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.
1 comment:
You've hit on a crucial conundrum: on the one hand, Howie seems "just like us"--the life he lives is "ordinary," and he comments on unspoken rules and dynamics that most people can relate to from personal experience. On the other hand, however, as you begin to observe the same free-associative tendency in your own internal monologue, you claim that the trail moves so quickly, you "couldn't even begin to write about it." Of course, given the time and inclination (or maybe a pastiche assignment!), you probably *could* reconstruct something of this train of thought, and end up with some revealing and insightful personal writing. But very few people would ever attempt such a thing, and in this sense, Howie seems more unique (maybe even a little bit crazy).
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