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Lyn's Reviews > Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values (Phaedrus, #1)
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“The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there.�
Robert M. Pirsig’s brilliant 1974 novel about a father and son motorcycle ride across the west, from Minnesota to California is also a journey for the reader. We examine this “fictionalized autobiography� in terms of relationships, unreliable narrators, delusions, mental illness, and ultimately about trueness with one’s self.
“The truth knocks on the door and you say, "Go away, I'm looking for the truth," and so it goes away. Puzzling.�
This is also about quality and what that means. Pirsig’s meandering quest for quality, and / or Tau, or Buddhism, is central to his narrative and is a focus for his thoughts on truth.
“You look at where you're going and where you are and it never makes sense, but then you look back at where you've been and a pattern seems to emerge.�
The book explores the narrator’s relationship with his son, as well as his contacts with other people, but this is also about his reconciliation with his own past and how he can be the man he is now while understanding who he was and how he came to be where he is.
This is one of, if not the, best-selling philosophy books of all time and was a treasure, if not an easy book, to read.
“Sometimes it's a little better to travel than to arrive�
*** 2025 reread -
A fascinating philosophy book with a good story mixed in.
This time around I noticed the personality of the author shining through and this was a better story than I realized. Before I thought of this mainly as a book of philosophy, and it is with long sections taken up with erudite philosophical musings, but the surface story of a father rediscovering himself has more depth and charm than I realized the first time I read it.
That said, it can be a dry book and while there are sections that demonstrate excellent writing, there are other parts that lagged badly and maybe this has not aged as well as I earlier thought.
Still a damn fine work and worth the time to explore or reread.
Robert M. Pirsig’s brilliant 1974 novel about a father and son motorcycle ride across the west, from Minnesota to California is also a journey for the reader. We examine this “fictionalized autobiography� in terms of relationships, unreliable narrators, delusions, mental illness, and ultimately about trueness with one’s self.
“The truth knocks on the door and you say, "Go away, I'm looking for the truth," and so it goes away. Puzzling.�
This is also about quality and what that means. Pirsig’s meandering quest for quality, and / or Tau, or Buddhism, is central to his narrative and is a focus for his thoughts on truth.
“You look at where you're going and where you are and it never makes sense, but then you look back at where you've been and a pattern seems to emerge.�
The book explores the narrator’s relationship with his son, as well as his contacts with other people, but this is also about his reconciliation with his own past and how he can be the man he is now while understanding who he was and how he came to be where he is.
This is one of, if not the, best-selling philosophy books of all time and was a treasure, if not an easy book, to read.
“Sometimes it's a little better to travel than to arrive�
*** 2025 reread -
A fascinating philosophy book with a good story mixed in.
This time around I noticed the personality of the author shining through and this was a better story than I realized. Before I thought of this mainly as a book of philosophy, and it is with long sections taken up with erudite philosophical musings, but the surface story of a father rediscovering himself has more depth and charm than I realized the first time I read it.
That said, it can be a dry book and while there are sections that demonstrate excellent writing, there are other parts that lagged badly and maybe this has not aged as well as I earlier thought.
Still a damn fine work and worth the time to explore or reread.
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
July 30, 2011
– Shelved
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Khushwant
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Aug 31, 2017 06:10AM
Hey, how is this book?
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Great, read years ago, very much pre GR, so I need to reread and give a good review
I read it last year, and to be honest I found it tedious and meaningless
This sounds good! I always wanted to ride a motorcycle! Oh well!
Nice review, Lyn--another book I need to pull off the shelf and reread.
I have wondered if this book would stand the test of time! I might pick this one back up too now. Thanks.
Love this book since the 90's thanks
Thanks Hannah and Christopher
