Lorrie Moore.
1985.
Self-Help is the compilation of nine short stories of which delve into a range of themes from lovers, loss, pleasure, suicide, health and family, to name a few.
Initially, I could not get into this book at all, I couldn't connect and although I was primarily very invested in the book, it just wasn't doing it for me. After leaving and coming back to this book numerous times I finally saw the light.
I have never read a more beautifully written and captivating book in my entire life. Lorrie Moore's' words were like poetry and I learnt so much from reading so little.
The extent to which Lorrie Moore can metaphor, is unfathomable. Her use of vocabulary is also astounding. I learnt so many new words that were just so simple yet so meaningful and for that I am very grateful.
I feel like I heard about Self-Help when looking at a list of 'books to read before you're 20'. This is exactly how I feel. It's definitely a book one should read in their late teens to early twenties as you can fully relate to the events the author writes about and the depth and significance of something to you at that point in life.
The thing about Self-Help that bothered me and made it genuinely hard for me to read, was that when you finally get into one story you are amazed by it and are fully blown away, when you finish that story you feel like you need to read to more because you just can't stop. When you go into the next story however, because you haven't stopped reading you (or at least for me) forget that this is a whole new story and not just a different chapter and there are entirely different characters that you have to meet and remember.
Each story was both completely unique yet felt similar. Imagine a film where the lives of six strangers intertwine without them even knowing and that is how this book goes, although their paths never actually cross.
Not only did the story and the scenarios feel strangely familiar but you also feel as if you are in the story and the person that has these problems is you. It's very home-hitting, realistic and relatable which it makes it such a good read because you feel as if it's personal and someone is writing your life or an advice letter to you.
What stuck out to me the most about this book, besides the prodigious language in which it is written, is the fact that this book was written in 1985. Perhaps that's a number that feels a lot father away to me, as I was born in 1995 and anything that isn't in 2000's seems ancient. All of that aside, the book is extremely modern and is written extremely ahead of it's time. I feel like it's definitely a book that has and will continue to transfer well throughout the years and won't die out.
Something I liked most about the way these stories were written, is the fact that they weren't necessary in a linear format and that they kind of just dropped you into the middle of the world. You don't know much and you don't need to. You're free to imagine the past and present and to an extent, even what you are being told.
I read a GoodReads review in which someone had said 'you read Lorrie Moore because your own writing is often compared to hers' which is exactly true. You do feel very connected to her writing in this way and it does feel like something inside of you has written this without realising.
After reading this Lorrie Moore has definitely become an inspiration and icon to me. Her words affected me in numerous ways and although, yes, her writing was very simple, her use of metaphors and vocabulary definitely pulled it right to the top. Self-Help has left me wanting to read all of Lorrie Moores work and slightly wanting to make short films based around certain stories from this book. I highly recommend you read this book and to take a break when going from story to story.
