He was only 57. This book helped me to feel closer to him even though I believe he is in heaven and no longer here on earth. It includes examples of other people who have lost their fathers and how they dealt with their losses. The author also includes numerous bible verses and quotes to comfort the reader. A very easy read that I recommend for quiet time and reflection.

I lost my father very suddenly two months ago. For a seemingly healthy man to go like that, I was devastated.As a nurse it was even harder to accept than it was as a daughter. My husband brought this book to me about a week after his death,along with another equally helpful book. For some reason I found myself coming back to this one to read over and over. I sent copies to both of my siblings. To say that this book brought me peace would be the best way to describe my feeling whenever I started to read it. Thank you for putting my feelings into words to help me cope as well as validate the emotional rollercoaster that I am still riding.

I found this book about a year after my Dad died and wish I'd found it sooner. I am buying it for all of my siblings.

The book is in 5 parts - The Passing, The Burying, The Mourning, The Remembering, From Now Till Eternity. Each part begins with the author's recollections of his experiences and thoughts following his father's death, then recollections of others, then quotations, scriptures and hymns to comfort.

Anyone who needs to feel they are not alone in this process will surely appreciate this book. So many passages hit home directly. It was hard to read this in public, though, as it brought me to tears so many times.

I would higly recommend it to anyone who has lost or is in the process of losing a father.

My father died in 1992, I had many thoughts and feeling that I still had not dealt with when I found Harold Ivan Smith's book on grief. As I read the book it comforted me and let me know that I was not alone in what I was feeling, that many others had felt the same way and that I would be able to get through and survive. No matter how or when your father died or what kind of relationship you had with him, in my opinion this book can help you. I am buying several copies of it now, to give to a friend, who's husband has just died and she doesn't know how to help her children. This book will help her.

It was comforting to read how someone else felt when their father died. I was not alone. My grief was not strange, and I found hope that it would not always hurt as much as it did in the recent weeks and months after my father died. I bought this book for a friend of mine whose father just died, hoping it will help him as much as it did me. I will always miss my father, but this book confirmed that I am not alone. There is comfort in knowing so many others feel what I've felt and understand.

This book is not a manual on how to grieve, it simply allows you feel those emotions that sometimes are too overwhelming to feel. There are moments in the book that took my breath away because they so chillingly and beautifully captured a simple feeling or emotion at a particular time after my father's death. It was both a very comforting and emotionally challenging read.

I recieved a message from Amazon that based on my buying history that I might be interested in "On Grieving the Death of a Father."

This book is very comforting. Smith expresses many of the feelings that I couldn't put into words. Death is such an inconnected part of life--there's no escaping it.

Smith is an excellent writer...he makes you feel what he feels.

If you've experienced a loss, you should read this book.

Also recommended: "Christmas Gifts, Christmas Voices" by John Allen. Don't let the title fool you. This is so much more than a Christmas book. It chronicles one man's journey from greif to comfort. It shows how losing yourself in service and thinking of others ultimately leads to personal healing and peace.

Also: "I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye" by Brook Noel. Reading this book is like having a heartfelt conversation with a caring friend.

Having been a grief educator and serving with hopisce for years, I found this book to be basic. Loosing my father to suicide recently, I have taken on reading as self help through the grief work I'm doing. I had high expectations on this book, but found it lacking on many levles. Tender topics were touched, but not expounded on thoroughly. It could have been much deeper and specific to parental loss. For a 5 star book on coping with the loss of the suicide of a loved one or friend, I strongly recommend the author Hsu. No one single book will speak to everyone, and all I can say is that "On Grieving the Death of a Father" was a waste of funds, time and emotional energy for me.