Off! the Shelf

For the Relief of Unbearable Urges

by Nathan Englander

Reviewed by David M. Taylor

From a writer in Stalinist Russia during World War II to a grief-stricken husband in present-day Israel, Nathan Englander lets us study the tortures and struggles that we all must endure in our lives. Location and dislocation are central to Englander's brilliant debut collection, For the Relief of Unbearable Urges, and despite the impressive range of settings and situations, these, nine stories all fall within the terrain of Orthodox and Hasidic life. Englander focuses on the tensions between his characters, their communal responsibilities, and the spiritual and moral universe in which they move. Through each story, Englander presents ideas for us to interpret. His stories will leave us with a smile-frown, or even a tear. But they will always leave us astonished, wondering about ourselves, the world, and how we really feel about life.

In the "27th Man," which is one of the better-written stories, Englander shows us many facets of the human condition, from meeting our idols to being executed because of fear. Under Stalin's orders, twenty-six of the greatest Jewish writers in Russia are sent to a prison camp to be executed. A clerical error winds Pinchas Pelovits, a solitary, unknown writer, in the prison with his idols. Englander takes us into the world of Pinchas and shows us the basic qualities that we strive for yet seem to overlook throughout time. The clerical error marks Pinchas' death and, at the same time, his life. Through his mini-masterpiece that captivates his listeners, and readers, Pinchas reminds us of how innocent we should, and need to, be in order to survive in the world--and how cynical, afraid, and ashamed we are at the same time. However, Pinchas, through his Kafka-esque story, shows us ourselves by telling a tale of a man who thinks the world has ended. The opening lines leave us hooked and the ending leaves us wondering: The morning that Mendel Muskatev awoke to find his desk was gone, his room was gone, and the sun was gone, he assumed he had died. This worried him, so he said the prayer for the dead, keeping himself in mind. Then he wondered if one was allowed to do such a thing, and worried instead that the first thing he had done upon being dead was sin...

In "Reunion," Englander moves away from World War II to modern-day Brooklyn. He takes us to a mental hospital, where Marty is our protagonist. While working, Marty treats a patient by the name of John Doe. Through their conversations, Marty tells Doe about his marital problems, explaining the struggles he must face with his wife and how she left him. Later, Marty learns that Doe is his rabbi's wandering bum for a brother. Through a reunion, all four meet for what is to be a Kodak moment.

Englander shows that not only do we struggle with the outside world, but we also struggle with the reality within ourselves. For everything Marty does wrong, he feels that his rabbi will win his wife over for him, by speaking of the "proper Jewish family." However, Englander not only shows the struggle between family and ourselves, but how we can be self-absorbed and not notice what is happening around us.

Another aspect Englander deals with is that we find crutches to make our lives easier to deal with. Some people find this with drugs, others with alcohol, and some with gambling. However, keeping with Englander's tradition, he symbolizes the crutch by the Rabbi. After finishing the story, we are left with a small, silent pause. Then the meaning rushes into our bodies, and we cannot help but shudder at the impact.

Englander not only deals with how we view outward appearance, but in "The Wig," he asks to what length do we go for vanity and self-pleasure. Ruchama, a wig-shop owner, deals with these questions everyday. However, one day, she must decide for herself. With this carefree yet sad tone, we see that her story is not necessarily about vanity, but about what we are willing to give up to obtain our goals that make us "free." What are we willing to do to reach our goal? And what will happen to us when we meet our consequences? Through this story, we are able to see what Ruchama does, and, as always, we are left to still struggle with the question for ourselves.

In "For the Relief of Unbearable Urges," the collection's title story, we are shown Dov Binyamin, the religious protagonist. He receives an improbable dispensation from his rabbi to visit a prostitute in an effort to save his marriage. Through this funny yet serious story, we are shown how even good-intended decisions can strongly, and badly, effect a person externally and internally. As with all of us, Dov must deal with the choices that he makes. Even though this story has strong religious undertones, it is not really about religion or God. This story is much more simple and complex. It is about regret, the choices we must make in our lives, and the consequences that come with each of our actions. Whether or not we mean well with our decisions, Englander poses the age-old question "do the means justify the end?"

Englander leaves Dov tortured with his dilemma. As with all of us, we never really know if the decisions we make are right or wrong. We really don't know until we make them. By leaving the protagonist still struggling, Englander symbolizes the consequences of every action we make. As with all of his stories, Englander leaves the ending open to interpretation. He does not force his view upon the reader; he just presents the ideas.

Being Jewish is who Nathan Englander is and what he knows. Therefore, he incorporates Jewish religion through his stories. A person does not have to know Yiddish culture and the Jewish religion for these stories to have a great impact, yet knowing the culture would most likely create a greater impact. Englander gives us a glimpse yet never a full view of all his characters. He still leaves them mysterious and intriguing. He lets us, as readers, decide what he is trying to say - letting the work stand for itself.

Englander has been compared to Isaac Bashevis Singer, Philip Roth, and Franz Kafka. John Perry has compared Englander's irony to the best of John Cheever. For the Relief of Unbearable Urges is a masterful collection that celebrates the art of the short story. Englander's empathetic portrayal of the Orthodox Jew, not as a stereotype but as a fellow inhabitant of an unfair but beautiful world, is exceptional.

Nathan Englander is a graduate of the Iowa Writer's Workshop and has received the Pushcart Prize. His stories have appeared in Story magazine and The New Yorker. He grew up in New York and now lives in Jerusalem.