One thing I like about books is that you get to watch the characters develop and grow as they complete their journey. In Nicholson Baker's The Mezzanine, you read about the narrator going through a short journey up an escalator. When I first started reading I was sure I would hate the book because it seems like there is almost no plot. I love getting to know a character, and I was skeptical that I would learn anything important about the narrator.
The narrator, Howie, seems to have a reluctance to reveal himself to the reader. Throughout the book we follow Howie’s thoughts as he rides up the escalator. We learn about his lunch break and his thoughts on random things he is reminded of throughout the book. At first, it seems that we will learn nothing about the narrator except his random opinions. While reading I realized we do learn a lot about the personal life of Howie, but some of those things are hidden throughout the book. Initially it seems like Howie will have no character development, because in real time going up an escalator doesn’t take long enough for someone to have a revelation that changes their whole life. But, we end up learning a lot about how Howie grew into the person he is through his memories, like his memory of when he became an adult. The author also hides a lot of Howie’s personal stories in the footnotes. We learn the most about Howie’s family through the footnotes, like his relationship with his parents. We read in the footnotes about the importance of ties to Howie, and how his mother would smoke. The narrator also mentions very personal things by casually adding a sentence about it into a paragraph about something unimportant. Two examples of this are when we learned Howie was mugged (which he thinks about 7 times a year), and when we learned his parents are divorced. I feel like the narrator does have a reluctance to reveal himself because he talks mostly about mundane things, but he also hides personal things throughout the book. This is one of the things that makes the book so interesting. You want to keep learning about Howie, and the fact that he only reveals himself every once in a while, and in subtle ways, makes you want to keep reading.
The Mezzanine is a weirdly intimate book. Even though the majority of the novel is Howie rambling about everyday objects such as straws and shoelaces, you get an incredibly close view of how his mind works. Not many books give you such an exact idea of how a character thinks. The reality is, even though the book doesn’t have an action filled-plot, it gives you a realistic view of how one person’s mind may work. Other books are intimate because you follow the character through a significant part of their life and you watch them develop. This book is intimate in a very different way. The reader learns some personal things about the narrator, but most of it is learning about how the narrator’s everyday life may look. Another aspect of The Mezzanine that makes it an interesting read is that it makes the reader feel a bit more normal about having an internal monologue like Howie’s, and gives a realistic view of how most people’s lives aren’t action-filled or dramatic, but that doesn’t mean it has to be boring.
You're right the mezzanine made me feel not only comfortable but almost more aware of my inner monologue. Before reading the book I didn't really notice that I would overanalyze little things just like Howie. But after reading the mezzanine I began to notice when my mind would trail off into its own world and think about the importance of things like stop signs or lids.
ReplyDeleteI agree that "The Mezzanine" is both intimate, yet also dry and impersonal in a way. While Howie often talks about impersonal topics, you also get a sense of his opinion on things, how his train of thought works, and some related memories, which introduces you more deeply to his character than almost any other characters you'll ever read about. I also liked how he snuck in small details about himself. There were multiple mentions of L that you could just gloss over, but revealed a lot about their relationship when you read further into them. For example, the fact that they even talked about what they do when they're alone shows how alike and good for each other they are!
ReplyDeleteI would add that there is a strange and unique kind of intimacy to the way we are almost "inside" Howie's person for much of this narration, in a way that novels rarely achieve (or even try to achieve). Stuff like what it feels like if your socks aren't put on properly and start bunching near the toes throughout the day, or the relief of taking a wallet out of a back pocket, or the feeling inside his mouth when he is done brushing his teeth AND the tongue and roof of his mouth. There's a lot in this book about what it "feels like" to be a person and move through the world wearing clothes and carrying stuff and getting on and off of trains and walking through revolving doors. It is in some ways the most intimate novel I know--there's nothing about what the inside of Clarissa's mouth feels like in _Mrs. Dalloway_, and Woolf would never go *into the bathroom* with her characters (the epitome of private activity).
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