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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
I believe everyone should read this book once a year.
Or at least once.
Or at least once.
This classic book of philosophy explores the relationship between the author and his son via talks of quality and rhetoric as travel from Minnesota to California. While the philosophy explained in the book is heavy, the conclusion of the book makes it necessary to understand. For a book that was originally published in the 1970s, it talks about mental health and the effects that can occcur. Pirsig used philosophy to rationalize his struggles and to attempt to explain his sons problems, as well. The concept of Quality that Pirsig makes a major running theme is one that I encountered when studying Linguistics in my undergrad, so it is absolutely still relevant in studies today.
I'm not going to lie. I did quite a bit of skimming in this book because it was very dry and subject heavy, so if your mind is prone to wandering off, this may not be the book for you. Shelved in many places at the library, but I would say it belongs to Adult Philosophy.
I'm not going to lie. I did quite a bit of skimming in this book because it was very dry and subject heavy, so if your mind is prone to wandering off, this may not be the book for you. Shelved in many places at the library, but I would say it belongs to Adult Philosophy.
As a former biker, I enjoyed the motorcycle parts. However, I struggled to understand the professor's neurosis. He couldn't grasp the concept of quality, almost to the point of lunacy. Quality -- like beauty or intelligence -- is subjective. Why wouldn't a professor realize this? Thus, I found it pointless as the author rambled for pages upon pages about the merits of quality.
Please enlighten me. I feel like I missed the entire point of the book.
Please enlighten me. I feel like I missed the entire point of the book.
Am I missing something? That was one of the most painful books to get through. Maybe I'm not a big enough philosophy nut but all of his "chautauquas" were painful - sooooo much brain work attempting to follow the points he was making, zero payoff.
Unless you have to read this for school, I'd skip it.
Unless you have to read this for school, I'd skip it.
I read this book when I was 18, starting it while I lived alone in my first apartment and finishing it after I'd given away everything I owned and wa staying in the Grand Canyon. It was that pivotal for me. As I've been rereading it, I remember exactly where I was when I read certain sentences, and some of them I quote to this day. Knowing what I already know about how it ends lends a certain piquancy missing when it was still mysterious who this Phaedrus fellow was. (I actually took a course in college to read the Phaedrus by Plato because of this book -- much like taking a Newberry course to study Herodotus after reading The English Patient.) I hope it's still as meaningul as it was when I first read it in the blush of my idealistic youth.
reflective
slow-paced
Author comes across as pompous, self-centered, and thinks himself a brilliant observer of time, matter, and space. Just because something is supposed to be a “classic” doesn’t mean that it isn’t vacuous and inane.
The first part was promising in the vein of a William Least Heat Moon road trip, but it quickly went pear shaped and I decided that I wasn’t masochistic enough to read any further.
The first part was promising in the vein of a William Least Heat Moon road trip, but it quickly went pear shaped and I decided that I wasn’t masochistic enough to read any further.
I had to return the audiobook to the library before I got finished, but I'll comment on it anyway! I knew going into this read that the book involves a road trip and some philosophy. I did not know that the author had multiple personalities, which made it way more interesting!
Pirsig calls his story a chatauqua, which is fitting because those are usually talks given by people impersonating historical figures. In this case, Pirsig is getting into the ideas and personality of the crazy genius who used to inhabit his body.
The ideas he expresses are mostly about the difference between classical and romantic thought. Classical minds are good at mechanics; romantic minds are less into rational things and more interested in feelings and art. He becomes hung up on the meaning of "quality" and decides that it is undefinable but essentially "what you like."
Pirsig calls his story a chatauqua, which is fitting because those are usually talks given by people impersonating historical figures. In this case, Pirsig is getting into the ideas and personality of the crazy genius who used to inhabit his body.
The ideas he expresses are mostly about the difference between classical and romantic thought. Classical minds are good at mechanics; romantic minds are less into rational things and more interested in feelings and art. He becomes hung up on the meaning of "quality" and decides that it is undefinable but essentially "what you like."