Baker and Free Association

I’m gonna go on record as saying that The Mezzanine was actually an enjoyable book. As I was first getting into it, I found it boring and unnecessarily dense, and I know others did as well, but as the book really started to explore the subject that is Howie’s psyche, I came to really appreciate the book. The level of detail and exploration of random thought that Nicholson Baker partakes in is truly breathtaking. The writing within this book really shocked me. It was unlike anything I’d ever read before! Baker actually gave form to random, fleeting thoughts that we all have. While his prose is not immediately remarkable, his ability to write about the haphazard thoughts of the human brain is an incredible achievement.

Everyone notices odd little things. Free association in our brains leads to the strangest thoughts and hard-to-follow paths that take us there. As I’m writing this, I’m sitting on my guest bed, noticing how it differs from my bed. The springiness reminds me of the bed in my old room in my old house. The pinstripe sheets and protruding wooden frame remind me of camp at River Ridge. From there, memories lead to more abstract and bizarre thoughts that I can’t even begin to write about. The fact that Nicholson Baker actually put this bizarre process into words both amazes and intrigues me. This single facet of his writing is actually enough for me to peg The Mezzanine as a good, worthwhile book. His writing made me think and, even now, it makes me more aware of my bizarre, abstract thoughts.

The Little Things

As Howie sits in the plaza, enjoying his snack of milk and a cookie, he is utterly repulsed by Aurelius's summation of life: one day we are semen, the next ash. This bleak, defeatist passage continually upsets Howie for a very specific reason: Howie enjoys the little things. He enjoys the many facets of his day-to-day life. There is so much in the world! There is so much in our lives! How can anyone overlook this? How dare he simplify it down to us being born and dying, nothing more!

Throughout the book, Howie points out and recalls the most mundane things. He talks at great length about the joys of whistling in the bathroom and of rubbing one’s foot against the floor. These small things that most of us take for granted are the reasons he enjoys his life. He seems to get through his day by fondly thinking of all of these commonplace things. As a result of picking up on all of these seemingly microscopic facets of life, Howie’s life is pretty damn big. It is made up of all these small things that bring him comfort. There is so much in his life. Thus, he does not take Aurelius’s comments on life very well. There is so much to enjoy and learn in one’s life, and it is ridiculous that someone either cannot see or chooses to ignore this.

I wholeheartedly agree with Howie. I understand Aurelius; I get that he is saying our lives can have little effect in the grand scheme of things, but that does not mean they are nothing. Our lives are far from empty. As Howie points out, even the small act of pondering one’s shoelaces can bring contentment and understanding.