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He's built a house of cards out of cards that are ripped or torn, and if you examine one card too closely, the whole house falls down.I'm also extremely put off by the way the main character treats his son in the book. My main disappointment is in the careless logic that's presented--unverifiable generalizations that the author expects you to accept as true, even without support. I've been a bit disappointed in this book, given the number of stellar recommendations I've heard. He's somewhat kind to him, but he refuses to communicate with him on a serious level and very often cuts him off because he's "too tired" to talk, and then wonders and whines about his "lack of connection" with his son. And if you don't accept them as true, then the following generalizations are meaningless. (As a quick example, opening to a random page: "You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in." This is an absolute statement that simply cannot be proved, yet he expects you to accept it and builds further arguments upon it). Please.All in all, an interesting book, but far too long and very weak on logic. If I were to use it in a classroom, I'd use it to demonstrate how easy it is to tear apart a supposedly logical argument that's built on sand, not stone.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much space for sonny, because dad was too busy advertising the author's brilliant philisophical insights. OK, maybe I'm being a little too harsh. Even more unfortunately, the insights weren't brilliant, and consumed hundreds of tedious pages. I actually enjoyed the idea of the cross-country motorcycle ride, the details about motorcycle mechanics, and especially the portrayal of the narrator's relationship with his son. The son was the best part of the whole book. It occured to me to wonder whether the author was trying to make the point that the narrator was a pompous idiot; however, the intent seemed to be for the reader to be blown away by the brilliance of the narrator's philosophical insights, and hence by the brilliance of the author who conceived of the narrator and the philosophical insights. I can't believe I made it through 380 pages of this.
It litrally bored me to tears, I hate this book with all of my heart and do not reccomend it to ANYONE. I had to read this book for summer reading for my sophomore ap world history class. I may just be too young to understand this book, but personally i hated it with a huge passion. And what's worse- i cannot for the life of me find a summary of this book, and since i couldn't retain any of this book, i'm going to fail the reading comprehension test when i go back to school. Just don't get this book.
Though he wants to deny it, his son Chris also struggles as he tries to figure out if there is something wrong with his dad; asking questions and reflecting on good times in the past with his father makes his dad realize that it was Phaedrus that experienced those good times. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a great read. Along with this, the reader is able to understand how Chris feels about the whole situation: he wants his dad back, you know, the dad that he has great times with and loves so much. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a non-fiction philosophical novel. Though he couldn't have remembered these things as Phaedrus, Pirsig does do a good job at helping the reader understand what he's going through as he battles his alternate personality. What is quality and how do you define it. He drifted into too much detail about some philosophical ideas and terms that the reader wouldn't be prepared for and didn't explain them well enough.
He believes that it doesn't exist. Along with sharing his motorcycle trip with his son Chris and some friends, he mainly focuses on what quality is. In this certain area of the book it is harder to comprehend, but he does prove a good point that I agree with. I recommend this book to anyone who loves to think.
Robert M. Also, at the end of the book, his Phaedrus personality actually takes over; however, throughout the book he reflects back on how he was a student in India and his experience there, but that was his alternate personality. Since he went through electroshock therapy, there is no way he could have remembered any experiences Phaedrus went through. As mentioned before, he reflects on his experiences in India and has multiple dreams about those experiences. On top of all of this, Robert Pirsig is schizophrenic, dealing with his battling alternate personality, Phaedrus. It also lets the reader take an adventure inside the narrator's mind as he battles against his schizophrenia disease. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is an autobiography, allowing Pirsig to narrate his own life experiences. Phaedrus.
He goes into great detail explaining his belief that quality is something made up, and he actually gets pretty emotional about it as he struggles to find the truth. Some weaknesses I found include going into too much detail about some ideas; they seemed unnecessary. This book really makes the reader think about how to find truth and if quality actually exists. As Pirsig himself writes, "The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there".
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. For me, this was one of them. There are few books that change your life, or at the very least change your outlook on life. Read it. I can honestly say that I wasn't the same after reading it. It's beautifully written, and even though it's a book about life and values and philosophy etc, it's not done in a preachy way, nor do you ever get the impression that the author is talking down to you. Buy it. Read it again.
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