Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values

Looking at the reviews here, this book is loved by hundreds and reviled by a small percentage. I wonder what causes so much passion? It's wonderful that we have, among those who gave the book just one star, so many people who are so far above it intellectually -- too familiar with philosophy, too personally enlightened, perhaps -- to find any value in it. But I would like to point out to the subset of our best and brightest, those who tell everyone else not to waste their time reading it, that just because you got nothing out of the book doesn't mean no one else will.One of the complaints I see here is that there isn't much of the title's Zen nor much motorcycle maintenance, either -- and I note that the author says something about this in his introduction, so it must be true, right? -- yet I believe there is plenty of both. If the reader is expecting an introduction to Zen or a How To manual on motorcycle maintenance, those will not be found. It's not even the author sharing his enjoyment of either of the two fields with his audience. But the themes that run throughout the book explore many of the same ideas the Buddha did, and several concepts important to motorcycle maintenance that will not be found in manuals are discussed throughout the work. But the title really represents the duality that Pirsig puts under his microscope: Zen represents the hippie "go with the flow" attitude that is contrasted to the "slice and dice" schemes of technology, via motorcycle maintenance. And in the end, the title doesn't say just motorcycle maintenance; it's the "Art " that's critical, because one thing the book is aiming for is to show us that the science of technology is an art -- or at least should be an art -- and that the two ways of looking at life don't need to be in opposition, but can be quite naturally blended, to the benefit of all concerned.It might seem like the novel is caught in its time, with language about those who see things as "groovy" vs. "the squares" but the dichotomy between the two has been under discussion in various forms for centuries: romanticism vs. empiricism, passion vs. logic, science vs. religion. The same split is found today underlying two sides of the debate over climate change. If the book is not approached as being literally about Zen and motorcycle maintenance, but as using these as stand-ins for concepts that can be much larger -- or even much smaller -- there is a lot to be gained here.Another complaint is that the protagonist is not sympathetic, but that's because this isn't a novel written from the romantic side, nor, really, the empirical side -- it's not even a novel, though it reads a lot like one -- it is a true-enough tale of relationships between two related men, and a father and a son, and a road trip that carries with it time for plenty of slow discussion of philosophy. The book takes its time putting the pieces together, and the author isn't trying to win our love -- if you can approach the book on its own terms rather than with a whole load of expectations about what it should do and how it should do it, you may get something out of it -- but to truly enjoy it, you've got to go with the flow, you know?I know I get a lot out of it every time I read it. I love road stories, and this one is paced just like a real long-distance trip, with long stretches of time to think things through interspersed with short breaks for taking care of the business of life. That what's going on in the environment, relationships, and other encounters reflects what's being thought through in the long stretches is a small bonus. The writing is clean and evocative, enjoyable. For the most part, the carefully constructed introduction to all the elements needed to understand the philosophy is gentle enough to be clear and not overly taxing, at least until the deepest parts, which can be hard to follow (and for good reason). The elements of psychological mystery captivate me each time.I first read ZAMM the year it was released, in the mid-70s, and have read it at least every five years since then, and each time I thoroughly enjoy it. The first time through, I could not follow the philosophy all the way down into the descent into madness it brought on. Five years later -- with time for the ideas to be examined through my own life -- I got it, even agreed with it. This time, this reading, is the first time I ended up doubting the validity of the greatest philosophical insights the story offers. Ironically, it's my deepening understanding of Buddhism that changed my mind.There really is a lot of Buddhism in this book, and not specifically Zen, either, but the deepest themes common to all forms of Buddhism. The questions about the wisdom of dividing the world up into a duality of the physical vs. the mental, of seeing ourselves as somehow separate from everything else, these were explored by the Buddha, too, though the framework he used to discuss these ideas was -- obviously -- nothing to do with motorcycles. In Dependent Arising he, too, considers how it comes to be that we split the world in two. "Name and form" he calls this split, and later thinkers have described what he was talking about as the same subject-object division that Pirsig is mulling over in ZAMM. The Buddha, though, says that it is "desire for existence" -- not quality -- that, to borrow Pirsig's phrase, "is the generator of everything we know". I tend to agree with the Buddha because I can see in our lives, and through our sciences, what that desire for existence is and why it drives us to divide the world up the way we do, and exactly how it leads us into trouble. I can't say the same for Pirsig's metaphysics, but that doesn't stop me from deep enjoyment of the book. I hope to have another half-dozen five-yearly reads, if I'm lucky, and -- who knows -- maybe I will come around again to see it the way he does.

This book introduces a national park and ends with a discussion on logic, and has very concrete reasons to support rationalism.

The book is based on true accounts experienced by the author. The book doesn't really talk about Zen, but is more based on Western Philosophy. The author writes, "What follows is based on actual occurrences. Although much has been changed for rhetorical purposes, it must be regarded in its essence as fact. However, it should in no way be associated with that great body of factual information relating to orthodox Zen Buddhist practice. It's not very factual on motorcycles, either."The book is about the author's cross-country motorcycle trip with his 8 year old son Chris, which leads to a journey of self-discovery. It is an examination of the spiritual relationship between a parent and a child, and man's search for reason. During this journey, the author teaches us about life and the human condition in a profound and thought-provoking way. It is a terrific book about philosophy and life, albeit a difficult read. After reading this book, you might reevaluate the way you live, go on a personal quest for the meaning of life, and be interested in reading more books on philosophy. In my case, the book made me want to read more about Kant and Hume, and review some of the books I read before on Plato and Aristotle.Some of the deep philosophical questions and conundrums raised by the author are:(a) Before Newton discovered The Law of Gravity, was there gravity? Did gravity exist before Newton or is it the thought of Gravity that suddenly manifested the Law of Gravity? Is it the thought of something that suddenly creates it?(b) The Arabs and Indians used the `zero' before the Romans and Greeks. Why did the Greeks not invent the zero? How did their societies function for so long without the zero? Could it have continued without the discovery of `zero'? Was the `zero' always there regardless of whether it was discovered or not?(c) All arguments, solutions, and scientific `truths' have already been invented. We simply discover the best solution.(d) How do we define the "present" when everything we're conscious of has already happened, and is already a part of the past?(e) Which self is the real you?(f) What is good and what is bad? The book opens with the following quote:"And what is good, Phaedrus,and what is not good--Need we ask anyone to tell us these things?"(g) "Astronomers would be telling mankind that if he looked long enough through a telescope powerful enough, what he would see is the back of his own head."(h) In life there is no grade, no pass or fail.(i) "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."(j) "Religion wasn't invented by man. Man was invented by religion." [No idea who invented women, hihihihihi](k) How can something can be exclusively "material," when our reality is exclusively spiritual(l) We should remain open to the part of the world that is beyond appearances, beyond the so-called matter, and cannot be experienced but only imagined.(m) How do you deal with technology and remain sane?(n) Man searches for something that he can't quite define, identify or reach.Plato and Aristotle, the author argues, conceived a system of thought in which beauty is severed from functionality. Functionality became less attractive to us than beauty. Plato and Aristotle, according to the author, committed a murderous act by this system of thought that is still carried out till today. "Quality" has thus been victimized.The author went insane as a graduate student as he searched for the answer to "what is quality?", and spent considerable time at the asylum. He was subjected to shock treatments that wiped out his personality and most of his memory. He later realized that he was not really insane, but thought in a different level than most people.Pirsig sees the problems in our world as the result of an overemphasis on beauty, when functionality is more essential. One reviewer puts it nicely, "...pure `function' has problems of its own. For example, our bodily organs carry out the function of allowing us to live, but one doesn't really desire for our skin to be translucent so we can watch these functions. In fact, we would have a revulsion to such a thing. Therefore, we have a combination of both "form" [beauty] and "function"; our organs work very well without our having to see them. This is the desirable state. This desirable state is called `Quality'."However, `Quality' is indefinable. It comes before thought, and before actions. Any attempt at describing it is useless, because as soon as you attempt to, you are only talking about one aspect of it.This is one of those books that you either both understand and enjoy or you don't. It is really all about timing, your past experiences and knowledge, and your reasons for reading this book in the first place. If you don't understand it put it down and wait until the time is right. Don't throw it away!Read this book slowly if you really want to understand it. If you like to read thought provoking and intellectually challenging books, you will love it!To close, one reviewer wrote, "Many of the negative reviews are from people who had a preconceived notion of what this book was before they read it (either from the title or from a recommendation) and were upset that it didn't meet their expectations. It seems to me that these folks have received their Zen lesson..."