Sometimes you read a book for shear enjoyment or to learn something specific, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is not that book.  Did I read ZAMM to learn more about Western and Eastern thought? No.  Did I want to start a discourse on enlightenment and modern society? No.  I thought it would a great story about a father and son cross country trip on a motorcycle.  But in the end, I got way more than I bargained for.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, written by Robert Pirsig, is really3 books in one:  it IS the story of a father/son cross country road trip, but it is also a philosophical discussion on the concept of Quality, and finally, the story of a man who pursuing the ghost of who he used to be.

Don’t worry, I’m not laying down my Judeo-Christian value system, I had initially thought that it was just a story…but it transformed into a morality tale, a damning indictment of modern progressiveness, and the sad take of a man, who just simply loses control of himself.

It’s a great book, it’s considered a modern day classic, but for me, it was a very difficult book to read.  Not being a philosophy major, or strong on classical logic, I was holding on with white knuckles to the dissection of the concept of Quality.  It’s basically a morality play about Quality overlayed onto a story about a dad and his son.

I would suggest that most people would enjoy reading it, and even get a lot of it’s content…  But for some, it’s WAY too much to digest.  As with many secular theorists, it leaves the reader empty, and longing for some type of closure or definition.  Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance does not provide closure, but it does reflect real life: relationships are messy, answers are sometimes difficult to come by, but most often, life is very beautiful.