Help - I can't get Howie out of my head
I absolutely HATE the Mezzanine
...is what I would have said if you had asked me what I thought after reading the first few chapters. I was pretty bored and frustrated that I had to spend so much time reading about some dude who liked to think, and then promptly think about those thoughts. Now that I have read the whole book, I understand what it was trying to do-create a book that focuses on the small details with the minimal amount of plot necessary to be considered a novel.
One thing I really liked about this book was that it made me aware of how much people think about meaningless things (no offense Howie). However, I think my initial frustration with the book is part of its point. The way Baker spends pages and pages writing about trivial things such as shoelaces makes you sort of resent his tangents. As he droned on and on I became bored and constantly finding myself asking, "Why does this matter?"
However, as I kept reading the book I realized how similar I am (and I assume most people are) to Howie. As humans, we spend a debatably stupid amount of time thinking about stupid things. For example, a few days ago while rushing through campus, I became a little annoyed at the amount of college students who walked at the speed of molasses yet somehow took up the whole sidewalk, making them impossible to pass. After being slightly concerned (yet amazed) that people at their ripe age still hadn't learned how to walk in public, I caught myself in a somewhat Howie-esque debate in my head regarding what makes some people learn quicker than others. Was it something to do with their childhood? Their education? Do some people just simply pick things up quicker? Etc. Etc. Then, to my horror, I realized I was thinking just like Howie, this character I had grown to dislike.
Reading The Mezzanine has helped me become aware of how often I think about random things. As I said earlier, I had grown to dread Howie's deep dives into random things. However, my dislike of his long digressions revealed my hypocrisy when I realized I did the same thing. I think that is one of my favorite parts of The Mezzanine-you begin to not like Howie until you realize you are so much like him.
Additionally, I think it is an interesting idea that The Mezzanine, while considered fiction, feels so real. This is not only in the way that I believe the story could happen, but in the way I feel like the tangents show a realistic piece of people's lives. I think this book's realism is part of the reason I initially found it so boring. I am so used to book that take you to a new world where you can be a new person and just experience new things, that a book as monotonous as real life felt wrong. The more I think about this book and the little things it made me realize about real life, the more I like it. I disliked the book because it was too similar to real life and I disliked Howie because he was too similar to me. By reading this book, I became more aware of the Howie in my mind that takes me on random tangents as well.
Hazel! You really represented what a lot of us were thinking either in the beginning or throughout the story. I was shocked at first too how someone could go on and on about something as trivial as shoelaces, but just like you, I soon realized I had these debates in my head about things possibly even more stupid. The example you gave was so good as well, it really shocks me just how many people don't know how to cross the street. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThis was a super well-written and interesting blog post and I totally agree with you that Howie is so much like most people, (although I disliked the book till the end). I think you are right in stating that everyone has at least some aspect of Howie in their head and that college students need to walk faster. Great blog and very real hook.
ReplyDeleteI relate to this so much! I have definitely caught myself in some Howie-like tangents recently (which is mildly annoying now that I'm aware). I agree that everyone is at least a little bit like Howie, even if we dislike confronting that---especially in a class. This is a great blog post; all your examples are not only relatable but also fit into your argument well!
ReplyDeleteHi Hazel, I liked your example about getting annoyed by slow walkers because it shows how a really small thing can turn into a whole chain of thoughts, which is exactly what Howie does. I’ve definitely caught myself doing the same thing and overthinking something random for way longer than I should have. Do you think realizing how much we think like Howie makes his random tangents seem less pointless?
ReplyDeleteHi Hazel, I definitely agree that when we first started reading The Mezzanine I really disliked it. But, as we continued reading, like you, I kept stopping on moments where Howie did or thought something that I have totally done before. I think it is almost uncomfortable to see yourself reflected in Howies nervous musings and tangents. I also really like your statement about The Mezzanine feeling real. I had never considered how the super realistic nature of The Mezzanine might be part of what makes it less interesting because I tend to read books as a way of experiencing new things.
ReplyDeleteOne way I like to think about this novel and its unique effects is that it's less a matter of "reading about" a guy with this quirky mind, and more like *occupying* that mind for a time, from the "inside." It's a fine line between reading "about" this guy thinking about how vending machines work (and don't work) and *actually having those thoughts yourself*. In most cases, for me, this book manages to pull off that sleight-of-hand: I start by thinking I'm engaging with this narrator, with his view of the world, with the story (such as it is) that he wants to tell. But quickly the lines become blurred, and his thoughts and perceptions become our thoughts and perceptions. We "recognize" ourselves in Howie, despite finding him to be such an oddball initially.
ReplyDeleteAnd like you describe, I often find that this novel gives me something like "Baker glasses" for a while--I keep seeing things through the lens of this novel, or defamiliarizing the familiar, trying to think of original metaphors to animate and enliven the "meaningless" stuff we interact with every day. Because when we stop to think about it, this meaningless stuff comprises the vast majority of thoughts and impressions we have day to day, week to week. This book is very much a document of what it's like to be alive in the world with an active, creative, critical mind.
I totally agree with so many things that you talk about in this blog. I am also horribly annoyed by slow walkers who don't realize the delay that they are causing to other people (same goes for drivers that puppy-guard the left lane and drivers who refuse to take the left turn when it is no longer protected EVEN if there are NO CARS). I also talked about how Howie is representative of normal people in my blog. Do you think Baker intended to draw the reader's attention to their own curiosities? Or is that just an unexpected consequence of his experimental writing?
ReplyDeleteHazel, I felt very similarly about this book. Instead of this book being an escape, it really helps us see our world in a different light just by reading about the day to day thoughts of an ordinary guy. I’ve noticed those same sorts of thought processes happening in me as well. We’re so used to books about grand plots and quests, so a book like this throws us off, yet much of our experience in life is more like the realism you talked about in the Mezzanine. Very relatable blog.
ReplyDeleteThis is an almost painfully relatable post. It's not often where I've been tempted to simply just stop reading a book, but The Mezzanine proves to present a lot of 'firsts' when it comes to writing conventions. Once again, how often are we truly expected to look into the minds of the 'common man' when that person isn't thinking of things that have a life-changing value to them? If I weren't forced to read into his thinking process, I don't think I could have seen him walk past me and thought 'wow, he must be drafting the cure to world hunger'; because realistically, few people do so.
ReplyDeleteI initially disliked Howie because of how similar he is to us. The example about people walking slowly on campus is a great illustration of this— you ended up having your own "Howie-esque" tangent without even realizing it. I also agree that the realism of the book is probably what makes it so frustrating at first, but ultimately makes it more meaningful in a way. Great post!
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