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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. The title doesn't do it any justice. I highly recommend it, it's not an easy read, but it's a smooth one, a pleasant journey filled with plenty of philosophical revelations. ( ) This book is not only a journey and an exploration of values but it as well is a father-son story. My father gave me this book and in our relationship I find parallels in the narrators struggle to connect with his son, and in the end how much his son "carries him". It took me two and a half years to finish but I am glad that I embarked on this philosophical / literary journey. This fictionalized autobiography begins as an enjoyable relaxing travel narrative that gently questions, among other things, disengagement from technology, unreflective lifestyles and ruminating on other peoples' inadequate motivations. It later attempts to lecture on western philosophy and gradually reveals the narrator/protagonist to have been measured to have a very high IQ, entered and dropped out of university very young, suffered a mental breakdown and subsequent hospital treatments. Overall, this is a lengthy account of home-spun, rather than academically rigorous, personal philosophy by a protagonist who seems quietly but overweeningly self-satisfied and eager to instruct and correct those around him. Not very convincing as a life guide, but big in the 70s. I appreciated the first half of the book more than the second. I liked the autobiographical elements interspersed with philosophical asides there. The second half, however, is bogged down by aimless ranting about quality which I scanned more than anything else, I didn't find the philosophizing on the meaning of quality interesting at all. I'm not sure I would recommend this one to anybody because you can find better introductions to philosophy elsewhere. I'm also sure there are better road trip stories out there as well. Although I'm not mad I read it, so there's that. An interesting peek inside the way philosophers and deep thinkers think, all told through the narrator's deep personal retelling. Although the premise of the motorcycle trip linked the deeper philosophic passages together, I thought it was a bit too wordy and unnecessary. Digging deeper, most fascinating to me was how the narrator's sense of genius was in direct conflict with both academia and his own mental health - two factors that caused the destruction of "Phaedrus." The duality of both technical thinking and artistic thinking continues to exist in our world - and I do believe that they can harmonize. It brings to mind the way Steve Jobs synthesized these approaches in the computer world.
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 guideNotable Lists
At its heart, the story is all too simple: a man and his son take a lengthy motorcycle trip through America. But this is not a simple trip at all, for around every corner, through mountain and desert, wind and rain, and searing heat and biting cold, their pilgrimage leads them to new vistas of self-discovery and renewal. This is an elemental work that has helped to shape and define the past twenty-five years of American culture. This special audio edition presents this adventure in a compelling way-for the millions who have already taken this journey and want to travel these roads again, and for the many more who will discover for the first time the wonders and challenges of a journey that will change the way they think and feel about their lives. No library descriptions found.
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