Worst Book Ever?
The Mezzanine is unlike any novel that I've ever read (maybe because I don't read a lot) because it has almost no plot and it's just a dude rambling on about his various thoughts for an entire book. I certainly get the appeal of this book as it gives the reader the "superpower" to read Howie's mind and specifically his trains of thought/stream of consciousness. However, this "superpower" is also what makes this books very unappealing to me. Mind-reading is only a good superpower if you can control it. I don't want to read Howie's mind for 15 chapters.
For me, what makes a novel interesting to read is not only getting to know the main character (which we get TOO much of in The Mezzanine) but also experiencing the plot and familiarizing myself with the setting and worldview of the novel. Although the book gives the reader a lot of details about the setting through Howie's thoughts, I found it hard to pick out the details about the setting among the rest of Howie's chaotic thoughts. The sheer density of Howie's thoughts makes the book very hard to digest as he is filling the book with trivial observations and burying the few details we get that give us a better sense of his setting and other characters in his life. Baker highlights this obsessive micro-focus during a simple moment with a drinking straw, where Howie notes that "a plastic straw floating in a paper cup... was a small, precise problem of fluid dynamics" (Baker, 42). This quote both displays Howie's ability to make these micro-observations and also why this book can be so tiring to read.
The lack of a serious plot means that the book's reading experience is based almost entirely on how interesting you find Howie's tangents, thoughts, and observations. I will admit that Howie had some relatable and funny thoughts, but that was far from enough to make me enjoy navigating through the rest of his more boring and mundane thoughts. The gimmick of his ponders on CVS bags and paper towels was indeed interesting at first but failed to uphold the same level of interest by the end of the novel. Baker himself acknowledges this triviality through Howie, writing, "I felt a sudden, heavy shame at the smallness of my thoughts" (Baker, 88). When even the protagonist is acknowledging that his inner world lacks weight, it's hard for the reader to not start questioning the purpose of his journey.
The Mezzanine is best to be viewed as a literacy experiment rather than a satisfying novel. The entire book is based on a gimmick that wears thin by the second half of the novel. Perhaps the book would've been more enjoyable if it was read by a reader in the same time period as Howie, but a modern reader will definitely find this book tiring to read and may have a hard time finding motivation to continue. Although Baker proves that even the smallest of objects can provoke the deepest of thoughts and the longest of analysis, he also showed us that it comes at the cost of sacrificing everything that makes a novel interesting. Ultimately, the book sucks. If you like the book, you would definitely make a good friend to Howie. I, however, will linger far away from Howie and his tangents
Work Cited
Baker, Nicholson. The Mezzanine. Vintage Books, 1988.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHenry, I would propose that you aren't just reading Howie's thoughts, but rather what he chooses to tell you as a narrator. Howie is clearly driven by appreciating the small things and trying to connect his experiences. The book is almost designed to transport you back to a 1980s office, and part of what allows that is the short plot. If Howie described his entire day, the book might be 1000 pages long. Additionally, I disagree that a 1980s reader would find this novel more interesting, as none of the things Howie discusses would be foreign to them. For a 1980s office worker, xeroxed memos, plastic straws, and the disconnectedness of not having a phone are completely normal. However for readers now, the heavy details can transport you back in time.
ReplyDeleteIts definitely not a book for everyone though, so I understand your frustration. I also found the long footnotes and tangents unrelated to the story difficult to read. Calling it the "Worst Book Ever" might be a bit of a stretch though.
Hi Henry, great blog! I agree with most of what you said. I feel like most of the book is quite boring to read. But while you say that the gimmick gets super dull by the second half, I feel like it actually gets a bit more interesting near the end, or at least I started to enjoy it a bit more by then. I remember that the first 8-ish chapters were really slow, and the random digressions weren't super interesting to me, but later on I actually thought that they became at least a little better. I think once you get used to the style it becomes a bit more readable.
ReplyDeleteHi Henry! I completely agree with you on how “the Mezzanine is unlike any novel that I’ve ever read” (Guan). I didn’t know it was possible to write fiction that you’re not even sure is fiction because the whole plot is a guy going up an escalator and having thoughts. I personally found it difficult in the beginning to get used to Baker’s writing style and thought the end was decently confusing, but I thought Howie’s thoughts and tangents were somewhat interesting towards the middle of the book. I wouldn’t go as far as you to say it was THE worst book I’ve ever read, but it was a very new and interesting experience. I think it would’ve been a great idea to talk more about your Talking Ben comparison because I think that would’ve been very interesting. Overall, great post!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Henry, I do agree with you that Howies thoughts are sometimes simply boring to read. I personally however, felt that some of his thoughts and expiriences, such as him avoiding talking to a coworker, by turning around or checking his pockets as they pass by was quite relatable. I also found some other thoughts that he had quite interesting and weird to read, such as him imagining pissing on his coworkers faces. I wouldn't say that it was as boring as you said in your blog, but I do agree with some of his thoughts being boring. Overall great post!
ReplyDeleteI related very strongly to this blog, as I agree that this book was so very boring, and I will probably not recommend it to anyone else. I think that you had some amazing lines in this blog, especially the "Mind-reading is only a good superpower if you can control it". Despite our disappointment in this book, you did a good job highlighting the few good aspects of it, which is right because we need to give credit where credit is due.
ReplyDeleteHi Henry, I definitely agree that this book might at least be top 10 worst books ever. It was pretty boring. Good job giving The Mezzanine a little bit of credit for some of its redeeming moments.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this blog and honestly I agree with some aspects. The note of how the book is just Howie's mind and having a superpower to read it but not being able to control it gave me a new perspective on the book
ReplyDeleteHenry, I liked how you acknowledged both the strengths and weaknesses of The Mezzanine. I agree that Baker’s attention to tiny details can be impressive, but it can also make the book feel overwhelming and slow. Even though I found some of Howie’s observations relatable, I can definitely see why a reader would get tired of spending so much time inside one person’s head.
ReplyDeleteHi Henry, interesting blog title. I agree that the book can be very agonizing at times but it also depends a lot on how you read it. When reading aggressively on a time crunch, it is frustrating how there are no clear plot points to hold on to. However, when I slowed down and read in a more relaxed way, I appreciated some of the book's weird details.
ReplyDeleteHi Henry, it seems that your blog title has caught the eyes of many people. I sympathize heavily with your qualms with the extreme detail and lack of real plot. I too felt like bored in some parts of the book where it felt like the descriptions were dragging and repetitive. Although, I would also say that the structure of the book is an interesting switch up to traditional novels. Additionally, some of the thoughts Howie has are quite profound. Overall, good job on your blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Henry, I see your point about how Howie’s constant tangents can make the book feel exhausting, especially when you’re waiting for something to actually happen. I found myself getting dragged down by some of the longer descriptions too, where I would realize I had read several paragraphs but barely remembered what the original thought was about. This cycle did take away from the book's enjoyability, especially in the later chapters. Do you think the book would have been more effective if Baker had shortened some of Howie’s tangents while keeping the same stream-of-consciousness style?
ReplyDeleteI obviously don't agree that Howie's consciousness is an unappealing space to occupy, since I've voluntarily reread this book every couple years since 2009 to teach this class, and I always find it to be funny and, um, "interesting." If someone were to describe this book to me, I too would want nothing to do with it--I would imagine 135 pages of navel gazing and self-absorption. And I suppose we DO get some of that, but in general Howie's attention is so *outwardly* focused, it's not nearly as claustrophobic as it could be. He has this relentless ability to find the world to be both fascinating and beautiful, and for me this is contagious: he is both a scientist and an artist, exploring questions about how things work and why, while also transforming and animating everyday objects into art, metaphor. The book does ask a lot of its readers, but I can imagine much less fascinating company than our narrator. He has lots of interesting and relatable thoughts!
ReplyDeleteHey Henry, I also agree that the book's constant tangents and lengthy descriptions of the most mundane things make the book tiring. However, I still think that this novel's style is meaningful because it forces us to focus on our surroundings, including familiar details, and look at them from a new perspective, even if that makes the book less enjoyable overall. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Henry, I agree with this blog a lot, but I wouldnt call this the worst book ever. I think that his tangents would often get boring and I would often think to myself about how I with he would move on from these trivial points that I dont care about. I do think that there are worse books out there and I think that this book isn't that hard to read which is an upside to it.
ReplyDeleteHenry, I can see how this book could feel boring because that’s definitely how I felt at first. It isn’t common in books that you are literally mind-reading the character, especially one that’s just a normal guy. Personally, I found it interesting that instead of teaching you some overlying theme, it actually helps one learn more about themselves and to think more about the world around them. But i get it’s not for everyone, sorry you didn’t like it!
ReplyDeleteHey Henry!
ReplyDeleteI get where you're coming from, and can fully understand why "The Mezzanine" may not be a very entertaining book to read. The frequent tangent and overly descriptive interpretation of a mundane object or idea gets old. Though for me, "The Mezzanine" was a book I certainly enjoyed. Not only do I also find myself relating to some of Howie's thoughts and ideas like you said, but I also find the way he manages to, in a way, romanticize the mundane very interesting, and has honestly sort of encouraged me to start looking at things with a deeper lens. But again, I do understand why you weren't a fan of the book, and that it's not for everyone, and you did a good job interpreting that. I like what you said at the end, regarding to "The Mezzanine" as an experimental literary work, which I can definitely also understand, considering it's unlikely for there to be many similar books. Great blog!
Henry, I must admit I really liked this book. I have read similar books in the past and the absence of a predefined plot is what makes books like The Mezzanine feel so real and impactful. I think a necessary struggle for enjoying books like this is reflecting on your own thoughts and life while reading those of the narrator. If you read not only the text, but also your own mind 🤯 then it can change the way you experience the world.
ReplyDeleteAt first when writing my own blog, I had a similar take to this. Maybe it was because I was not used to reading bookes like this, or maybe it was the fact that I just couldn't keep myself interest in the story, but after reading other people's takes on the book, I think my mind changed a little bit. Seeing what people get out of this book and what I can relate to is somthing I think is really valuable in a book, and this one definitely delivers.
ReplyDeleteHi Henry, I agree that this was a book like no other. When I first started reading it I thought somethign was wrong with the book because of all the footnotes. But, as I read them I found a lot of them funny or relatable. I think the hardest part of the book is that it looks thin but has a lot of content with the footnotes. Overall, it had a lot of boring parts, but the funny parts made up for it. Great blog.
ReplyDeleteHenry, while of course I strongly disagree with your argument, I believe that occasionally your views have some merit. While the book does wander off into Howie's own mind, the joy of being able to experience the funny quips, de-familiarizing yourself with everyday objects, and piece together subtle metaphors within the footnotes and monstrous digressions is the core source of interest in The Mezzanine. Nonetheless whether a book is interesting is ultimately subjective, and we all have our own tastes, however unique.
ReplyDelete