Customer Reviews

Natasha: And Other Stories

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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!

This is a brilliant piece of work. All of the stories in Natasha and Other Stories are connected and narrated by the son of a Russian-Jewish family from 1970s Toronto. The stories of their struggles with wanting a new life. The language is sharp and evocative -- the descriptions vivid and beautiful. And the stories are thought provoking and poignant. My favorite stories are "The Strongest Man" and "Minyan." Reading about this family gave me the impression that David Bezmozgi was writing about his own experiences. It doesn't matter, for this is a brilliant short-story collection that I read in one sitting. I wish I had taken longer to read it and savored the experience. Natasha is going to my re-read pile. I cannot recommend this book enough...

I read this book for a sort of a side-by-side with Lara Vapnyar's There Are Jews at My House. Bezmozgis profits from a mostly-American (Canadian) upbringing--which reflects both in his experiences and style. Stylistically, the stories are fairly onventional, not paving any new ground (there are some hints of a Joyceian progression at the beginning of the story, with a child narrator).

Natasha is a chronological collection of stories about the Berman family through the eyes of Mark, its young protagonist and narrator. Bezmozgis manages to provide a digest familiar to most Soviet--and especially Jewish--immigrants. The stories capture the most common struggles of immigration: coming to grips with loneliness; salvaging your pride after shedding a lifetime of hard work, achievement, and standing behind; as well as some patently American experiences--such as a sexual and hallucinogenic coming of age in the suburbs.

Some of the stories address old age and the Holocaust, but the author mostly veers away from trite sentimentality. Natasha is not a perfect book about Soviet immigrants: despite threading his stories, Bezmozgis' saga feels somewhat unfocused in parts. There is not enough intimacy between author and reader. While there is a sprinkling of humor, it is also sometimes lacking. I was not surprised to find out that Bezmozgis is primarily a filmmaker. His stories could probably be adapted for plays and screenplays. In the meantime, he shows literary promise as well.

Short stories are hard, for me at least. There has got to be something about a collection that keeps me reading on after finishing one story. Natasha is one of those collections that has several "things" that keep me reading. First, the writing is excellent. Bezmozgis has one description right in the first story of spring ariving. The description is brief but at the same time incredibly evocative. With that, he had me hooked. The stories are interesting, particularly in light of the fact that they concern one family and have the same narrator--a young boy who emigrated with his family from Latvia to Canada in the late 70s. Their early struggles and later successes are captured quite beautifully in these stories. Natasha is not a imposing collection; it is a brief, enjoyable read--about 145 pages of well-written, compelling stories.

I was not impressed with the book. Characters are rather represented by two-dimensional shadows. Although I support and even extend the idea of one of the readers. The Encyclopedia of Emigration, where people would describe their experiences, both sad and funny is overdue. My rating of this book is sadly based on the ruined high expectations because I am from Riga, Latvia too. I don't feel that the author has something to say in the future either. Hope that I will be proven wrong.

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.

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.

In these interconnected short stories about Soviet Jewish immigrants in Toronto in the 1980s, Bezmozgis is perhaps less cynical than the early Philip Roth and more measured than Lenny Bruce, both of them raconteurs of the Jewish experience to whom he has been compared. His recollections of his experience (if that is what they are) are precisely delineated, and his characters -- especially the mother and father, trying to make their way in an alien society -- ring true. The title story is the most memorable. It evokes the seamier side of '80s suburban life and of '80s life in Russia in the downfall of an empire. I highly recommend this collection. Its literary prizes are well deserved.

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!