Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcylce Maintenance--A Manual for Life Maintenance

Pirisg, Robert M.. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. New York: Bantam, 1981. (380 pages, 31 chapters)

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was written by Robert M. Pirsig and originally published in 1974. Since then, it has enjoyed several republications due to its popularity. Its 380 pages are divided into four parts and 31 chapters. The book doubles as the story of a motorcycle journey across the United States in which the narrator searches for forgotten truths and an understanding of his son and as a modern work of philosophical thought and application. Throughout the journey, the narrator shares a Chautauqua with the reader, which he defines as “an old-time series of popular talks intended to edify and entertain, improve the mind and bring culture and enlightenment to the ears and thoughts of the hearer.” (7) His Chautauqua, exploring the duality of technology and art, Classicism and Romanticism, mingle with the story of the journey and bring insights to his relationship with his son. Flashbacks also show the life of a man called Phaedrus years previously, the narrator’s own life before receiving electroshock therapy to cure Phaedrus’s insanity. The trek across the nation reconciles the dualities of object and subject, father and son, past and present.

The story flows very well and the intermingling of different, well-placed modes of narration bring added insight to each preceding section. The depth of the author’s skill in writing and clarity of thought is evident in his ability to explain philosophical ideas on a level that most readers can understand, with some thought, of course. He uses everyday occurrences to supply metaphor and application for these ideas. From this comes the motorcycle maintenance element of the title. The motorcycle provides a vehicle—pun may or may not be intended—for illustrating the differences in Classical and Romantic thought, showing parts versus whole. His goal in addressing this dualism is its elimination, or rather, a recreation in reconciliation. This is done by Quality, a third entity that I can only shortly define as the godly characteristic inherent in all good work, undefinable, yet evident. Hearers, readers, onlookers can all perceive it when experiencing a work of quality, whether it be a beautiful poem or a masterful weld-job. It is Quality that makes life worth living. It is Quality that is worth.

This discussion of quality, and one of its sub-discussions of gumption, brought me the most insight into my life and my own work. This book reads much differently than older masterpieces of literature. Pirsig does not remind me of Joyce, Longfellow, or Shakespeare, yet I feel the quality of his work. It has shown me that popular and practical prose can be meaningful and moving. His story has awakened and enlightened an understanding of myself, of my desire to pursue excellence in life, in all of life. I never want to produce another shoddy piece of work again.

Pirsig’s book is not perfect. Some of his story is left unsaid, perhaps only comprehensible to him and his son. Other statements made by the narrator do not resonate with me. I value Eastern philosophies and religious practices, respect and admire many of them, yet do not agree with all of those introduced by the narrator. But its limitations and delimitations do not remove the Quality from this story.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in self-reflection and a different perspective on the world. It is some of the most accessible philosophy I have read, understandable and applicable to the current world.

Henry David Thoreau's Walden; or, Life in the Woods

Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1854. (324 pages, 18 sections)

Walden was written by Henry David Thoreau and published in 1854. It is 324 pages and is divided into about eighteen sections. In it Thoreau records his observations and criticisms of the society that he lives in (Western, Euro-American) while living by himself in the woods on the shore of Walden Pond. He lives in a small, but sufficient cabin that he built himself and even claims to have lived on less expenses and less work than those in the city who are very poor and have to work a lot. He doesn’t live as a recluse, but he does try to separate himself as much as possible from society and live off the land with as little help from others as possible. Thoreau was greatly influenced by transcendentalist philosophy, searching for a spiritual enlightenment without organized religion or civilization, so he spends all of his time thinking, reading and studying, except for the little bit of time he needs to use working in order to sustain himself. He also criticizes the common beliefs held by many who are part of society, such as the necessity to own a nice house, have lots of furniture, etc.

Walden is organized into different subjects that Thoreau addresses (like, the economy of living, neighbors, reasons for living, animals, etc.) and also seems to follow a sort of chronological pattern through the seasons of a year, though he actually lived in this cabin for over two years. His book is written as sort of a journal of observations made as a result of his experiences.
I choose to read this book because I had always heard that it was good and hadn’t ever read it. I liked that most all of Thoreau’s observations were made based on his own life experiences. This is something that he actually advocates, learning things more through experience rather than organized schooling.

I learned a lot from Thoreau’s thoughts. He wrote a lot of interesting things that you can just sit and ponder on. One of my favorites was on page fifty-four in the section titled “Economy” when he was writing about many of the unnecessary extravagancies of civilization and said, “Nations are possessed with an insane ambition to perpetuate the memory of themselves by the amount of hammered stone they leave. What if equal pains were taken to smooth and polish their manners?” He goes on to talk about the uselessness of many things created by various societies of the past, and his comments are very funny. I learned from this the power of thinking and observing. Thoreau, for example, talks about how utterly useless the pyramids were and yet so many men labored for so long to build them. If we were to sit and think about the things that we as a society do we might be more economical and practical more often.

I will say that I don’t necessarily agree with everything that Thoreau said (such as the idea that we should seek spirituality without the help of organized religion, for example), but for the most part his observations seem very logical and easy to relate to, especially for a young college student. There are also many times in which Thoreau seems judgmental, but I suppose this could be ascribed to exasperation at the current state of his world and people.

I recommend this book to anyone who feels that society and societal norms have too much control over their lives (with the exception of extremists like Christopher McCandless, who is the subject of Into the Wild), because many of Thoreau’s ideas help you to see things about civilized society from a new perspective.