After my review of Kinder
Than Solitude a week ago, I mentioned author David Bezmozgis, and decided to
put my money where my mouth was and read is collection of short stories titled
Natasha. I was expecting something bad, but what I got was kind of okay if I
may say so. It may not come near being great, but I have definitely read worse
collections than this. If I can do a little positive/negative comparisons, it
is a very short book that you can finish in a day, and if you are interested in
different cultures, there is a lot to chew on here. And Bezmozgis is good
writer with many unique ideas. But I felt he was trying to control those ideas
too much, not letting them guide the story instead, which would lead to a
tighter, more focused story, because he doesn’t do that, a lot of these stories
felt very derivative. None of them really stand out, there is one called Tapka
that opens the collection, that is about the narrators dog that is funny at points
but ultimately falls flat, and the title story, about the narrator’s
relationship with a cousin-by-marriage that turns sour rather quickly, that
came closets to connecting with me. Bezmozgis doesn’t really have a handle on
the short story format, or at least one that interests me at all. For example,
he has two stories in here about his father, the most interesting character,
where he tries to open up a massage parlor and win a weightlifting competition.
These scenarios are ripe for interesting narrative turns, even cheap ones, but
Bezmozgis seems more interested in tired tropes of old Jewish writers such as
Malamud or Roth, who are both favorites, but I’m expecting something different
from a new crop of young writers, and this isn’t it.
Rating: 3/5
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