The Mezzanine: Living in the Moment
The Mezzanine: Living in the Moment
Nicholson Baker’s The Mezzanine provokes many questions in the minds of its readers. One that particularly resonated with me is whether or not there was a lesson in the book’s content, intentionally placed there by the author for the readers to interpret and learn from. With the anticlimactic nature of this book, you might think that it has no overarching point at all. However, I think that Nicholson Baker is trying to teach us a lesson with his novel. He shows us that there can be great joy and enthusiasm found in living in the moment. To prove this point, there are a few instances throughout the course of the book I’d like to highlight.
First, in several places, Baker uses defamiliarization to be enthusiastic about the mundane. In particular, he says “Perforation! Shout it out!” and goes on to describe how life-changing he finds this invention that most people find insignificant, even claiming that we should celebrate it as a national holiday (Baker 74). Another instance of this occurs later when Howie is expressing his appreciation for the invention of Jiffy Pop, describing it as “one of the outstanding instances of human ingenuity in my lifetime,” a rather bold claim (most would think) to be making about an unimportant food item (Baker 107). Both of these examples illustrate the way he finds joy in the mundane. I think Baker is using these bold claims to elicit a thoughtful response from his readers. The knee jerk reaction is to think to yourself, “it’s silly to be that excited over something so trivial!” but then you wonder why you feel that way. Are you really any better than Howie for being, in your eyes, more mature, or are you simply not as happy as him? Possibly his shameless joy is something we should all experience more often.
Another example of this sentiment occurs earlier on, when Baker writes “It isn’t right to say, ‘When I was little, I used to love x,’ if you still love x now,” leading himself through a thought process about how his nostalgia often prevents him from appreciating things to their full potential (Baker 35). This claim showcases the complexity of Howie’s “live in the moment” philosophy. Despite being an extremely enthusiastic character all in all, he still focuses on how he can live in the moment more. Not only does this provoke the reader to think whether or not they’re letting nostalgia impede their ability to live in the moment, but they also realize that they could always do better. In real life, and in the life of Howie, negativity is always there. Through noticing every little detail, Baker’s narrative recognizes the places where negativity slips in, and tries to fix it. Reading this makes the reader realize that there are many places in which subtle negativity affects their daily life, and that noticing those places can make a powerful change.
The book ends just seconds later than where it started, an ending that many, including myself, found anticlimactic. The book's momentary actual plot, however, drives home the point that every little thing is significant. You are jolted back into reality when Baker brings up the fact that Howie is still slowly advancing on his escalator ride; So much meaning has been found in such a short and mundane journey. Baker shows how easy (necessary, even) it is to find joy in the mundane. Getting lost in the details is a wonderful way to give life a much deeper meaning, and I think Baker wants us to indulge in it the same way Howie does.
Works Cited
Baker, Nicholson. The Mezzanine : A Novel. Grove Press, 1988, https://www.overdrive.com/search?q=354F93EE-B54E-418C-AE4F-2ABB64CDCCC6.
It does seem appropriate that a novel with a "plot" like this one would have to be "anticlimactic" in some way: climax in a plot is a feature of a plot-driven novel, and in this novel, the plot is just kind of there--a structuring tool that gives shape and direction to the narrative, but not something that generates any real interest or suspense. Another way to think of this--summarized nicely in your post--is that the book is more about "the ride" than "the destination."
ReplyDeleteI might add to your discussion of "the mundane" that Howie celebrates the way that his celebrations of these trivial details often DOES serve to help us appreciate the "true ingenuity" of these everyday technologies. The Jiffy Pop example is apt: on the surface, this seems obviously like a joke, and of course there's not going to be a national holiday or bridges named after the inventor or whatever. But one thing I love about this book is how Baker is always shining attention on the unsung achievements and innovations of industrial designers--the people who spend their working lives trying to perfect the design of everyday machines that make our lives more comfortable and convenient in uncountable ways. Is NOT the Jiffy Pop design a triumph of engineering? Does it matter that it "just makes popcorn"? Isn't popcorn important? And isn't Baker persuasive when he asks us to marvel at the intentionality and ingenuity of the coiled foil lid which expands and becomes thinner, at precisely the rate at which the popping kernels will be striking the lid-foil with lesser force? The people who developed this technology are clearly BRILLIANT--and the same holds for toilet-paper dispensers, paper-towel dispensers, toilet flushers (which Baker describes as "beautiful" at one point), vending machines, staplers. One effect of this novel is to get us to rethink what is "mundane"--Howie is convinced that we are surrounded by amazing feats of innovation, and it's a mistake to dismiss them as "mundane." He wants us to see ourselves as surrounded by ART, DESIGN, and relentless human INGENUITY.
I really like the idea that you're stressing that this novel is not simply a collection of minute moments explained in unnecessary detail, but rather a collection of joyous observations by a man who understands how deeply special every little moment is, without exception. This idea is also what seems to propel Howie's discontent with Aurelius' Meditations. Aurelius directly strikes down the very lesson that you say Baker is trying to teach his readers, and this momentarily shatters the joy that Howie is inclined to feel in every passing moment that he zooms in on. In the end, however, his nature is not changed, and it's important for us to learn this lesson: that some moments may seem more important than others, but none are insignificant and they can all cause joy.
ReplyDeleteYour example of perforation was such a great example of an otherwise insignificant joy. I too find myself excited when I see perforated lines on my notebooks and other things I may need to tear, and that happiness really aligns well with the "live in the moment" attitude you mentioned. Howie's appreciation for the little things in life, though sometimes he appreciates them a bit too much, is such a great takeaway to have as a reader and something to incorporate in our daily lives!
ReplyDeleteNice blog post. The notion of living in the moment and appreciating things for what they are no matter how trivial they might be is very interesting, and I like the way you expanded upon that notion. I also like the examples you used with perforation and Jiffy Pop. With this idea of living in the moment in mind, that makes this book give the reader a valuable lesson of appreciating small things, as Howie did. Maybe not as excessive as Howie did, but living in the moment and observing your surroundings is always a good practice.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up such great examples of how Howie finds excitement in mundane things that not many other people give a second thought about. I especially liked your point about nostalgia, where you highlight that though Howie seems to already enjoy the little things in life, his goal is to figure out how appreciate these things to an even greater extent. Howie's journey to enjoy life to its fullest potential isn't yet completed, and we get to see that throughout the examples you provided from the book. Great blog post!
ReplyDeleteI really like how you portray his joy over small things as "shameless". I think that it accurately portrays his excitement for mundane things like popcorn or perforation. He does not worry if these interests will make his audience confused or that they will think it is not fit for such normal occurrences. In fact, he actively combats the claim that life just ends as ashes, describing it as harmful and wrong. He strongly believes in his excitement, and will not change them in fear of judgement. Great post!
ReplyDeleteNice post Violet! We seem to have similar ideas about Howie enjoying the small things in life and living in the moment. These themes are especially clear when Howie thoroughly explains why he enjoys taking an elevator, or making popcorn. I also appreciated that you highlighted the fact that Baker allows Howie to recognize negativity, but he doesn't dwell on it.
ReplyDeleteI like how you looked beyond the surface-level elements of the Mezzanine. I never thought of Howie's thoughts having any other meaning than just portraying a stream of consciousness, of sorts, so I think it's really cool that you talked about how the book may encourage us to find joy in the smaller and seemingly less significant things in life. I also liked how you identified multiple examples. Howie's specific rants about Jiffy Pop and perforation caught me off guard, and I appreciate that you talked about how they are relevant to the lesson in the book as a whole!
ReplyDeleteHowie's joys in the smaller things is a quality that I think people should have in general. Maybe people shouldn't go as far as Howie does when thinking about the smaller things, however, I think it is important to recognize that the small stuff really does add up and make our lives much better.
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