karastotle 's review for:

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values by Robert M. Pirsig

2.0

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2.5 stars. In some ways, I should have absolutely loved this book, even though philosophy really isn't my cup of tea — on a meta level, it's all about the blurry line between fiction and nonfiction, plus you have the psychology angle because of Phaedrus' condition (which I won't spoil for those who haven't read this yet). I also love road trip stories, and obviously the cross-country motorcycle trip provides the frame for this story. So overall, I was pretty excited to read this book, even if it is philosophical fiction.

But this book just failed for me on multiple levels. First of all, the philosophical arguments weren't that tightly put together, and the rambling, over-long nature of the monologues didn't help me follow the logic — and in some cases, made it painful to try. I also neither liked the narrator nor felt sympathy for him, or even interest to see what happened to him.

Spoiler

For me this was particularly tragic since Phaedrus/the narrator has a mental illness and also underwent forced ECT (electroconvulsive therapy), both of which can alter your personality beyond your control. I suspect that these two factors greatly contributed to the "asshole" attitude that other readers have complained about, and I tried really hard to be sympathetic to him.

However, I just couldn't get over his pretentious attitude towards every other intellectual, nor his harsh treatment of his wife and son.

I guess it's a good thing that I finally read this and finally know what everyone is so hyped up about, but I think there are definitely better books that you could spend a week+ of your life reading.