

Loading... Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974)by Robert M. Pirsig
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Books Read in 2016 (355) » 25 more 1970s (104) Amusing Book Titles (107) Overdue Podcast (288) Books tagged favorites (294) I Can't Finish This Book (109) Unreliable Narrators (167) A Novel Cure (740) Biggest Disappointments (443) Unread books (801) No current Talk conversations about this book. Justly famous book. Various musings embedded in a motorcycle journey through the back blocks of the USA. ( ![]() A life changing cult classic that is a must read for every young adult. Or seeker on the road of wisdom. I first read this when I was 19, and on the road exploring America. My perceptions of the way the world was supposed to work were heavily challenged. As I have reread it as an adult, I found the same stirring of my fixed ideology. This is definitely a book to keep around like a wise old friend. Not about motorcycle maintenance. Depressing. As he says, philosophical writing tends to go on one ear and out the other when a piece is missing. Most of this did that for me. I’m glad I made it through. The tone reminded me a lot of Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse, which made me feel very similarly depressed, but somehow more savagely and tiredly so with Hesse. Maybe at this point I’m used to the emotional desolation and weariness of these grave epic introspective stories with lots of seeming social importance. Maybe motorcycling is inherently more upbeat then hanging out in the rain and in stairways and backalley theatres. I just realized while typing this that both stories have deep-running wolf metaphors with the main characters’ alter-egos being wolves. Maybe wolves are my anti-spirit animal. Anyways I only sort of see what the fuss is about. I’ve never been on a motorcycle. After reading this I only sort of want one. I’d probably be more of a romanticist about them though than a classicist. Didn't get it in college, loved it when I gave it a second try shortly before our son was born. Ready to read it again as our kids are growing into their values and I realize they're looking to me for guidance. It's a cliche to even tout this book, I know - it either changed your life or was the bane of your existence when you were assigned to read it. I fell somewhere in between the first time, and the second time, well, it didn't change my life, but I 'got it', and was a better person for having taken the ride. At least I hope I am.
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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![]() GenresNo genres Melvil Decimal System (DDC)813 — Literature English (North America) American fictionLC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
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