Customer Reviews

Grieving the Death of a Friend

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It is quite obvious to me that author Harold Ivan Smith has grieved over the loss of friends himself. "Grieving the Death of a Friend" is not just a result of Smith's role as grief counselor, researcher, or author. He willing shares with the reader his personal grief, not just over one, but over several friends who have died.

Three great strengths of Smith's book are his conversational writing style, his use of quotations from other sources, and the use of his own prose to illustrate a point. Perhaps the greatest strength of the book, however, is the structure or basic outline Smith uses in his writing: Key chapters include: The Passing, The Burying, The Mourning, The Remembering, and The Reconciling.

"Grieving the Death of a Friend" was primarily written with christian readers in mind, although elements of the jewish tradition are mentioned.

A central theme seems to jump out at the reader in Smith's book: his belief in his own eventual reunion with friends he has lost. Smith does this without any apology whatsoever.

I very much recommend this book to those who have lost friends to death. You have every right to grieve, and "Grieving the Death of a Friend" will help you through the grieving process, even if you are revisiting a loss that occurred many years ago.

When a close childhood friend of mine died several years ago, I looked far and wide for books about losing a friend, and found that most literature on grief is focused on the death of a spouse or child. Which is understandable, but not the same thing. This book was wonderful and just what I'd been looking for. Blessings.