So I figured that while I am having to dedicate my literary life to American Literature pre1865, and am also taking on the daunting task of re-reading Atlas Shrugged I would have to go into the vault for a while. A month or so ago I picked up a copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and have to say that it is one of the best American novels ever written. Now it probably comes as no surprise that I enjoy books that mix up philosophy and fiction (Love Ayn Rand), and this book definitely delivers in both departments. It is a story of a philosopher that more or less lost his mind and then embarks on a cross country motorcycle journey with his son. Just the story that could be told from a cross country trip would make a great read, but in this particular book that was not enough.
I will say that Pirsig did as well of a job as Ayn Rand when it comes to defining a particular philosophy, but he did give a bit of a lesson in philosophy and Rand never was much for giving any history lessons. In the story he actually proposes a different way of looking at the world, and at times flirts with absolute brilliance. The guys knows his stuff and is not afraid to take the reader to a place that is beyond basic concepts of metaphysics. The end of the copy that I bought had a little bit of information about the author and a few notes that went with the story, and it is clear that the man truly believed in what he was writing. This is one of those books that demands to be read for a second time, and begs to be studied, simply because the major point that it is trying to make is a completely valid one. If you are even remotely interested in philosophy or just about reading a great story that has some substance to it, you need to read this book.
My opinion is the one that matters most.
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