Review of Living Forward After Loss
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ReaderAisha2020
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Review of Living Forward After Loss
[Following is a volunteer review of "Living Forward After Loss" by Kathleen Ho.]
Living Forward After Loss is written by Kathleen Ho who has experienced the grief of losing the closest person to her. She describes her husband as being her soul mate and life partner. Her relationship was one of love and closeness until a stroke changed their lives forever. After seeing him in intensive care, followed by a nursing home, she knew their lives would never be the same again. Would it have been better if he had lived? She deals with this question as well. The author, who is originally Vietnamese and immigrated to America describes the process she went through grieving and how hard it was for her to accept that he had gone. At times lonely and without purpose and at times suicidal she describes the process of grief for the reader. She also adds information for others who are grieving, or trying to support another person, such as how long the grieving process will usually take and what you can expect someone to feel or do as well as factors that help or hurt a grieving person. For example, would journaling, friends or family help in these situations? She has included a chapter for people looking to help someone grieving, which includes common things that people say or do when trying to help a grieving person, which may actually hurt them. To find out more about the grieving process and how you can help someone through it you can read the book. It is 107 pages in length and written in the first person.
What I enjoyed about the book was that it was written from the writers own experience of trauma and grief. This made it far more personal and relatable than reading a textbook of facts that have not been experienced. The writer, however, does provide suggestions and advice based on research, which helps support her ideas and experience and makes the book more factually based. Therefore, combining these two avenues makes the book more credible and valued. It was good that she shared her own feelings and perceptions on loss, and elaborated on how it changed her life, as well as the questions she began asking herself about why this may have happened to her as a good person. I was happy to read about her experiences and insights because at the present time I have been trying to help a friend grieving the loss of a relative. After reading the book, I feel that I now have a much better understanding of how to help them and what they may be thinking or feeling. For this reason I recommend the book for people trying to understand their own grieving process as well as that of others. The book was positive and uplifting and offers hope to people who may be in despair. It is good that she has managed to develop a positive outlook and rebuild her life, rather than giving up and becoming bitter.
On the more negative side, while it is commendable that she wrote the book in English, which appears not to be her first language, the book is in need of editing since I came across more than ten errors. The grammatical errors showed that the writer was not a native English speaker. I also felt the book would not really be suitable for people who have just recently lost someone. I think the part about dating and coming to a closure may hurt some people who are still grieving heavily or do not want to get on with their lives at the present time.
I would have liked to give the book 4 out of 4, however, due to the grammatical errors I can only give it 3 out of 4 stars.
The book would suit people who may have suffered a loss, and want to know more about the grieving process and what to expect, as well as others who are supporting someone grieving, whether professionally or otherwise.
I think that very sensitive people may get deeply affected by parts of the book that deal with feelings of despair and suffering. I also think that people who are heavily grieving and not ready to take any advice or hear anything related to loss should not read the book until they feel ready to do do.
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Living Forward After Loss
View: on Bookshelves
Living Forward After Loss is written by Kathleen Ho who has experienced the grief of losing the closest person to her. She describes her husband as being her soul mate and life partner. Her relationship was one of love and closeness until a stroke changed their lives forever. After seeing him in intensive care, followed by a nursing home, she knew their lives would never be the same again. Would it have been better if he had lived? She deals with this question as well. The author, who is originally Vietnamese and immigrated to America describes the process she went through grieving and how hard it was for her to accept that he had gone. At times lonely and without purpose and at times suicidal she describes the process of grief for the reader. She also adds information for others who are grieving, or trying to support another person, such as how long the grieving process will usually take and what you can expect someone to feel or do as well as factors that help or hurt a grieving person. For example, would journaling, friends or family help in these situations? She has included a chapter for people looking to help someone grieving, which includes common things that people say or do when trying to help a grieving person, which may actually hurt them. To find out more about the grieving process and how you can help someone through it you can read the book. It is 107 pages in length and written in the first person.
What I enjoyed about the book was that it was written from the writers own experience of trauma and grief. This made it far more personal and relatable than reading a textbook of facts that have not been experienced. The writer, however, does provide suggestions and advice based on research, which helps support her ideas and experience and makes the book more factually based. Therefore, combining these two avenues makes the book more credible and valued. It was good that she shared her own feelings and perceptions on loss, and elaborated on how it changed her life, as well as the questions she began asking herself about why this may have happened to her as a good person. I was happy to read about her experiences and insights because at the present time I have been trying to help a friend grieving the loss of a relative. After reading the book, I feel that I now have a much better understanding of how to help them and what they may be thinking or feeling. For this reason I recommend the book for people trying to understand their own grieving process as well as that of others. The book was positive and uplifting and offers hope to people who may be in despair. It is good that she has managed to develop a positive outlook and rebuild her life, rather than giving up and becoming bitter.
On the more negative side, while it is commendable that she wrote the book in English, which appears not to be her first language, the book is in need of editing since I came across more than ten errors. The grammatical errors showed that the writer was not a native English speaker. I also felt the book would not really be suitable for people who have just recently lost someone. I think the part about dating and coming to a closure may hurt some people who are still grieving heavily or do not want to get on with their lives at the present time.
I would have liked to give the book 4 out of 4, however, due to the grammatical errors I can only give it 3 out of 4 stars.
The book would suit people who may have suffered a loss, and want to know more about the grieving process and what to expect, as well as others who are supporting someone grieving, whether professionally or otherwise.
I think that very sensitive people may get deeply affected by parts of the book that deal with feelings of despair and suffering. I also think that people who are heavily grieving and not ready to take any advice or hear anything related to loss should not read the book until they feel ready to do do.
******
Living Forward After Loss
View: on Bookshelves
