Natasha by David Bezmozgis

Toronto, 1980's.

I'll concede that there are some good Canadian authors out there but when it comes to short stories, if your name isn't Alice Munro or Margaret Atwood, you probably haven't heard of them. Perosnally, I think Austin Clarke is a supremely underrated short-fiction writer and David Bezmozgis might be another author worth considering. His short-story Natasha is a quirky coming of age story about Jewish-Canadian immigrant experience during the 1980s. He writes with empathy and crafts flawed characters who feel achingly real. He does not shy away from their weaknesses, missteps, or contradictions; rather, he embraces them with honesty and a wry sense of humor. Being set in Toronto also gets some bonus points from me. It is taken from Jeffrey Eugenides' anthology My Mistress's Sparrow Is Dead: Great Love Stories, from Chekhov to Munro.

Natasha begins with an epigraph from Heraclitus: "It is the opposite which is good to us". This terse aphorism of opposites reflects the central tensions in the story —contrasts between past and present, innocence and experience, tradition and change. The idea suggests that growth and meaning come through contradictions and oppositions, which is exactly what the unnamed 16 year old Jewish narrator experiences in the story. He feels frustrated and stuck in a humdrum life. Feeling isolated and disconnected from others, he spends most of his time in his parent's basement smoking weed and choking the chicken.

Funny enough, at the same time, I couldn't help but think of the hilarious Seinfeld episode "The Opposite" where George Constanza attempts to transform his stagnant life by doing the opposite:

Jerry Seinfeld: If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right. 

George Costanza: Yes, I will do the opposite. I used to sit here and do nothing, and regret it for the rest of the day, so now I will do the opposite, and I will do something!

I doubt Bezmozgis had this episode in mind when writing this story, but this transformation through opposites becomes even more pronounced during his sexual awakening after meeting Natasha, the daughter of his uncle's new wife from Russia. His relationship with the teenage girl, who is more worldly, sexually experienced, and emotionally complex, challenges his perception of relationships and becomes the catalyst for coming out of his shell. The discomfort and disillusionment he experiences ultimately shape his identity.

Moreover, the narrator's family represents the respectable and disciplined immigrant experience seeking stability in Canada. In contrast, Natasha, arrives with a troubled past and different perspective on survival and self-reinvention. Their contrasting backgrounds highlight how opposite experiences define and challenge each other. His romanticized idea of her turns into disappointment and emotional pain, but it’s precisely through this loss that he matures. The relationship, though painful, is what propels him into a deeper understanding of himself and the complexities of adulthood.

One minor quibble is that the story sometimes takes a few too many scenic detours, meandering through side plots that occasionally slow down the momentum. A tighter, more focused narrative might have made for a sharper, more engaging experience. But hey, that’s just my take and maybe those tangents are exactly what some readers will enjoy most. 

Ultimately, the story embodies Heraclitus’ idea by showing how opposites (love and loss, control and chaos, innocence and experience) are not just in conflict but essential to personal growth.