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June 23, 2006

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

It is no easy task to make a book interesting. Even when writing about events of great interest, a poor writer can make an event of great moment about as interesting as doing one's taxes. How much harder is it, then, to write a book about philosophy and make it not only interesting, but a page-turner? For that accomplishment alone, Robert Pirsig deserves great praise. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a marvelous read that I tore through in a matter of days, so interested was I in the story Pirsig was telling. The technique he uses to discuss philosophy, a 'Chautauqua' conducted in the confines of the first-person narrator's thoughts as he takes a motorcycle trip with his son, is beautifully done and makes the book a fascinating read.

I'll start with a complaint, if only because the problem occurs at the start of the book. This edition is a reprint and includes some additional commentary by the author at the front. Unfortunately, that commentary reveals several rather crucial plot details, so the reader loses some of the surprise he might otherwise feel as various secrets are revealed. I'd recommend the new reader avoid the foreword until after he's finished the work, as I think I would have enjoyed the work even more if I had had to puzzle out just what was happening in the background.

Having said that, the book is still a great read. Pirsig's writing style is clean and evocative, drawing the reader into the semi-fictional world Pirsig uses as the backdrop of his Chautauqua. By moving back and forth from the events of the story and the backstory, Pirsig establishes two compelling narratives, which is part of what makes the book so difficult to put down. A good story tells a single tale that makes you eager to learn what happens next. Pirsig offers two tales, and they're both told well enough to draw the reader in and make each page a pleasure.

Philosophical purists may well complain that, by embedding his discussions of philosophy in stories, Pirsig buries the point of the narrative. I can understand that complaint, but I think it's unfounded. How Pirsig tells the story helps to illustrate his philosophical points as well as any more conventional philosophy text could manage, particularly as the book is written in such a way that it's easy for the reader to place himself in the author's place.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is unlikely to give the reader a great deal of insight into either Zen or the art of motorcycle maintenance, unless the reader is already reasonably familiar with the subjects. What it does instead is far more entertaining, offering a new and different way of looking at the world and how we live our lives.