LACHESIS’ ALLOTMENT
Diana R. A. Morris
Diana Morris (2018)
ISBN 9781732002210
Reviewed by Skyler Boudreau for Reader Views (7/18)
“Lachesis’ Allotment” is a collection of fifteen essays written by Diana Morris. These essays are placed between sections of “Transient Bonds,” a screenplay also by Morris.
The essays are short musings on different topics. From the author’s reflection on James Cameron’s movie “Avatar” in “Patience and Self-Assurance 101- A Master Class with James Cameron,” to a discussion on really getting to know her parents in, “Getting on a First Name Basis with My Parents,” Morris has a lot to say. Each piece is so short and satisfying that the readers will easily find themselves binge-reading it all in a single sitting.
One essay that particularly struck me was the second one. In “No [Person] Is an Island,” Morris examines the different expectations in a friendship. She sums the observation up neatly in a single quote near the middle, “the people who I spent so much mental and emotional energy on never met the expectations I had for them, and they never accepted what I so desperately wanted to give” (Morris 16).
This is a sentiment that carries through in the short screenplay woven between the essays. Two old friends who have fallen out of contact reunite after one reaches out to the other. They discuss the reasons they stopped talking and, while they enjoy the brief time they spend together wandering the city, as their day ends, they decide not to see each other again.
That topic hits home with a lot of people. Humans are social creatures, but all of them approach social situations differently. It can be hard for them to move on from relationships they aren’t benefitting from purely because of a comfort in the familiar. Seeing someone else go through the same thing, even just in writing, can help them look at the way they interact with their friends and family in a completely new light.
“Lachesis’ Allotment” is a series of large insights packed into bite-sized essays. After finishing the book, I found myself reflecting on my own life experiences. Morris’ humble self-reflection bleeds across the page and pulls a similar feeling out of the reader. Reading “Lachesis’ Allotment” by Diana Morris is an experience all in its own.
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