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boboswell 's review for:
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
by Robert M. Pirsig
This book is really three different stories rolled into one; the first being a narrative that follows the main character and his young son, Chris, as they embark on a 17-day motorcycle trip from Minnesota to Northern California. This tale is oddly appealing to me; odd in the sense that the journey that Pirsig actually describes includes hours of monotonous traveling across flat and featureless land in unfavorable weather and having frustrating conversations with his son.
Not that there aren’t highlights along the way, he tells of beautiful scenery that can’t be captured by photos, helpful and hospitable people, and he even occasionally details proper techniques of motorcycle maintenance. But these moments are separated by long passages describing the otherwise mundane journey. Pirsig not only describes the differences in the country and climate, but also in the people and how they perceive and relate to others.
The book proceeds to go a bit deeper into the mind and character of Robert Pirsig as a person. Even though the first paragraph in the book states that many of the events within the book are based on factual occurrences, I didn’t realize to what extent that was true. The narrator tells a backstory of what happened to him some years ago, when he underwent electroconvulsive therapy to rid himself of an alternate personality named Phaedrus (a character from Plato). After I finished reading the book, I checked out the Wikipedia article on the author and found that he underwent something similar:
The Phaedrus character delves into deep discussions of his thoughts on “Quality”, which is the third branch of this tale. This seems to be the area that causes the book to be scrutinized on the idea it tries to promote, and why I’ve found it filed under the Philosophy section at a local bookstore. Some of the character’s philosophizing does tend to ramble on, even incoherently at times, but I did enjoy hearing how he went about making his arguments, even if I ultimately didn’t agree with them.
To me, this was a memorable book and one I’d like to read again sometime in the future. Since I listened to the audiobook format, I’d like to read it again as a physical book. It was oddly inspiring and thought provoking. And I someday hope to be fortunate enough to write a similar tale of fabulous travels with loved ones.
Not that there aren’t highlights along the way, he tells of beautiful scenery that can’t be captured by photos, helpful and hospitable people, and he even occasionally details proper techniques of motorcycle maintenance. But these moments are separated by long passages describing the otherwise mundane journey. Pirsig not only describes the differences in the country and climate, but also in the people and how they perceive and relate to others.
The book proceeds to go a bit deeper into the mind and character of Robert Pirsig as a person. Even though the first paragraph in the book states that many of the events within the book are based on factual occurrences, I didn’t realize to what extent that was true. The narrator tells a backstory of what happened to him some years ago, when he underwent electroconvulsive therapy to rid himself of an alternate personality named Phaedrus (a character from Plato). After I finished reading the book, I checked out the Wikipedia article on the author and found that he underwent something similar:
Pirsig suffered a nervous breakdown and spent time in and out of psychiatric hospitals between 1961 and 1963. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and clinical depression as a result of an evaluation conducted by psychoanalysts, and was treated with electroconvulsive therapy on numerous occasions, a treatment he discusses in his novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
The Phaedrus character delves into deep discussions of his thoughts on “Quality”, which is the third branch of this tale. This seems to be the area that causes the book to be scrutinized on the idea it tries to promote, and why I’ve found it filed under the Philosophy section at a local bookstore. Some of the character’s philosophizing does tend to ramble on, even incoherently at times, but I did enjoy hearing how he went about making his arguments, even if I ultimately didn’t agree with them.
To me, this was a memorable book and one I’d like to read again sometime in the future. Since I listened to the audiobook format, I’d like to read it again as a physical book. It was oddly inspiring and thought provoking. And I someday hope to be fortunate enough to write a similar tale of fabulous travels with loved ones.