| |  | Books : Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (P.S.) |  | | | | | | | | | |
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780061673733
ISBN: 0061673730
Label: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 448
Publication Date: October 01, 2008
Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Release Date: September 30, 2008
Sales Rank: 3055
Studio: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
'The real cycle you're working on is a cycle called 'yourself.''
One of the most important and influential books of the past half-century, Robert M. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a powerful, moving, and penetrating examination of how we live and a meditation on how to live better. The narrative of a father on a summer motorcycle trip across America's Northwest with his young son, it becomes a profound personal and philosophical odyssey into life's fundamental questions. A true modern classic, it remains at once touching and transcendent, resonant with the myriad confusions of existence and the small, essential triumphs that propel us forward.
Amazon.com Review:
In his now classic Zen and the Art of MotorcycleMaintenance, Robert Pirsig brings us a literary chautauqua, anovel that is meant to both entertain and edify. It scores high onboth counts.
Phaedrus, our narrator, takes a present-tensecross-country motorcycle trip with his son during which themaintenance of the motorcycle becomes an illustration of how we canunify the cold, rational realm of technology with the warm,imaginative realm of artistry. As in Zen, the trick is to become onewith the activity, to engage in it fully, to see and appreciate alldetails--be it hiking in the woods, penning an essay, or tighteningthe chain on a motorcycle.
In his autobiographical first novel,Pirsig wrestles both with the ghost of his past and with the mostimportant philosophical questions of the 20th century--why hastechnology alienated us from our world? what are the limits ofrational analysis? if we can't define the good, how can we live it?Unfortunately, while exploring the defects of our philosophicalheritage from Socrates and the Sophists to Hume and Kant, Pirsiginexplicably stops at the middle of the 19th century. With theexception of Poincaré, he ignores the more recent philosopherswho have tackled his most urgent questions, thinkers such as Peirce,Nietzsche (to whom Phaedrus bears a passing resemblance), Heidegger,Whitehead, Dewey, Sartre, Wittgenstein, and Kuhn. In the end, thenarrator's claims to originality turn out to be overstated, hisreasoning questionable, and his understanding of the history ofWestern thought sketchy. His solution to a synthesis of the rationaland creative by elevating Quality to a metaphysical level simplyrepeats the mistakes of the premodern philosophers. But in contrast tomost other philosophers, Pirsig writes a compelling story. And he is atrue innovator in his attempt to popularize a reconciliation ofEastern mindfulness and nonrationalism with Western subject/objectdualism. The magic of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenanceturns out to lie not in the answers it gives, but in the questions itraises and the way it raises them. Like a cross between The Razor's Edge andSophie's World,Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance takes us into 'thehigh country of the mind' and opens our eyes to vistas ofpossibility. --Brian Bruya
Customer Reviews Average Rating: 
Rating:  - A Pseudo-intellectual Classic
A pseudo-intellectual classic for people who can't handle real philosophy. I met a woman years ago who thought that metaphysics was the study of "ESP and stuff." She had just entered a graduate program in philosophy. Zen and the Art would be perfect for her. For those interested in reading real philosophy, I recommend Martin Heidegger's The Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics: World, Finitude, Solitude (Indiana University Press, 1995). Don't worry about reading Being and Time right away, just enjoy ... Read More
Rating:  - Appreciate the clarification of ideas in writing
I have marked several pages in this book where the author succinctly wrote about ideas that I have had but were unclearly conceived in my own mind.A problem many of us have is with language itself being of such abstract nature, often our feelings or impressions of things are either unclear or incomplete as a result.Pirsig has the ability to express complex ideas clearly and often used examples, metaphors, or paraphrasing to facilitate that.
Rating: - Neat
For those who are unfamiliar with philosophy, this is a very accesible book with some nice insights.
It reads like a train (although you might want to pause once in a while to think about some paragraphs).
It is a bit outdated, and I have some personal remarks concerning a few topics.
Rating: - Couldn't put it down.
This was a thought provocing and very enjoyable read.Although it isn't "action packed" or anything, that isn't the point.The author's naration tells the tale of his philosophical journey cross country with his son on his motorcyle.Not only was this book inspirational, but provides new insight in terms of how one sees the world around them.A must read!
Rating: - About this book
I re-read this book after about 15 years and enjoyed it just as much as the first time, but I got something different out of it this time too.
This book has a great calming effect on me.It's so interesting on so many subjects, and so accesssible.This is such a relevent read.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (P.S.) | | | |
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