Author: Robert M. Pirsig

Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers

Classification: 4/5

Comment

As I like motorcycles so much, I already had considered to read this book before. However, I have always pushed the idea aside due to the word “Zen” in the title, as this word has become kind of a cliché since it arrived west. Ironically, I got trapped in yet another cliché, the one that says you should not judge a book by its cover. In this case, its title. Finally, I can recommend this book.

The author as a motorcycle tourist

One of the subjects of this book is indeed a trip across the United States. The description of the setup of the motorcycle, of the landscapes and the weather conditions are detailed but are not boring. The feelings of the motorcyclist facing the different conditions are also very well expressed.

The characters

This book, apart from all other facets, is an autobiography. Among the gloomy references of the electroshock therapy, emerges Fedro, an alter-ego. Fedro, sometimes sinister, contrasts with the tamed personality of the author. This duality is the very essence of this book: the fray between the Aristotelian rationality and the passions still very present in the pre-Aristotelian philosophers. In this sense, the book reminds me very much of Nietzsche’s proposals.

As the reading progresses I become increasingly jumbled by the presence of his son, Chris. I understand that, as this is an autobiography, Chris is an important element to the author, but something makes me suspicious that this is not the only reason he is present in this trip. Maybe a second reading may help me understand better this issue.

The Sutherland couple is, in some sense, the departure for a large part of the thoughts contained in the book.

The maintenance of motorcycles

There are several analogies in the book with the maintenance of motorcycles. One of the passages I enjoyed most was the “traps of zest”, close to the end of the book. The ones of us that have already dedicated sometime to the maintenance of our own motorcycle have already fell victim of some of these traps, or even others. Fortunately, the author provides us, in an amusing way, good advice to avoid those traps.

For future development

I started with the pre-Socratic philosophers at school, followed by Socrates and Plato. I remember I was disappointed by the distortions brought about by the Sophists. Robert seems to have a very different idea on their role and importance, in a point of view that truly surprised me. After this book I would maybe dig a little further on this.

Funny passage

I found particularly funny and interesting the description on the traps for monkeys in India.