Natasha: And Other Stories

David Bezmozgis astutely describes the immigrant experience in this book of short stories linked through the same characters. The author's personal experiences, which parallel those of his characters, enable him to descriptively write scenes which come alive and appear real. As a Toronto secondary school teacher who has worked with Russian immigrant students, I recognize realistic scenarios in his stories and feel he has accurately portrayed the lives of these immigrants. A thoroughly enjoyable read!

Despite the obvious fact that his stories are concerned with the experience of Russian diasapora, it is still rather disheartening to read little but reviews and comments reflecting on this fact. I am not a first generation immigrant to Canada, and am not Russian. That is not to say that I am not intersted in the experience of a Russian immigrant, just the opposite, I am very interested, I merely make no claims to be able to critique the 'authenticity' of the work. I do, however, spend much of my time reading and studying literature, and feel reasonably confident in my view that this is an incredibly solid and praise-worthy work of literature. Bezmozgis' minimal and eloquent style, the elusive and almost absent character of Mark, his unpretentious and never excessive stylistic quirks, and his lucid portrayals of childhood sexuality all indicate that his text is one which will stand the test of time. More importantly, it is a text which, in the now, has deep emotional resonance. One could, of course, read Joyce's "Dubliners" as merely a collection of Irish short stories written from exile in Trieste, and reflect on the validity, or 'Irishness' of their portraits. This type of reading might, however, drain the pure beauty out of a work as refined and touching as "The Dead". Likewise, whether or not Bezmozgis has the right to portray the diasapora (of which he is, it has to be said, a member of, with a vaild voice) in the way he does, his writing, outside time and place, is justification enough. Regardless of their authenticity, and regardless of their 'position' in culture, I will never forget these stories' striking relevance to my, completely unrelated, life.

In David Bezmozgis' book "Natasha and other stories" I expected to find a well written collection of short stories on different topics. But what I found had much more impact. With a style that won't let the reader go, the author moves through the life of Mark Berman, a Russian Immigrant to Canada in 1980. The stories are extremely autobiographical in character, although the author never states that outright. Each story, in addition to being on a different topic, follows Mark through the ages of 6 to 16, and then two adult experience based stories after the title story "Natasha." The book is extraordinary in its ability to capture immense and incisive amounts of sensitive information about the characters, and convey it in an almost irresistable style, as he ambles through the very complex integration of a 6 year old Russian immigrant to the democratic environment of Canada and North America in general. "Natasha," the title story really does capture the reader, as it is so illustrative of what we enjoy in North America, and how truly undesirable or worse it is to live in some parts of the world, but so many live in conditions that we in North America just take for granted. We need to be reminded of what we have, rather than what we do not have all the time. This book does an acutely prestigous job of elucidating this concept. As the author's first book, it appears to be a great one. This author shows tremendous promise, and did something unique, and yet familiar. He used his own experiences, to write his first book, but he created a piece with a new character, than almost any other book of short stories I have previously read. However he did it, this book is not to be missed. It is truly worth anyone's time to invest in reading this fast reading and intimate yet important piece of literature.

Despite what the condescending, semi-literate "Reader from Texas" (hereafter "RfT") says below ("This collection have left this reader disappointed and bored"), this is a wonderful first collection. As someone who has read all the writers that RfT claims Bezmozgis has not, I've got to say, in the interest of proportion and fairness, that Bezmozgis is adding to the tradition he knows well and for which he clearly has affection. Given that RfT seems to be a Russian immigrant himself ("Russian Jewish immigrant experience is much more complex, nuanced and universal") and that he seems to know that Bezmozgis has, in his youth, made award-winning documentaries ("Life is not a documentary), what we have below is a classic case of sour grapes--launched from behind the inviolate walls of the web. RfT should immerse himself in anger management classes led by responsible professionals before attempting another book review.Everyone else should read NATASHA: you'll enjoy it.

This first book of author, representing another wave of Jewish emigration to this country is very encouraging, as with each wave English literature was gaining a lot. I completely agree with those putting David Bezmosgis in line with B. Malamud. For those knowledgeable in Russian Jewish Literature Mr. Bezmosgis stories will remind some of Isaak Babel and Victor Dragunsky. As one of the "Natasha's" heroes puts it - "I don't know shall I cry or laugh". I've cried.