Rating: 
Summary: The Joy of Engagement!
Review: Before reviewing Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, let me mention that most people will either love or hate the book. Few will be indifferent.Those who will love the book will include those who enjoy philosophy, especially those who are well read in that subject; people who ride and maintain their own motorcycles; readers who are interested in psychology, particularly in terms of the mass hypnosis of social concepts; individuals who are curious about the line we draw between sanity and insanity; and people who want to think about how to deal with troubling personal situations, especially as a parent. As someone who has all of these interests and perspectives, the book fit my needs very well. Those who will dislike the book are people who like lots of action in their novels, dislike the subjects described above, and who want easy reading. This book is very thick with concepts, ideas, metaphors, and layering which reward careful reading and thought. Most text books are considerably easier to read and understand. Few modern novels are any more difficult to read from an intellectual and emotional perspective. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance has several story lines that intertwine to create a synthesis of thought and experience: - a father and young son take a motorcycle trip from the Midwest to California
- the father has an internal dialogue with himself about what he observes about the people around him and their engagement with life and technology
- the father attempts to reconstruct the ideas and perspective he had before being treated as a mental patient (which treatment destroyed and distorted his memory and personality)
- the father looks at the great philosophers of western and eastern civilization and attempts to integrate their thoughts into an aesthetic built around our ability to know quality when we see and experience it
- the father deals with the incipient signs of mental instability in his son and himself. The book is almost impossible to characterize, but let me try anyway. Perhaps the closest book to this one is Hermann Hesse's Siddharta. At the same time, there is also a strong flavor of Zen and the Art of Archery. On the Road by Jack Kerouac covers some of the same intellectual and emotional territory. John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men considers some of the same questions of personal perspective. In terms of challenging the constrictions of society, there is also an element of The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit here. What is most remarkable about the book is the way that it pinpoints the spiritual vacuum in the pursuit of more and shinier personal items. Unlike many books from this time, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance upholds a concept of nobility and worth connected to pursuing material progress in ways that reflect eliminating low quality and replacing it with high quality. Think of this as being like the joy of craftsmanship, compared to the dullness of the assembly line. By setting high standards, expanding those standards, sharing those standards with others, and inspiring people to experience life more fully, we can move forward spiritually as well as intellectually. The motorcycle maintenance details connect these abstractions back to the practical issues of every day, as we roll along across country with the author and his son dealing with the realities of keeping our bike running where the repair and parts options are very limited. The book's afterward is particularly interesting, in which Mr. Pirsig opines about why this book has had such great and lasting appeal and tells you what happened after the book ends. Ultimately, I felt uplifted by the high respect that Mr. Pirsig has for his readers. He takes us very seriously, thinks we are intelligent, and pays us the compliment of believing that we can learn to fundamentally change all of our perspectives and experiences. After you finish this book (if you decide to read it), I suggest that you think about where you disengaged from the challenges, tasks, and people around you. Then, pick out one area and get deeply involved. As you master that one, take on another. And so on. Soon, you will have new and greater respect for yourself . . . and more rewarding relationships. Get your hands dirty!
Rating:
Summary: A real challenge.
Review: I read this book years ago when it first came out and have continued to mull over the meaning that I found in the story. The more I face life and my internal thoughts, the more I reflect on this philosophical book.
Rating:
Summary: A 20th Century Masterpiece
Review: This book changed my life. I've read it several times, and each time I get something new out of it. It is the defining book of the 20th century. Pirsig redefines what Quality means in our culture. You will never look at material objects in the same way again, in fact you will be forced to reevaluate the way you live.
His narrator gets inside your head and sets up shop there. His narrative is intriguing, thought-provoking, emotionally shattering, and often times so complex you will find yourself re-reading passages to make sure you understood them correctly. Told as much as a mystery, as an adventure tale and a dissertation on how we live with technology; with all it's intellectual depth and probing of ancient Greek philosophers, it's remarkably easy to read, clearly written from the point of view of the layman. This book should be a mandatory read for every high school student. The 25th anniversary hardback edition is beautiful as well, and features a new introduciton by author, Robert Pirsig. Take the time to read this masterpiece. You'll thank yourself, over and over.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book, one flaw
Review: An enjoyable book. A good read, and Pirsig has some very good points. But still: the author sets out to define "quality". It is the whole purpose of the book and the journey. And he ends up saying that it can't be defined! Quality is not that hard to define. It is simply "how well something works according to its purpose".
Rating:
Summary: Discover the Meaning of Life with Motorcycle Oil
Review: Robert M. Pirsig's semi-autobiographical, philosophical-fiction novel is in several places brilliant. It will give you reason to pause and view life a little differently. Contrary to it's namesake, it is not a book about the ins and outs of Motorcycle mechanics. It is about an approach to life that embraces quality as a virtue and grasping things we don't understand and living with those around us even in a state of turmoil. It's more about life than motorcycles. Sure, Pirsig's tale centers around a motorcycle journey and he definitely has a love for locomoters of the two-wheel street variety, but at it's heart "Zen and Motorcycles" is a high approach to philosophy and ultimately how that philosophy is turned around to care and love for those close to us...our family and friends and how that relationship is to develop even in times of trouble or when family member's face things and problems larger than themselves. Pirsig's alter ego is a character Phaedrus that is waiting darkly in the wings to enter in and wreak havoc. Pirsig as well as his emotionally-challenged son Chris, must deal with this on a motorcycle trip across the states. The afterword provides us with Chris' tragic outcome and the author finds solace in the journey they had together and loved ones that remain. The book may by a little too deep of a trip for a casual read and may not be complete enough for the philosophical gestalt-expectant, but it's worthwhile putting humanity into deep thoughts. Read it. You won't be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: Quality
Review: As Prisig himself says, "the real cycle you're working on is a cycle called 'yourself'.", "Astronomers would be telling mankind that if it looked long enough through a telescope powerful enough, what it would see was the back of it's own head." I feel like I'm back in school and have just finished a very intensive philosophy class, but theres no grade, no pass or fail, and the University is in your mind. If I've learned anything from this book it is that "Quility" is "Reality". "'Quality' is the parent, the source of all subjects and objects. "Any intellectually conceived object is always in the past and therefore unreal. Reality is always the moment of vision before the intellectualization takes place. There is no other reality." "Religion isn't invented by man. Men are invented by religion. Men invent responses to Quality, and amoung these responses is an understanding of what they themselves are." This is one of the best books I've ever read. It forced me to think and look at the world in a new perspective.
Rating:
Summary: Simply a great book!
Review: I am reading ZAMM for the third time and am finding it even more marvelous this time than the first two times (when I loved it). This book becomes more significant with the passage of time. Not only are his ideas illuminating and always fresh, but his take on modern society -- through his own experience with what is so loosely termed insanity -- is absolutely on target. His wonderful descriptions of his bouts with academia are both funny and unsettling, especially the excruciatingly entertaining episode with the Great Books seminar in Chicago. Pirsig is simply a beacon of independence and a roamer of the high spaces of the intellect invaluable to set off intellectual sparks and new approaches in anyone drawn to ideas. I think he would be worth reading if only for his elucidation of Kant's ideas (I have never been able to make head or tails out of Kant). A wonderful, wonderful book with something for everyone who thinks.
Rating:
Summary: gosh...
Review: I've had a copy of this book for 10 years, and in that time I've read it 4 times. Each time I reread it, I find new things which impress. Just leaving aside the central Metaphysics-of-Quality for a moment, its actually a well written story. The author illustrates his knowledge of language through descriptions of the origins of words, and he puts this knowledge to good use. He seems to have put considerable effort into using the correct words throughout - only the use of 'square' grates nowadays. The other (for me) great thing now is the ironic humour which is especially visible in part 3. For example, there;s the part where the author's son is having a severe emotional crisis in a restaurant, they get up to leave, and the waitress says:
" I'm sorry your boy's not feeling good. " Well if you're familiar with the book, this is so full of irony it can make you laugh out loud. It just leads me to think this guy is *even* cleverer each time you read it.
Rating:
Summary: The motorcycle you repair is yourself.
Review: This is what a book is supposed to be. It raises questions about yourself and what you believe. When I finished the book I had a different outlook on life. Everyone should read it.
Rating:
Summary: Feeling schizophrenic? You're not alone...
Review: This book changed my life. This is one of those books that you either get or you don't. It is all about timing. When it was my time, I stopped doing everything else to read it. I was in the throes of a major mental meltdown. The world I was physically living in was not the world I was living inside of my head. The separation had become almost unbearable. If you are a thinker, analyzing everything (and I mean everything) and have reached the point that you are not sure you can think any deeper and that the rest of the world around you seems far away, this is your book. If you are peeling away the onion layers of the mystery of life from a purely intellectual standpoint and you have realized that it can be infinitely sliced and you are questioning your sanity compared to those around you, this is the book for you. Sure the author is relatively depressed and the tone is not overly buoyant, but this book will take you on the ride of your life. It will take you to the edge but it will not take you over the edge. You will come back and you will come back feeling relieved. You are not alone; there are millions out there who feel the same way. Or this book may save your life. It brought me back by making me realize someone had taken the journey I was about to take and made me realize that it was not the route I wanted to take. Update: I work with people who are homeless, including those who are schizophrenic, chemically addicted, living with other mental illnesses and a whole host of other life issues. This book stands the test of time. Mr. Pirsig was fortunate enough to have lived as long, and as well, as he did before it became too much for him. Many people never return; these are people I see daily. This book, quite honestly, helps the rest of us understand what others with similar thought patterns are living with every day. This is more than Boomer self-indulgence, as one reviewer noted: this is what people I work with wrestle with in their minds every day of their lives. Mr. Pirsig shows us that it is possible to get out (even though the details of his journey back is somewhat skethcy). His follow-up, Lila, is also highly recommended. ...
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