Robert Persig's Problem

[Kiwi_Roy]

He was a man bought up in the Elizabethan era
the thoughts about this intangible Quality drove him off his head (remember this is a guy raised in the Elizabethan era trying to understand stuff that's not real.
He then wrote a book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance that has been taught and used to torture students ever since.
He died a while back at 88 still stuck in his weird head-state ranting about quality and
The whole mess could have been avoided if he' just stuck to riding his motorcycle, we all know thats all the therapy a guy needs, he might have reached 100
I came to this realization after re-reading Chapter 12 where you can see he's still stuck in the past, he's doing just fine before writing the book which is a bunch of BS
The sales from the book did pay for his motorcycle so it's not all bad. but not as good as many tales we read on here from regular guys.
I used to read this silly book to try and understand his silly ideas but I think I well consign it to the garbage now.

[Kiwi_Roy]

Robert Persig Explained
He was a man bought up in the Elizabethan era teaching one day when a passer by Said I hope you are teaching Quality this year.
the thoughts about this intangible Quality drove him off his head (remember this is a guy raised in the Elizabethan era trying to understand stuff that's not real.
He then wrote a book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle mechanics that has been taught and used to torture students ever since.
He died a while back at 88 still stuck in his weird head-state ranting about ideas
The whole mess could have been avoided if he' just stuck to riding his motorcycle, we all know that's all the therapy a guy needs, he might have reached 100
I came to this realization after re-reading Chapter 12 where you can see he's still stuck in the past, he's doing just fine before writing the book which is a bunch of BS
Thee sales from the book did pay for his motorcycle so it's not all bad. but not as good as many tales we read on here from regular guys.

[Dr. Enzo Toma]

A friend gifted me "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and mentioned he hadn't been able to finish it and was disappointed that it didn't have much to do with eastern philosophy or motorcycle maintenance. I've given it a try at least twice and just couldn't get hooked after 200 or so pages, what started off boring just got nested in with more layers of boring.

[BMCMOTO]

In the first few pages he explains that nobody knows how electricity works and that the wall switch that turned on the light was a mystery to all. It wasn't then and isn't now for me. I put the book down and was never tempted to try again to read such drivel. My brother the PhD in English literature says I don't know what I'm missing but then, he loves Boob Dylan who can't decide whether he believes what he himself wrote or not, so his taste is proven to be lacking. If I can't read something that inspires me, educates me or entertains me then I probably don't need to read it. Melissa Holbrook Pierson's "THE PERFECT VEHICLE" is a much better read and worth the time.      IMNSHO

Brian

[Texas Turnip]

I TRIED to read the book, but thought it was just me with an 8th grade education from a one room country school that could not understand it.

Tex

[Scout63]

I’ve tried to read it so many times without success.  What put me off was the overwhelming sadness. Hunter Thompson tragically took his own life but still makes me laugh and got the bike thing right in far fewer words.

[chuck peterson]

Sitting on my bike w the paperback in my hands was a perfect door opener for meeting the fairer persuasion…in 1976 at least. 

Couldn’t stick w reading it thru again

[21SC]

I’ve tried to read it so many times without success.  What put me off was the overwhelming sadness. Hunter Thompson tragically took his own life but still makes me laugh and got the bike thing right in far fewer words.

This.

[guzzisteve]

Never read it and don't care to. I find most literature about motorcycles are BS except Service Manuals.
I don't do bike magazines, internet reviews, nothing. Only the Guzzi News from Frank.
I find all of it doesn't fit my situation ever, always a waste of time.

[fotoguzzi]

In the first few pages he explains that nobody knows how electricity works and that the wall switch that turned on the light was a mystery to all. It wasn't then and isn't now for me. I put the book down and was never tempted to try again to read such drivel. My brother the PhD in English literature says I don't know what I'm missing but then, he loves Boob Dylan who can't decide whether he believes what he himself wrote or not, so his taste is proven to be lacking. If I can't read something that inspires me, educates me or entertains me then I probably don't need to read it. Melissa Holbrook Pierson's "THE PERFECT VEHICLE" is a much better read and worth the time.      IMNSHO

Brian

”I used to care but things have changed”

[kingoffleece]

The book's not about motorcycles.  The subtitle "An inquiry into Values" was the first clue.

[dxhall]

I tried to read this years ago but couldn’t get through it.  It’s a prime example of something Samuel Johnson said in the 1700s:  “No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.“

[JJ]

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values is a book by Robert M. Pirsig first published in 1974. It is a work of fictionalized autobiography and is the first of Pirsig's texts in which he explores his concept of Quality.

In 1974, I was a sophomore in college...and I barely got through reading his book...I was living at home, working two jobs to get through college...and focused on much more important things...I thought the book was a "stinker" of biblical proportions,  and had very little to do with riding and enjoying motorcycles...(IMHO)

[Tkelly]

One of my favorite books.The meaning I gleaned was that there was no need to fear stuff you dont readily understand,you are capable of dealing with most problems if you are willing to leave your comfort zone.I definitely wouldn’t have read it without the motorcycle story and the book inspired me to ride out of Chicago to see what the country had to offer,and I’ve never looked back,a great trip story even if you don’t like the philosophy.I just finished Augie March by Bellow,a similar book which is very interesting if you are willing to struggle through the philosophical parts.

[JJ]

[Moparnut72]

I've read a few reviews of this book including the 14 here, so far. I haven't bothered to even look at a copy nor will I.
kk

[80CX100]

As a very young man, interested in all things to do with motorcycles,but naively at the time, mainly HP stats,I recall being extremely disappointed when I read it back in the '70's.

I have to admit, it did leave a couple of profound impressions on me;the first being that every single thing in the world & life can be described and quantified in one word "'quality".

The other concept that stuck with me was that "mediocrity" was not a desirable end goal.

I think it's one of those books that each individual has a different take,,,I think the fact that I was smoking a lot of dope at the time,probably helped me absorb the "Zen" aspect of his writing. lol 

[PeteS]

i tried reading it after reading William Least Heat-Moon’s Blue Highways thinking it was a similar novel of travel and personal pholosphy but on a motorcycle. Don’t recall how far I got but likeky not very.

Pete

[slowmover]

I remember the guy he was traveling with had a problem with his fancy BMW that required a simple fix of a shim.Robert said it could be fixed right now by making the shim out of a piece of beer can. His friend was horrified at the thought of using metal that wasn’t made by BMW. His “value rigidity “ stopped them from fixing the problem even though the can piece was perfect.Everything depends on your point of view including the book.

[MLR]

It's been over 20 years since I read it but I thought it was cool. To me it was about paying attention to the small things and how they are connected to a larger whole, how being a truly good mechanic requires curiosity and thoughtfulness. Wasn't the easiest thing to read but I did get something out of it.

[bikeridertim]

I'm happy to know I'm not the only one that couldn't get through it! 

[John A]

I was dumb enough to read it all. The main take away is the two ways of looking at things, what it is or what it means. A small part, say a float pivot pin is nothing really but it is the whole value of the bike when you drop it in the desert. The guy was nuts but did understand some things that he had a hard time articulating. He ended up getting electric shock treatment and at the end of the book was beginning to see the signs of mental illness in his son.

[travelingbyguzzi]

About 20 years ago on this forum, I expressed a negative opinion about ZATAOMM and was raked over the coals.
'OH, you just didn't get it '.
I got it all right. I just didn't want it.

Bill Lovelady      IS
Eskimo Spy

[SIR REAL ED]

I tried to read this years ago but couldn’t get through it.  It’s a prime example of something Samuel Johnson said in the 1700s:  “No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.“

Amen!

Two philosophy classes at college taught me that many so called "philosophers" are simply people who can't talk, think, or write coherently, but who have figured out how to earn a paycheck from arguing about nothing.  For many of them, words truly have no meaning.  Oddly enough, both my philosophy professors agreed with my observation.

Perhaps the greatest school of philosophy ever is the "School of the Ontological Oil Thread."

I shall always be indebted to Samual Johnson for penning the following:

"The fountain of content must spring up in the mind, and he who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition, will waste his life in fruitless efforts, and multiply the grief he proposes to remove."

Pure gold!  His advice can save one a lot of arguments.

[Guzzidad]

   I read the book, twice. First time I struggled through it. Second time I understood more of what it was really about. It's complicated with several topics seemingly unrelated to focus on. Quite a few years ago, at a Guzzi rally around the campfire, I was whining about my chosen career as a maintenance technician in a production factory. It just didn't pay as much as I thought it should. Then a guy sitting next to me suggested I read "Shop Class As Soulcraft" by Matthew B Crawford. It basically covered similar topics like quality and pride in your work without the ancient philosophy and mental illness distractions. It made me feel a lot better about my job and carried me to retirement with a much better attitude.

[DesertPilot]

I read it, and thought, "He's right!  Buddha is in motorcycles!  After all, don't they go 'bhudda bhudda bhudda bhudda bhudda'?"

[kingoffleece]

Interesting.  My takeaway from college philosophy was the cone analogy.
At the bottom of the cone represented one's current state of knowledge, which to some could be considered very well developed as the sides of the cone are close and it could appear as though all that was knowable was close at hand.  Journey up the cone and the sides rapidly fall further and further away.  Further up the cone knowledge increases and the amount of "knowable things" expands at an ever expanding rate.
A very interesting concept indeed.

[Scout63]

   I read the book, twice. First time I struggled through it. Second time I understood more of what it was really about. It's complicated with several topics seemingly unrelated to focus on. Quite a few years ago, at a Guzzi rally around the campfire, I was whining about my chosen career as a maintenance technician in a production factory. It just didn't pay as much as I thought it should. Then a guy sitting next to me suggested I read "Shop Class As Soulcraft" by Matthew B Crawford. It basically covered similar topics like quality and pride in your work without the ancient philosophy and mental illness distractions. It made me feel a lot better about my job and carried me to retirement with a much better attitude.

+1 on Shop Class. It is an excellent book.

[Bpreynolds2]

Ah, the distinct sense that the Bomb Cyclone is settling in here on WG 

[SIR REAL ED]

Interesting.  My takeaway from college philosophy was the cone analogy.
At the bottom of the cone represented one's current state of knowledge, which to some could be considered very well developed as the sides of the cone are close and it could appear as though all that was knowable was close at hand.  Journey up the cone and the sides rapidly fall further and further away.  Further up the cone knowledge increases and the amount of "knowable things" expands at an ever expanding rate.
A very interesting concept indeed.

That is an interesting concept.

I naively approached taking college philosophy classes as step in the search for wisdom, or excellent advice for living life well.

What I encountered could be analogous not to engineers solving problems, but to lawyers endless arguments in order to bill their clients larger fees.  The process of argument itself was the end goal.

Luckily, continued searching yielded much better sources of wisdom and useful advice. 

I have enjoyed, benefited from, and given away many copies of
1. James Allen's book As A Man Thinketh,
2. Ayn Rand's book Philosophy: Who Needs it?, and
3. the Maxwell Staniforth translation of Marcus Aurelius' book Meditations.

The book "Meditations" is a fascinating concept.  A book of worthwhile thoughts one should keep in mind to improve the quality of one's life.  Supposedly, the title actually translates as "To Myself."

As excellent book to give to those in their teen age years who wish to master life.  IME, that is what all teen agers seek. 

Even those teenagers who are in our 60's........