On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross deserves to be remembered because her life and work have made this world a better place. On Grief and Grieving is a heartfelt tribute to all who have lost a loved one, from a woman who changed our lives by changing our relationship to death and dying. What a wonderful book Elisabeth and David have written."

-- Caroline Myss --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Review

"Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross left us one last gift, and it's a masterpiece. Having illumined the subject of death, she has now illumined the subject of grief. She and grief expert David Kessler have written a modern classic, the kind of book that all of us will want to keep on our bookshelves because we know it speaks to our deepest hearts."

-- Marianne Williamson

"Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross deserves to be remembered because her life and work have made this world a better place. On Grief and Grieving is a heartfelt tribute to all who have lost a loved one, from a woman who changed our lives by changing our relationship to death and dying. What a wonderful book Elisabeth and David have written."

-- Caroline Myss

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; 1 edition (July 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743266285
• ISBN-13: 978-0743266284
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #169,924 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very worthwhile read for those who grieve, October 14, 2005

By	Stephanie Manley (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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So often when we grieve people who have not experienced similar losses try to offer us suggestions of why the death made sense, why we shouldn't feel so bad, and that we should get over grieving and just move on with our lives. While sometimes those suggestions are good, and worthwhile, often we look back at others and think, you could not know how I feel. This book does a wonderful job of exploring the flood of emotions you feel after you lose someone.

This book goes through in depth the stages of grieving and the misconnecptions that we may have about those stages. For example, acceptance does not mean, we are ok, and moving on without our loved one. In reality, it is knowing they have passed away and adjusting our lives around that loss, and guess what, you don't have to like moving on. I like how this book helps you explore the palette of grief that we all have with the deaths of loved ones.

I honestly found myself weeping and remembering the deaths of my loved ones that I had recently lost. It was refreshing to read that the depth of the loss of my loved ones was normal, healthy, and even healing. I liked that in the forward the author felt that if he didn't lose sleep over writing the book, you would never lose sleep when reading the book. I can't recommmend this book enough for those who have lost loved ones. This book is a real blessing in the healing process of the death of a loved one.

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As a widower for ten years, this book the best yet, October 10, 2005

By	Paul D. Harvill (Tallahassee, FL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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As a widower for ten years, this book is the best yet on the grief and grieving process. Good practical information. Not an academic type of publication. I have read many such books since my spouse died.

Another excellent book is C.S. Lewis' "A Grief Observed".

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Miss the Wisdom of this Book on Grief and Grieving!!, November 23, 2005

By	Bob Hoff (Carlsbad, NM) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief through the Five Stages of Loss by Elizabeth Kubler Ross and David Kessler is a must-read book, a compelling page-turner for me, that provides profound insights into the necessity that we must properly grieve the passing of our loved ones.

As pointed out by the authors, the grieving process is not instinctual for us; it requires learning. It is particularly important that as adults that we don't forget to teach our young about grieving, for if a child doesn't grieve in an appropriate way for him or her, that repressed grief may surface years later, a phenomenon that sometimes happens to adults as well.

The book is very humane and compassionate and "teaches with short, clear and concrete stories" that analyze some of the many possible surrounding circumstances that others have faced in losing loved ones. Potentially, we and the people we know could face such circumstances as well. In addition, with these stories, the authors provide relevant and insightful advice and the reasons for that advice.

The authors state that, "if you do not take the time to grieve, you cannot find a future in which loss is remembered and honored without pain." They remind us that we will never forget our loss of a loved one and that we will never be the same; they also remind us that we can learn, when our own individual timetable suggests, that it may be possible to find "renewed meaning" in our lives. This renewed meaning will continue to include, "loving memories and honor for those we have lost."

I highly recommend that you read this book and that you give it to others, as personal circumstances "dictate." Kubler Ross is a legend in the field of grief counseling (she passed away within the last year) and Kessler brings remarkable humanitarian credentials of his own to the writing task. Their combined efforts results in producing a highly readable, compassionate, insightful, and useful book, nothing short of superb.