Robert Pirsig (Zen ... Motorcycle Maintenance) Transitions (dies) (1 Viewer)

[guidomerkinsrules]

'Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' Author Robert M. Pirsig Dies At 88 : The Two-Way : NPR

PROFOUND
wow Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance had a profound impact on me
it would be easy to be all middle-aged jaded and snicker at my older teen self but i'll respect that young me and acknowledge his loss

"Quality" has been a pursuit or at least a curiosity of mine since the book

"Quality . . . you know what it is, yet you don't know what it is. But that's self-contradictory. But some things are better than others, that is, they have more quality. But when you try to say what the quality is, apart from the things that have it, it all goes poof! There's nothing to talk about. But if you can't say what Quality is, how do you know what it is, or how do you know that it even exists? If no one knows what it is, then for all practical purposes it doesn't exist at all. But for all practical purposes it really does exist."

I like Lila, but it was no Zen

was hanging out at a bar by the Lake (kinda where Blue Crab is now) and was talking with a bar tender about Zen - he hipped me to Dancing Wu Li Masters - another profound book for early me

Peace Robert Pirsig

 

[Galbreath34]

I remember this being one of a few books that were still really big nerd reading around the mid 80s; the books you read outside of class. Dancing Wu Li Masters was another, but was a bit too much for me actually take in at the time. Interesting that I think the two are paired in a lot of minds. Maybe Zen was more accessible because it seemed like he was talking to someone around starting college age. I do remember enjoying the fact that it blurred the lines between fiction and reality, and it probably did make it a bit easier to be interested in philosophy when I started college. I also remember arguing with someone that really wanted it to be made into a movie that it was one book that really should always be a book.

I had no idea he was still alive, but hadn't really thought of the book or him in years.

RIP

 

[Saint_Ward]

I was supposed to read this in college. Only got around to reading a few random chapters and we had discussions about some of the questions that came from it. I recall something about what's bigger, a ghost or an electron. I remember the quality discussion a bit.. what is art..

I may have to dig this back up.

 

[PayOrPlay]

I read it in high school, not too long after it was published. (Thanks, Dad, for letting me swipe your copy. ) I remember not being clear on why it had gotten such a strong response, but the discussion of capital-Q "Quality" did stick with me.

"Quality" 2006 interview from The Guardian, here:

The interview: Robert Pirsig

"Zen and the art of Robert Pirsig" (longer version)