Rating: 
Summary: Why Not to Read This Book
Review: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a perfect example of how not to write a book that is supposed to make the reader think. I felt as if the story that this book had to tell could have been told in 200 pages, maybe. I'm not sure why the book had to drag on for so long.I'll grant this to the people who think that this book is the greatest thing since sliced bread: the discussion of Quality was a good thing that Pirsig brought up, but it went on for far too long. Before long, I was so sick of Quality that I would probably have burned the book after Quality was next mentioned. After the discussion of Quality finally came to a close (the end of the book), I was so confused by what Quality actually was that I now start to wonder what Quality actually is. The rest of the book also proved confusing. I won't try to blind myself to the fact that this was a tough read. I consider myself a very intelligent person, and I had to read and re-read passages and then re-read them again before I could really understand what in the world Pirsig was trying to say. Maybe this would have been a better book if Pirsig had used a slightly less complicated vocabulary and tried to better explain Quality, but Pirsig didn't do this. The main reason not to read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is because Pirsig does too much to confuse the readers.
Rating: 
Summary: Voyage in the Depths of the Soul's Eyes
Review: Who knows what good and quality is after weeks on a complex Chautauqua with Pirsig in his widely recognized creative biography, Zen and the Art of Vehicle Maintenance. This voyage into the fundamentals of classicism, romanticism, technology, anti-technology, Zen, quality, values, history, and relationships is definitely worth the experience despite times of ambiguity, brusqueness, inconsistency, and boredom. Pirsig is an intellectual man, and he provides challenges and has expectations of at least a certain mental caliber for his readers. I believe that few can truthfully claim that they completely enjoyed this book, but many of us are mature enough to understand that this book is certainly positively unique and rare to the literature genres and styles provided today. Certainly, a book as rejected by editors prior to its publishing and as ironically internationally recognized and distinguished as ZATAOVM is today should be read with careful expecations and should be respected even by those readers who do not meet the par of its depths, complexities, and intellectual curiosity (and therefore, do not like the book). Even though I had fairly enjoyed the book, I found one thing very bothersome. A major irony and drawback of this book is the central focus of relationship. Till the end of the story, Pirsig convinces the reader that the voyage is a self-exploration (finding the self) through the filtering of unconscious memories prior to the conscious memories. Phaedrus, an obsessive ghost, is in search of what is the ultimate fundamental right way of perceiving all things, how should we determine and prioritize our values, and what are the most important things in life. It is he who reveals the answers to Pirsig and us, which concludes with a transitional focus back to Pirsig's relationship with his son, Chris. Pirsig confuses the reader whether if his intention is to lecture on philosophy, connect the reader back to their old selves, or connect us back to those who can help us find ourselves. By the way, does he have any intention, emphasis, or purpose at all? Or is intentionally providing us the freedom to extract according to our own capabilities and differences? Pirsig would probably not make a good filmmaker, but he is a wise man worth at least hearing about once in this lifetime. It can be guaranteed that everyone who reads this book, whether if it is completely or half-way, will pick up not one but at least two beautiful wisdoms! But again, everything is determined by mentality (perspective). ZATAOVM is a masterpiece if you chose to see it that way, and it is trash if you chose to blind yourself that way. Pirsig does not determine that but you. You have the natural right of establishing and controlling your own reality, truth, and life purpose. You can follow the crowd amidst your eyes, or be like Phaedrus - create a third way to seeing things that are typically "black or white."
Rating:
Summary: Pirsigs' eye opener
Review: After reading this novel I found myself intrigued by the way that Pirsig thinks and expresses his thoughts through the main character. I also found it very interesting that he was able to tie together three seemingly different stories to creat a wonderful book. The only negative thing that I have to say about this book is that it was very difficult to grasp some of the concepts that he introduced and I had to re-read some of the pages several times before I understood what he was saying. Other than that I found it to be one of the best books I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Is the book worth reading? Yes.
Review: Is the book worth reading? Yes. Would I have read it if not required to? No. How much did I learn? A lot. Would I recommend it? Absolutely.
The book is long; there is not doubt about that. Someone asked me that if I saw Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance on the shelf, would I pick it up? No, I wouldn't pick up the book and read it. Because I was required to read it, I was forced to look beyond my pre-conceived notions to realize there are some merits to the book. The book gives insight into the values of one very confused man. The great part about it is that as he works through his past, you work through it as well. It can be frustrating to try and understand the jumbled thoughts, but read it with the realization that it all works out in the end.
There is one quote in Chapter One that stuck with me throughout the book: "Now the stream of our common consciousness seems to be obliterating its own banks, losing its central direction and purpose, flooding the lowlands, disconnecting and isolating the highlands and to no particular purpose other than the wasteful fulfillment of its own internal momentum. Some channel deepening seems called for." That is what the book is about, deepening Robert's understanding of himself and his relationship with his son. If you're open-minded enough, you can learn a little about yourself as well. Even if all I got were new ways of looking at things and gaining appreciation of different aspects of my life, it was worth it.
Rating: 
Summary: Definately off center on philosophy, but it reads ok
Review: So you are looking for a book on Zen philosophy? Why are you looking here? Go get a real "Zen" book, then read some Plato. When you've done that come back and have a good read from someone else's perspective. This books abilities lie in it's veiwpoint from someone else's perspective, not your's. Remember you are reading someone else's understanding of philosophy and you will be entertained, take it literally and to heart and you will throw it thru a wall.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly bad
Review: The only reason to read this book would be to learn a lesson about avoiding anything that has been hyped too much. This book is not only boring and badly written, it is astonishingly hypocritical: the tone is smug, self-satsified, preaching, everything that Zen philosophy is opposed to! The narrator's painfully inept treatment of his intelligent, sensitive son is all too typical: he doesn't listen, and tries repeatedly to impose his own vision of the world and of what his son should be like on the poor boy. What is Quality, the narrator asks? Well, maybe treating your child as a human being with emotional needs has something to do with it.
Rating: 
Summary: No Book is Perfect
Review: Just pick it up and enjoy it for what it is, not what one was told it is. Sure, some parts lack continuity, but this is a book to read at an enjoyable pace. Don't expect to have a life changing experience, just consider it an opportunity to think with more open-mindedness. It's a satisfying book which you won't soon forget.
Rating:
Summary: Is the Journey worth the Effort?
Review: Firstly, although this book has a cult following, it is as well to remember firstly that it is fiction, and secondly that it is intended to be the ravings of a man recently released from a loony-bin after electroshock therapy. Before he was this hippy motorcyclist he was 'Phaedrus', Professor of Rhetoric. This mechanism allows the author to philosophise behind a mask that can never be criticised. (It also allows him to come to a not particularly satisfying culmination to his rider's journey.) Having set this up, his addled-brain hero rants about the need to define perfection. This is not to say that this is not a well-written book, or than the overlying story about our hero and his son is not of interest - but the underlying stuff does get exceedingly deep in a philosophical sense, where the subject matter is hardly something of life-changing importance and one wonders if the effort to understand it all is really worth the effort. In fact, the philosophical bits can, in truth, get to be rather boring, and one feels racked by guilt if any attempt is made to skip them, lest some important clue about the true nature of the narrator comes through. It proves to be a very long journey! I would refer the reader to a much more rewarding philosophical journey, equally as good in exercising the mind, and one in which there is actually a significant philosophical outcome. Try 'God, Science and the Cosmic Jigsaw' by Jonathan Kingsley. This provides a very thought-provoking bridge between science and religion. There is not a word of fiction in it, but you will get far more out of it - without even getting your fingers oily with motor cycle maintenance!
Rating:
Summary: Lao Tzu or Dr. Phil?
Review: The narrator used to be a different person he refers to as Phaedrus. The reader gets the idea that the narrator had been through the rigors of a mental hospital until he stopped being Phaedrus. Phaedrus was a Professor of Rhetoric, but couldn't stand his Epiphanies. Now in the present time of the story the narrator is on a voyage across America with his eleven year old son on the back of his motorcycle and, riding along with them are a middle-class, unaware couple who are friends but who don't really know the narrator or his son very well. They are riding their motorcycle, but know nothing about how to take care of one. The narrator knows everything about motorcycle maintenance and uses this subject as the basis for his philosophy. The narrator carries off the traditional role of "father knows best" to his son. He is rude and peremptory towards the boy. This personality clashes with the rest of his image as "wise philosopher." There is unending common sense philosophy and logic presented and the narrative is written around it. One thought that I found interesting was that the scholars of the medieval world taught that Earth is a flat platform. If one walks too close to the edge, one might fall off and be lost forever in the outer darkness. The people at that time were terrified of this possibility. But today, we are taught that Reason is the platform on which we live. If we move too close to the edge of Reason, we might fall off and be lost to forever to insanity. This is what now terrifies people.
It is an interesting book, but its seventies outlook comes through.
Rating: 
Summary: It took two goes, but i got there
Review: I managed to get the whole way through on my second attempt at this odd book - hard core philosophical discussion mixed in with the narrator recalling his past life as an insane philosophy-seeker mixed with the story of a road trip. The philosophy is so involved that it is esoteric and actually usually boring rather than mind expanding. And there is very little Zen!! It is hard to feel for the central character - he seems so interesting until he starts becoming so invovled in mind numbing minutiae. But there are some great sections on the riding and the 'art' that can be found in 'non-art' activities like motorcycle maintenance.
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