Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
About This Novel
As an autobiographical novel, the story of Phædrus is actually the life of Robert M. Pirsig, the author of this book. In "Plato's Dialogues", Phædrus is an ordinary Athenian young man who loves philosophy. In this book, Phædrus returns to earth. He was once a student of philosophy and a teacher of rhetoric, but due to the conflict between his philosophical ideas and the cultural worldview, he was finally hospitalized due to a mental breakdown. After being discharged from the hospital, he hoped to free himself from his narrow and restricted self, so he embarked on a long journey across the American continent on a motorcycle. After complex experiences and introspection along the way, he finally temporarily restored spiritual integrity and tranquility. This process of returning to oneself is achieved by constantly seeking "good quality", which is the Zen meditation in Eastern philosophy, and interpreting it with motorcycle maintenance methods. This is where the name Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance comes from. At the same time, the book also criticizes the dichotomies or dualisms in the Western world, such as humanities and technology, spirit and matter, mysticism and mechanics, art and industry, mind and machinery, East and West, and other relative consciousnesses.
What Readers Think
Rating
Community(0)
Official(5)Scraped 13d ago
I hope he has real peace of mind
"The highway is very smooth... The motorcycle that took us almost across half the continent still roars low, indifferent to everything, but with its own inner strength."
,,,,,,,
We live in an era of value confusion. I think the main reason for this phenomenon is that the past thinking model can no longer cope with the new situation.
I was attracted by the title of the book and touched by the content.
The scenery along the way also needs road construction.
Traveling thousands of miles, seeing thousands of mountains and scenery, cultivating your mind and character
Another interpretation of philosophy
To be honest, I didn't understand it, it was too obscure.
Rating
Community(0)
Official(5)Scraped 13d ago
I hope he has real peace of mind
"The highway is very smooth... The motorcycle that took us almost across half the continent still roars low, indifferent to everything, but with its own inner strength."
,,,,,,,
We live in an era of value confusion. I think the main reason for this phenomenon is that the past thinking model can no longer cope with the new situation.
I was attracted by the title of the book and touched by the content.
The scenery along the way also needs road construction.
Traveling thousands of miles, seeing thousands of mountains and scenery, cultivating your mind and character
Another interpretation of philosophy
To be honest, I didn't understand it, it was too obscure.
