Loading... Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974)by Robert M. Pirsig
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Not as good as I remembered but still an excellent and important book. The ending falters a bit, and it's somewhat dated but still resonates as a search for capital-T Truth. ( ) Published in 1974, this book involves a journey across country from Minnesota to California by motorcycle, where the participants learn something about life and self. It is focused on the relationship between a father and son, the nature of quality, and philosophy. It is narrated by the unnamed father, who refers to himself in his past as Phaedrus. Phaedrus had been hospitalized for mental illness and his former self is often portrayed as a danger to his current self. As the story opens, the narrator and eleven-year-old son, Chris, team up with friends, John and Sylvia, taking backroads and camping out. As they travel the narrator inserts philosophical discourses, which he calls “Chautauquas.” There is a lot of information to unpack in this novel. Rather than write a lengthy review, I will summarize my impressions. There are two primary approaches to life – one is scientific, or “rational,” and the other is intuitive, or “romantic.” A balance between the two approaches will lead to a feeling of well-being in life, and the concept of quality can become a bridge between them. The struggles in reconciling the two approaches are exemplified in the narrator’s efforts to merge his current and past (as Phaedrus) into one presence. It is all very intellectual and requires focused concentration. I liked parts of it, but it goes pretty far afield on occasion. It did not quite gel for me into a cohesive story, but I am glad to have finally read this 20th century classic. This is a fantastic book. It took me at least six months to get through, but it absolutely rewards anyone who can make it all the way to the end. It is both a poignant memoir on mental illness and an intense philosophical analysis on dialectic, rhetoric, and Quality. I would recommend reading a brief bio of Pirsig before reading it, as he has led a truly remarkable life, and this heavy tome only highlights two major events from it. He knows how to tell his own story in a way that inspires the reader to reflect on her own. One of the most important and influental books written in the past half-centry, Robert M. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a powerful, moving, and penetrating examination of how we live...and a breathtaking meditation on how to live better. Here is the book that transformed a generation: an unforgettable narration of a summer motorcycle trip across America's Northwest, undertaken by a father and his young son. A story of love and fear-of growth, discovery, and acceptance-that becomes a profound personal and philosophical odyssey into life's fundamental questions, this uniquely exhilarating modern classic is both touching and transcendent, resonant with the myriad confusions of existence...and the small, essential triumphs that propel us forward. "It is filled with beauty...a finely made whole that seems to emanate from a very special grace."-Baltimore Sun "Strange and wonderful...It meditates on those grand philosphical problems that were first addressed in this country by the likes of Thoreau and Melville...It seems as fresh and compelling as it did (decades) ago."-New York Times a tad bit long, but was a decent read.
One is tempted to call the book a psychomelodrama, for Pirsig's intentions are as extravagant as his themes. The attempt to triumph over madness, suicide, death in the self, of his son, for our world, by means of the patient exploration of ideas and emotions is certainly an extravagant ambition. That he succeeds in finding a plausible catharsis through such an enterprise seems to me sufficient reward for the author's perseverance, and ample testimony to his honesty and courage. Whatever it's true philosophical worth, it is intellectual entertainment of the highest order. Belongs to Publisher SeriesFischer Taschenbuch (2020) InspiredHas as a reference guide/companionHas as a studyHas as a student's study guide
A narration of a summer motorcycle trip undertaken by a father and his son, this book becomes a personal and philosophical odyssey into fundamental questions on how to live. The narrator's relationship with his son leads to a powerful self-reckoning; the craft of motorcycle maintenance leads to an austerely beautiful process for reconciling science, religion, and humanism. Resonant with the confusions of existence, this classic is a touching and transcendent book of life.--From publisher description. No library descriptions found.
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