The Great Tie Dissertation
Nicholas Baker's The Mezzanine, in many ways, is a mixed bag to read. At some times, the endless digressions feel excruciating and stagnant. Yet, Baker also disperses many gems through the intricate footnotes. His indictment of air dryers, his love for perforations, and his bathroom experiences he maybe should have kept to himself could all make the list. For me, the most memorable digression was his long footnote on page 27 about doorknobs and neckties. I found that this section went beyond trivial observations and hinted at some more moving ideas.
Although it is one of the longest digressions in the novel, we are initially sucked in just by the mention of a holding a doorknob while pondering broken shoelaces: "I paused in my doorway, looking out at the office, with my hand resting on the concave metal doorknob,1..." (Baker 27). With just the mention of the word "doorknob", we warp into a 1.5-page footnote rant, completely unrelated to his observations in the main text. Just like that, we fall down a rabbit hole of his preferred types of doorknobs. I was initially apprehensive of reading such a long treatise on something as lackluster as doorknobs. But the first section of the passage proved me wrong with interesting and entertaining descriptions. For example, he creatively describes modern office knobs as "lathed objects shaped like superdomes" (Baker 27). When looking at a picture of the superdome in New Orleans (see below) the description is surprisingly apt despite not being a common connection. In a way, the unconventional comparisons are part of what makes the novel refreshing. The classic "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day" sorts of descriptions are used so commonly that they often lose their power among readers. Readers are not as used to hearing about how Japanese door handles "move in their sockets like chicken drumsticks." (Baker 27).
Works Cited
Baker, Nicholson. The Mezzanine. Vintage Books, 1988.
Hi Linden! I also agree that his digression and footnote about the tie is one of the most vulnerable parts of the book. It talks about such meaningful family relationships and it brought up a lot of nostalgia for me too. It made me think about the small, specific things I associate with my own parents, the stuff that seems random to anyone else but instantly brings you back if you think about it.I think that's what makes the tie footnote hit so hard, ot is about how these tiny, easy to miss moments end up being the ones that actually mean the most to us.
ReplyDeleteI like the description of finding ourselves "sucked in" to a particular story or digression within this novel, almost against our will. This novel constantly dares us to think that it is boring or inconsequential, but for my money, it's all about the writing--Baker is such a compelling stylist, and he conveys such enthusiasm for the "trivial" through the WAY he writes about it, that the book sort of proves its own thesis. Not every writer would be able to make this stuff sound "interesting," but this novel uses a number of classic literary techniques to do so. The necktie digression is a great example, as Baker doesn't just "report" certain similarities in his taste in neckties and his father's--he turns it into a STORY, where these connections MEAN something, and we come to share Howie's rather childlike excitement about being "validated" by his father's doorknob tie assemblage at the end. We have been brought somewhere we didn't anticipate going, and that's the literary experience in a nutshell.
ReplyDeleteLinden, I completely agree with your take on the footnote about his father letting him borrow ties. While much of the book is about mundane analytic observation, this specific moment offers a genuine emotional turn in the story. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHey Linden, amazing blog post you have here. I really appreciate how you brought to light the tie footnote, for me personally it was one of my favorites and I really like how he gradually progresses in the footnote. He starts with a rant and slowly fades into a heart felt coming of age story where he finally has reached his fathers status. The ending is really the best part where he exclaimed that his tie fit right in, honestly great blog and I really did enjoy reading this. Keep it up Linden!
ReplyDeleteHi Linden, you did a great job of picking apart this footnote, talking about how Howie initially talks about different kinds of doorknobs, nitpicking at their design and comparing the shape of doorknobs to real-life things before it cleanly shifts to a heartfelt coming-of-age reminiscence of bonding with his father over ties. I believe this kind of general structure is pretty consistent through the entire book, as Howie rants about objects you wouldn't give a second thought towards. He thinks about their unique design in one way or another (like comparing a stapler to a dinosaur, of course) and I do think while it isn't necessarily a coming-of-age theme for each of these fixations, they all definitely go very deep and mean way more to Howie and how he views life experiences (like others have also blogged about).
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