Rating: 
Summary: The Art of Boredom Maintenance
Review: It is a brave reviewer who wades into the flood of praise that has been heaped upon this book over the years with a skeptical note to sound. (Sorry about mixing all those metaphors, but if you like this book you probably won't mind.) A friend of mine recommended this book to me some years ago, telling me that the book was, for him, genuinely inspirational, a feeling that many other reviewers here appear to share. I read it carefully precisely because I care for my friend and wanted to understand him better. But I have to say, in all honesty, that this is one of the worst books I have ever read.It is not merely that it's pretentious and outlandish--plenty of "philosophical" books fall into those categories--but it is also monumentally boring. It achieves a degree of boringness that remains unmatched by any other book I have read, and I think that if I can honestly boast about anything, I can boast about the number and variety of books I have read. I've read long books, short books, scholarly books, schlocky books, comic books, cookbooks, mystery novels, fantasy novels--you name it, this beats them all in the boredom category. After reading page after interminable page about a meaningless motorcycle drive across Montana and God knows how many other interminable states, interspersed with prurient glimpses into a decaying psyche that winds up imploding in a most anti-climactic way, one begins to count the pages to the end with every page turn. As a teacher of philosophy I was dismayed to find that many people who claim to be interested in philosophy found this book to be an effective introduction to the topic. It is perhaps no accident that the people who tell me that this was the first "philosophy" book they read, and that it was foundational for them, turn out to be among the least philosophical people I know. Indeed, many of them appear to be ineducable in the subject, a property that I ascribe to having used this book as their introduction to the subject. I appear to be in the minority in this view, however. I suppose that I must be some sort of philistine or something, but I can find nothing of value here, either philosophically, spiritually, or psychologically. And I still know nothing about maintaining a motorcycle.
Rating: 
Summary: Three Years Later, New Perspective, Same Feeling
Review: A few years ago, I wrote a review of this book. I share the opinion of many others that this book is a foundational work. Maybe not to all of western culture, as some detractors try and mistakenly claim about its praises, but foundational to some of the individuals that read it. At that time, I was a single teacher/coach and was convinced that I pretty much knew everything that I was ever going to need to know. I read the book to my AP Calculus classes for what I thought would be important to them as they went on about their lives after high school. Now, I am married and will be having twins in May 2001. I am still teaching and coaching, and I am still reading this book to my classes. But now, its to show them what it has done for this one individual, and leave it up to them to find out if it is really something that can help. Zen has now impacted over 10 years of students. During my decade in the classroom, Pirsig's dialouges on the workings of our understanding have given focus to my teaching in a way that no class or mentor ever has. His ability to write about ideas that were so precious to him, and still put it in a way that allows a reader to think for themselves, evaluate for themselves even ENCOURAGE a reader to do so; may be the most valuable lesson that I could ever teach. For me it was a must read. I happened upon it during my own little journey, in a bookstore in the NYC subway system. Right under the Citibank building. I had heard it had something to do with Montana(I was born and raised there) so I picked it up. Over the next 350 miles of bicycle touring, it moved me in such a way that I can barely explain. I'll put it this way. I'm going to start reading it to my twins in December. They are not due until May.
Rating: 
Summary: A Readable and Enchanting Novel Invoking Philosophical Ideas
Review: A Japanese biologist wrote about this book in a Japanese magazine asfollows: Many years ago when she was studying in England and going tobuy a motorcycle, one of her colleagues recommended her to read thisbook, but it was not really a book on motorcycle maintenance but abook that taught philosophy in a simple manner. She liked this bookand read it repeatedly.Reading this story and finding that thetwenty-fifth anniversary edition of this book was published inpaperback, I bought a copy and began to read it by expecting to learnsomething about philosophy or the history of philosophy. To someextent, this expectation made me read the book quickly in an effort toget to possible chapters where the teaching of philosophy might befully given. Even without such a motivation, however, one could readthis book speedily, because the story magically enchants the readerand because the style of Pirsig's writing is very readable even to thenon-native speaker of English who, like me, has read only a smallnumber of novels in English.Surely, descriptions of classicalphilosophies and contemporary philosophical problems are given inparallel with the story of motorcycle traveling, I have found thatthis is essentially a novel, which invokes ideas about thereunification of art and technology and about the quality of life. Thegreat point of the book is that it can also be enjoyed as a bookon philosophy, though descriptions of ancient Greek philosophies inlater chapters are not very understandable. In the last chapters thestory of a relation between a father and his son reaches a movingclimax.
Rating:
Summary: Just two words for you : READ IT!
Review: If you like to read more profound work that is going to make you think, go ahead and read this book. I first bought it when I bought my motorcycle and had no clue what the book was about. All I knew was that it was a famous book. As a theology/religion/philosophy junkie I was pleasantly surprised to read this great work. If you have any doubts about the book, just think about it: it was written 25 years ago and it is still a best seller! That should tell you something. Read it, no, more than that, savor it!
Rating:
Summary: Subjective Inspiration
Review: I find it really hard to be objective about this book. Let me explain: I read "Zen..." when I was 22. It was time in my life when I needed new ideas, even a new way of thinking, if you like. And that is what I loved about this book. For me, it is the story of someone brave enough to follow their own thoughts and actually do something NEW! It contains what, for me, was a wealth of new ideas and the connection of many thoughts I had already had into a broader, deeper picture. Ideas old, new, Eastern and Western all find there place here.Before reading this, my impression of philosophy was a lot of old men arguing about the exact definitions of words. After reading, I became aware of what philosophy should be - the quest to advance human knowledge! For me, this book manages to impart some of the great excitement and adventure of this quest. But then there is the down side. I still believe that philosophy is strange subject, that to study it is a contradiction in terms. Someone who is involved in the discovery of new ideas is what I would call a 'philosopher', rather than those who generally go by that name. But this is not a philosophy text book. The conclusions drawn are probably not very profound or useful for developing a better world. But it is a very good read, on several levels, and very well written. I found it inspiring and thought provoking, even if you do not necessarily agree with the conclusions. This is where I am being subjective. I just found it so exciting that there are people out there chasing new ideas and challenging old ones, that the actual central argument of the book, on the role of quality in life, seemed almost secondary. Still, it has been three years since the first reading. I feel this review has not, and indeed could not express the profound effect this book had on me at the time. Maybe now I should return and be inspired once more!
Rating:
Summary: Zen and the Angst of Modern Life-Maintenance
Review: Of all the angst in modern life, the principal manner of thought with which we most often struggle is that of the seemingly limited choice we face between only one action(thing) or another(thing): does one marry or remain single?; does one raise a family or remain childless?; does one fight or accept peacefull compromise? Deeper still is the troubling notion that people may now more regulary unconsciously view others as either objects or subjects, rather than the multi-dimensional, holistic beings we really are. Pirsig's basic tale--yet profoundly philosophical insight--about an undefined essence called "quality" being the true force behind all decisions of man or nature, offers a unique alternative to the way we have classically limited our attitutes to the "yes or no" solution. How ironic it is, also, to read Pirsig's insightful exposition of how history's renowned Greek philosophers both enlightened and elevated the western mind while trapping it, at the same time, in a cognitive subject-object division that we rely-on today. The essential "paradigm shift" in thought and attitude suggested by "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" will become far more meaningfull in this 21 century, as people grow ever more technologically dependent, and simultaneously emotionally-isolated, from one another. This book is an essential read for both the less-engaged, as well as, the deepest of thinkers among us. And like the Zen concept of Mu(that non-thing in the middle)which Pirsig speaks about, it can offer insights for all of us "somewhere in the middle" people, also.
Rating: 
Summary: I Don't Get It
Review: I'm sorry, I just don't get it. I think this book is over rated. Maybe if I read the whole thing it would have changed the way I think and feel about my life, but after forcing myself through ¾ of the book I said "that's all I can stands I can't stands no more." This book isn't about Zen or motorcycle maintenance, it's about a guy on a motorcycle trip with his son trying to find the truth about his life. Just too much philosophizing for me.
Rating:
Summary: This book is a joke...
Review: This is a layman's, cop-out guide to philosophy... what a joke. Want a nice, abridged history of a beautiful subject, read this, I guess.... But how can you sum up 2000 years of thought in a few hundred pages? Classic America... take the low road, read as little as possible, take the easy way out... whatever is easier... I think things like this in like are rediculous... I kept waiting for it to go deep, I mean really deep. It never did.
Rating:
Summary: A classical book I keep returning to.
Review: This is one of the books I keep returning to, like Catch 22, The Dilbert Principle, Alice in Wonderland, etc. And the reason I return to this book, is that every time I can find a whole new facet that didnt speak to me before. E.g. the first time, the philosophy interested me, the next time the father-son relationships, the next time the changes the hero goes through, etc. It's more than a book about philosophy, quality, a trip through nature, or some other single issue - it's a book about life at large, which is why I think it's a true classic book. I like discussing this book with people - I always get another angle on the book, which also tells me something about the person, as what he finds interesting in the book gives me a glimpse into his character and interests. It's not an easy or quick book to read, but it's more than worth the time spent reading & rereading it.
Rating:
Summary: Great. Must read. I will read it again.
Review: I had heard a lot about this book since I was in grade school, but could never get around to reading it. I finally did read it a couple of years back and I dont know how to express how it went. All I can say is that one must read it. In brief, and only one way of looking at this one is, he is trying to define quality. But that is just a small part of the whole. He is very observant and its a great mix of philosopy with what we feel and he does a great job in patching the rest up. The best part is that its a story and not some text on philosopy. I like his writing style and you will notice all the thought he put into every small detail. Its very carefully written. I particularly liked his expression of gumption. Read it. You wont regret it.
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