Favourite Books 3: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig

I read this book back in 1970s, and it had the most profund effect on me. Part memoir, part philosophy, the story of a motorcycle trip drives the book forward, while its personal, emotional stamp gives us a helpful insight into practical application of what Pirsig is theorising.

I find it impossible to talk about this book without talking about the life of its author, Robert Pirsig. He was a child protégé, scoring an IQ of 170 at the age of 9 and studying chemistry at university at 15. He lost faith with science, served with the Army in Korea and afterwards studied philosophy. He constantly pursued truth and meaning but by his thirties he was falling apart. Pirsig spent three days sitting cross-legged in his room where he either achieved enlightenment or went insane, depending on your point of view. In an extremely rare interview some years ago, he suggests,

“It was a contest, I believe, between these ideas I had and what I see as the cultural immune system. When somebody goes outside the cultural norms, the culture has to protect itself.”

He was treated at a mental institution but after leaving things got worse. Eventually a court had him committed and he underwent comprehensive shock therapy. Despite the severity of this, he was able to keep some hold on his former self, and knowing he would be locked away if he told anyone he was an enlightened Zen disciple, he wrote a book about a motorcycle trip he made with his son, using that to get across his ideas. Although published in 1974, the narrative takes place in 1968, and Pirsig uses "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" to illustrate classical and romantic ways of thinking and that they can co-exist in harmony; a combination that can potentially bring a higher quality of life.

At one point he writes,

“What I am is a heretic who's recanted and thereby in everyone's eyes saved his soul. Everyone's eyes but one, who knows deep down inside that all he has saved is his skin.”

It is an awe-inspiring examination on how we live and how we can live better. 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' is intensely thought provoking and insightful; it will change the way you think about yourself and your life. As Pirsig tells us, the motorcycle we’re working on is ourselves, so do yourself a favour get a copy of this book and read it. Buy it, borrow it, beg it but get one and read it.

On another note, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is (or was) in the Guinness Book of Records as the best-selling book rejected by the largest number of publishers – one hundred and twenty one (121).