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Guillermo 's Reviews > Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
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Fuck! I hate this. I give up. I can't anymore. The last page I actually read was 217, so I didn't officially "finish" this book, but it will go into my finished pile. I need all the help I can get. My goal was 50 books this year, and Im 8 books behind. I will count this book as read no matter what you say.
You know when you start a roadtrip and everything is awesome and a breath of fresh air in the beginning, but then you're at each other's throats towards the middle? That's what this book was. It started off slow and boring. Like a lazy canoe trip through the Everglades. It was a nice change of pace from the bombastic stuff I was reading, but then you bash into a wall. The boring stuff is interlaced with more boring stuff. I know I sound like a monkey now. I know I sound uneducated as shit, but those philosophy lessons embedded into the narrative were soo boring. The book is a great example of the archethypical "journey story" that turns sucky. At first, you're jiving with everything, you get into some cool conversations, but after a few days, ... everyone stinks. Everyone is tired and have bags under their eyes. The vaginas smell like old tuna and the penises smell like rotting bacon (I made that up I never smelled crusty penis). Everything sucks. Thats what this booj turned into. Plus, the author is a douchebag. He's boring me. I'm supposed to believe he was formerly known as Phaedrus, and he thought himself into insanity on the quest of finding out the meaning of quality and rationality? Im not exaggerating that. Early in the book he describes how he got electro fucking shock therapy for this.
Really!! You fucking drove yourself literally insane thinking about that??? You really thought yourself into that black a hole? Fucking get a life! Who does that?
At that moment, my credibility for the author (who is thinly veiled as the protagonist in this stupid story) flew out the window. You have a kid dude!! Get it together. It doesn't help that he's such an asshole to that kid. All in the name of making him grow up to be a great man. Really? Fucking feed that kid, and dont make him climb a stupid mountain because of your own ridiculous ambition.
Maybe this book does a 180 degree turn in the final half and becomes really evocative AND entertaining, but I just dont care anymore. I hate giving books this low a rating. Its evidence that I wasted my time.
No more. There are too many awesome books out there I should spend my finite time on.
You know when you start a roadtrip and everything is awesome and a breath of fresh air in the beginning, but then you're at each other's throats towards the middle? That's what this book was. It started off slow and boring. Like a lazy canoe trip through the Everglades. It was a nice change of pace from the bombastic stuff I was reading, but then you bash into a wall. The boring stuff is interlaced with more boring stuff. I know I sound like a monkey now. I know I sound uneducated as shit, but those philosophy lessons embedded into the narrative were soo boring. The book is a great example of the archethypical "journey story" that turns sucky. At first, you're jiving with everything, you get into some cool conversations, but after a few days, ... everyone stinks. Everyone is tired and have bags under their eyes. The vaginas smell like old tuna and the penises smell like rotting bacon (I made that up I never smelled crusty penis). Everything sucks. Thats what this booj turned into. Plus, the author is a douchebag. He's boring me. I'm supposed to believe he was formerly known as Phaedrus, and he thought himself into insanity on the quest of finding out the meaning of quality and rationality? Im not exaggerating that. Early in the book he describes how he got electro fucking shock therapy for this.
Really!! You fucking drove yourself literally insane thinking about that??? You really thought yourself into that black a hole? Fucking get a life! Who does that?
At that moment, my credibility for the author (who is thinly veiled as the protagonist in this stupid story) flew out the window. You have a kid dude!! Get it together. It doesn't help that he's such an asshole to that kid. All in the name of making him grow up to be a great man. Really? Fucking feed that kid, and dont make him climb a stupid mountain because of your own ridiculous ambition.
Maybe this book does a 180 degree turn in the final half and becomes really evocative AND entertaining, but I just dont care anymore. I hate giving books this low a rating. Its evidence that I wasted my time.
No more. There are too many awesome books out there I should spend my finite time on.
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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
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Reading Progress
July 9, 2013
–
Started Reading
July 9, 2013
– Shelved
July 9, 2013
– Shelved as:
fiction
July 18, 2013
–
51.58%
"Im drifting...losing interest..can you still be redeemed? Yes you can. Youre only half dead, which also means youre half alive. Youre fading fast as fuck though."
page
196
July 24, 2013
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-44 of 44 (44 new)
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message 1:
by
Apatt
(new)
Jul 19, 2013 06:46PM
Even the title is off-putting to me, it's one of Reddit's favorite books though so I'm looking forward to hear your comments!
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Im about halfway, so it can still rehabilitate itself, but man. I really dont mind philosophy wrapped in a super thin narrative (like Sophies World which I enjoyed), and there are good ideas in this book, but its starting to bore me.
Guillermo wrote: "and there are good ideas in this book, but its starting to bore me. ..."Good ideas tend to do that ;)
I hated this book so damn much when I was forced to read it in school. Luckily I barely remember anything about it.
This review is hilarious. I haven't read the book myself, but I've seen nothing but positive feedback about it. Coming from that, your review was a bit unexpected which I found highly amusing. I was remotely considering picking this book up, but considering your response I think I'll give it a pass. I'm not a fan of pretentiousness.
Thank you! That book was like a bad girlfriend. Im kindof missing it now because it was my travel-to-work paperback, but Im not going back to that prostitute. Its not written bad, and I may get appreciation out of it at some point. You might love it and think Im a kook. Im a little sad to bash it, but it was just "wrong place, wrong time" with that thing.
I tried to read it in COLLEGE and found it too pretentious so I'll bet I'd really hate it now. BTW we had a boring friend in college who rode his boring motorcycle across the US and it was all he could talk about. That made this book all the more irritating, or vice versa. :)
Ha! I bet your friend who rode his "boring motorcycle across the US.." had more interesting stories and/or wisdom than those found here. This review is the harshest thing I've written, but I just got so irritated. One paragraph of boring annoying travels with his grumpy son, then the rest of the chapter in a flashback of his days trying to teach what "quality" means to his unfortunate class. Rinse and repeat.
Im fascinated, disgusted, and thankful at the same time, that you people are enjoying my vulgar assessment of this book. Do you know how many times Ive contemplated deleting this shit, and changed my mind because I got a "like" from a complete stranger?? Thanks, people.
It really is my loss. It's a cross I will have to carry to my death I guess.
Really? You read 1 book and this it, and you gave it 5 stars? Youre a mod. Pathetic.
You critisized me for not finishing? News to me, since you never wrote that.
How much do they pay you? How about you pretend to have a profile, couple of read books, maybe one or two friends, and then comment.
Sorry, man. Been on the defensive as of late. Guess youre not a douche.
Oh fuck you man, go to hell already, I try to be nice, and you try to stick dynamite up my ass. That's what I get for trying to be reasonable. Did you even read my last posts or are you just on an anger bender. I was trying to play nice, and this is the fucking stupidity I get. Do not respond, because I will no longer respond, whoever or whatever you are. It's obvious you're not a rational thing.
For the record You posts were showing up late here. Nevertheless I've deleted all of my posts
I still dont think youre a member, but it was a well written review.
Like I previously stated, I just joined today!Although I'm not real happy with the outcome thus far.
You come out of the gate swinging at me with no profile, in a time when members are worried about censorship. This is my only 1 star rating, by the way, so its pretty suspicious.
Sorry if you got a bad vibe, check back in a few weeks if were still here, and own up to the fact that you approached me like a douchebag, and you got the response you deserved.
Look... you certainly give quite a mixed message.I cast no obscenities at you... yet you accuse me of being a non member more than once, accuse me of being paid to write something, you state fuck you, go to hell, refer to me as a douchebag twice and this is the response I deserve because I stated that it was a loss that you chose to not finish the book?
I don't think it was me who came out swinging, and I certainly didn't refer to any kind of censorship.I was neither hostile nor aggressive.
The fact that you still take time to attack me and address a single one of my reconcilliations, and have not a single outside of "Zen", confirms to me you're an employee of Amazon. Stop trolling me already.
The fact that you still take time to attack me and address a single one of my reconcilliations, and have not a single outside of "Zen", confirms to me you're an employee of Amazon. Stop trolling me already.
Thanks for the laughs! I completely agree with your review!!
Thank you Natasha. That's so nice to hear.
I don't like this review very much. Although you are of course free to post your opinion (freedom of speech), I think it's rather shallow and not supported quite well. I can clearly read you didn't finish it.Yes, it is difficult to finish and yes there are things I don't understand in there too, but I hardly think you should define your opinion in terms of 'the vaginas smell like olf tuna', 'douchebag' and 'fucking get a life'.
You made it further than me! I'm only on page 50 and after he woke everyone up at 5:30am, forced them to ride in the freezing cold and then pretty much chalked it up to them being pussies when they were pissed, I'm done. Also, who cares about all the motorcycle details?? So ridiculously boring!
I couldn't stand the book either. It was a best seller, supposed to be wonderful philosophy, but it was down right boring, and who wants to read about a father who is verbally abusive to his son?
Guillermo and the Art of Book Reviewing! - Love it, buddy!! -- What is the best book you have read this summer?
This book sucked. It's a "philosophy" book for people who haven't ever actually thought about anything.
Thank you. This review made me feel so much better about putting this stupid book back on the shelf.
very entertaining review, I will stay away from this book:)
I am 24% into the book and feeling the same way. Every time I read a little more, I look down at my Kindle's progress bar and think, "Christ, all those boring ass pages and I've only progressed two percent?!" I am forcing myself to read, which is a rarity for me. Thanks for the entertaining review.
haha, this could be the best review of a book ever. fixing to read the actual book, but will probably throw it after about 10 min after reading this review. its like when everybody says something stinks terrible, you still gotta smell it for yourself, and immediately wished you had listened.
You probably should not project your own failures on a public review. I recommend removing your rating and review - they add nothing of Quality to the GoodReads community.
Dude--MAYOR SPOILER----- the kid of the author dies at the end, so I guess he was never able to become a "man" and the book become a tragedy...
Oh mate, this review is class!! I'm struggling so much with this book at the moment and was debating whether to give up. There's a lot of 1 star reviews that have made me think SACK IT OFF!!! But yours takes the biscuit! It made me howl laughing!! Thanks lar, I'll be forever grateful as I lash this bag of shite on my not finishable pile!
One of the single greatest reviews I’ve ever read! Thank you for your honesty. The only thing on earth more boring than a college sociology class, was philosophy (and geology). And THIS, isn’t even philosophy, it’s just a glimpse into Satan’s snow globe or some cuckoo bananas bullshit. Life is too short, and there are too many good books. No one should ever waste their time on the written version of a shitty acid trip. No.
Damn, "get a life!" ... Really? zero sympathy for an individual who suffered from schizophrenia in the fucking 1960s and was a victim of electro shock therapy. Don't get me wrong I thought the book was mid too but damn dude have some sympathy, jeez.
I fully agree. I couldn't get through it either. And he rants and rants and rants like a drunk uncle that you want to stfu already so you can fall asleep
