Zen & The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance

This is a book by Robert M. Pirsig & unlike its name its neither about Zen Philosophy or Motorcycle maintenance. In this book, the author is on a biking trip across US with his son & couple of friends. Enroute he keeps pondering & explaining his thoughts. So thats what the book is all about. His philosophy.


One concept which this book made me ponder over was the concept of two types of personalities, one those which when observe an object or think about an object can just see the aesthetics of it & can just view the outer aspect of it. This type is termed as Romantic Viewpoint. The second kind are those who when observe or think about an object can see the inner details & are more interested in the workings & intricate details. This type is termed as classical Viewpoint.



Later on author goes into the unification of these two viewpoints & also goes in depth of "Quality". I didnt get much of that though. Also the author speaks a lot about rationality. All this discourse is taking place while the author is on his biking trip. And the switch between his thoughts & his trip is quite smooth & interesting.


At one point he explains how amazing a trip on motorcycle can be, how you become a part of the nature when u move on a bike, and can feel the elements of nature. In contrast to a trip in car, where the entire scenery is just viewed as if on a window screen & you cant really feel much. Now I personally enjoy biking trips, [though I have been to just one so far ;( ] I really enjoyed this explanation & could relate with it :)


Fortunately or unfortunately this is one of the very few books, I did not finish reading. I had to leave it after reading just around two third of it. Cuz I realized its going over my head & I really could not make much sense of what the author is saying. Specially regarding "Quality". There was a point when I used to read couple of pages & zzzzzzz... :D . May be I was not able to think on the same plane as the author. But I definitly will pick this book again some years hence to re read it & hopefully will be able to grasp it :)