On the Road with Aristotle: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974)
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But I generally enjoy books that have "quotable wisdom" in the narrative. One of the quotes that has stuck with me the longest is from this book:
"The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there."
And yeah, it's a book worth reading through, if grueling at times. I can't find the quote, but one of his points is that quality things have quality because their creators deeply cared about them and put that care into the product. It seemed very Jobsian (maybe not surprising given his own interests).
And more on the concepts of 'Quality' and the thought process of an analytical person.
The book starts with fairly simple real world examples I'm sure most people could agree or relate with(the author/character was an editor of 'Digital Computer Manuals') .
I remember going to Duke Chapel a number of years ago and looking at the stone work there and wondering if there was even enough masons of that caliber to build something like that today. Then I thought what it must be like, being able to bring your children and grand children there and say, "Pappy helped build this place with his hands".
Perhaps it's a case of greener pastures but it sure seems having the ability to draw on those types of experiences would act as a warm blanket when the more cynical me started to develop a cold perspective.
Take the idea of Quality, for example. Pirsig talks about it for half the book; this is a concept that drives him insane and is central to his life and to the narrative. I still haven't the foggiest idea of what he is talking about, pages of strange analogies notwithstanding.
To me, this was a book about a troubled intellectual and his grappling with mental illness. About somebody that drives himself insane by obsessing over abstruse concepts arising from human experience. And it's a well-told story that made me think, but also made it very hard to relate to the protagonist simply because I do. not. understand. his intellectual struggle.
How would you define quality?
Whenever Pirsig talks about quality, it seems that he is heavily overloading the term. What he is really trying to do is develop a set of guiding principles that makes him feel like he understands the world and his role in it. Most people use religion or science for this, but Pirsig explicitly rejects science as a way of discovering the truth (for his definition of truth), and I think he implicitly rejects religion as well. I ended up reading "Quality" as just a label that he attaches to the personal philosophy he develops instead.
Philosophy has a really strong "begat" narrative that helps if you're interested in learning the bases. E.g. A begat B begat C...
Also, I think one of the difficulties in talking about philosophy is that specialized language in the field has incredible compression efficiency. It's a lot easier to say Kantian than to take 1,000 words to recap his arguments and beliefs.
OTOH, maybe anyone not put off by the reviewer's language and willing to read his entire review will see that s/he indeed does have The Right Stuff to plumb the rich depths of ZatAoMM.
God speed, Mr Pirsig. Your book meant worlds to me.
I enjoyed Zen more when I was younger and Lila more as an adult; I have read both at least 4 or 5 times apiece.
Both are brilliant though. And the linked review is fantastic.
I enjoyed it. The part where he talks about how a stripped screw is suddenly the most important screw in the world and you should treat it as such really stuck with me. I have used that attitude many times to get out of jam.
Also, I really enjoyed his description of how he approached fixing his bike vs his friend's BMW. And also the little talk he gave in putting together the grill and the instructions manual.
The podcast is about "bad books" so that's the angle they approach it from, but the guys are funny, very nice and aren't super cruel or anything.
In general I am suspicious of all books and articles that insist on modelling their titles off of buzzy cliche's:
"Zen and the art of XYZ" "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and XYZ" etc.
It just does not leave a tantalizing impression and stinks of shallow laziness to me.
I suppose this isn't totally fair to this book, considering it came out in 1974--but still!
That's a shame because skimming through this article, this books sounds as though it may prove to be somewhat interesting.
Please, you've worked so hard on your book--for the love of god, bless it with the title it deserves!
I think this is some practical advice for writer's: consider the glittering titles of Nietzsche's works before you settle on a name for your book--is that really what you want to call it?--is that really its name?
Sheesh, I may have to read this just because of how vehemently I disagree with that Plato/Zen analogy--I need to see where the hell this guy could possibly be coming from other than bad, clumsy reading, and poor conceptual housekeeping--if not from here he's picked up on a grand connection I've missed, and has thus created something worthwhile.
(If only the name designated so!)
The more significant point, about the outright absurdity of interpreting Plato as a practitioner of zen--stands.
It also stands, as I said, that this absurdity makes me want to read the book--it indicates someone is following quite a different set of rules--playing quite a different game.
You're are most definitely correct on calling me out--my comment was a tad irrelevant and unfair--juvenile. Occasionally one regrets a comment after positing--one gets the sense a gut response--a passion, was at root--that comment was my gut response to the Plato/zen idea--which is a nullity to me!
At the same time I do think it's a bit extreme to call my comment an opprobrium.
It doesn't help that, as someone above pointed out, this reviewer clearly wrote the review for those already somewhat familiar with the book. Having not read it, I don't think I could give you a one sentence synopsis about the subject matter with full confidence based on that review alone. I only have that first quote from the text--which out of context, at least, seems absurd in its relating zen and western thought (though it has a fine understanding of Aristotle)
I don't think there is a one sentence description. It's a very, very rich book - a rare thing, with no easy summary possible. I have no philosophy training so I'm not qualified to discuss whether those aspects of the book make sense or not, but there is an involved (and unresolved) discussion on the nature of 'quality' which is alone worth reading it for. There is a narrative. There are questions of mental illness, of family, of interpersonal relationships, all of which are a pleasure to immerse oneself in. It is a difficult book, but ultimately I felt myself the better for expending the effort. I think you might find the experience worthwhile too, given what your comments suggest about the perspective you'd read it through. You might not agree with it but you may enjoy the argument.
A good weekend to you!
It's not, actually. The progenitor of such titles is "Zen in the Art of Archery",[1] which was published 26 years earlier.
[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_in_the_Art_of_Archery
Pirsig's novel references this because large sections of the book deal with the inability to express something on a purely 'classical' or intellectual level, the inability to define certain concepts, and the attempt to somehow bridge that intellectual leap of faith and explain things that cannot be explained directly.
So he tries to convey his ideas on a more intuitive level, using all the arts of redeemed sophistry through the means of creative writing, a story about travelling on a motorcycle with his son and discussing motorcycle maintenance.
It's interesting to me to what extent the huge amount of "Zen and the Art of.." books that exist these days are references to Pirsig's novel or to Herrigel's. My feeling is generally a lot of them are unaware of the existence of Herrigel's novel and the choice of phrasing does suggest Pirsig's. However, even right at the start Herrigel's title was a template for other books: only a few years after its publication his wife Gustie also published a book called 'Zen in the Art of Flower Arrangement' with a similar treatment of Zen through the medium of Ikebana or flower arrangement.
I cannot speak to your other objections but I suspect you would like the book based on your response and if you give it two chapters I think you'll know.
In the western Zen Buddhist circles Robert M. Pirsig and Alan Watts are seen as both menace and blessing.
On the other hand these two gentlemen created interest for people to learn zen. On the other hand they created new western philosophy that adopted the name of zen and shares some ideas in surface level. Watts was very educated in Zen Buddhist literature and his writings are even more confusing.
Zen tradition is known as the meditation tradition in Buddhism. The word itself (etymology: zen -> ch'an -> dhyana) means meditation. Zen training trough the history is sitting in meditation. Very little is taught as a philosophy. People who go to the gym and are able to put time aside to train can pick up zazen easier than people who read zen books for 10 years.
I am most familiar with the platform sutra and some poetry of the monks--and well--it's nigh impossible for me to relate that to anything Plato ever conceived.
But of course that may just mean I haven't read enough Plato or practiced enough zen.