Re: The Mezzanine
Telly O. Fathaly (tof8c@virginia.edu)
Tue, 25 Feb 1997 17:59:03 +0300
the little engine wrote:
>
> In response to all the previous remarks about the Mezzanine, I will also say
> that i am on middle ground. Whereas I found the book slow and pointless, I
> admire him for writing it. I cannot say that I would have the courage to put
> my beliefs and little "quirks" down on paper for people to scrutinize. I
> think his thoughts are unique but very tangential. Someone was saying this
> morning about the lack of fluidity due to the footnotes. i have to say that
> the endnotes are what ruined the book for me. I found myself even skipping
> some in order to retain my place in his other thoughts.
> Also, in response to whomever said that this book was positive. Yes, I
> agree. However, how else can we view a plotless, relationless tangential
> narrative about shoelaces? We have to come out if it thinking, "hey, this
> guy thinks that products and things are really important to everyday life."
> We all do. What would we do without shoelaces? But this book fails to
> ponder anything else that keeps us alive and ticking...like interactions with
> other people. How do we know that Howie's life is really positive? We dont
> because he doesn't tell us much about his life. Hey, but at least we can see
> how his fixation upon door knobs and men's bathrooms have a positive
> influence on this book.
>
> Jen Hummel
> "In order to become the winner that you will respect and admire...you must
> have control of the authorship of your own destiny...the pen that writes
> your life story must be held in your own hand."
> -Irene C. Kassorla
Baker seems to refute that the essence of life is interaction with other
people. The book doesn't necessarily turn me off because nothing looms
larger in my life than my personal life, and who I am. Baker reaches me
therefore because he discusses the things that compose my time and who I
am. He speaks to me because he allows me to think of my existence in
relation to myself instead of the easier second-hand way of comparing or
relating who I am in comparison with others or some higher order. Baker
realizes that we are the sum of our actions and thoughts which aren't
always as dramatic as we hope them to be.