Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
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From the vast collective literary output of mankind very few works are worthy of the epithet classic. Robert Pirsig's 1974Â semi-autobiographical(?) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZMM) is one of the few - a true modern classic.
Essentially ZMM consists of three distinct but interwoven stories. Superficially it is a travelogue, about a man - the un-named narrator - motorcycling across the United States with his somewhat troubled son, Chris; for the first part of the journey they are joined by friends, the couple John and Sylvia Sutherland. It is also the story of a man haunted by a "ghost", that turns out to be his former self. Finally, as suggested by the subtitle, An Inquiry Into Values, ZMM is a discussion on philosophy inspired by the cultural upheaval of the time (epitomized by the counter-culture and hippie scenes) concluding that a re-discovery of quality is the key to the re-harmonization of an increasingly dichotomous society.
As the story progresses we learn more of the ghost, a character referred to as Phaedrus (after Plato's dialogue). A natural intellectual, Phaedrus becomes disillusioned with the scientific discipline. After military service in Korea and ten years studying Oriental philosophy in India, Phaedrus became a college teacher of rhetoric. His obsessive nature, sparked by a chance remark from a colleague, sets him on a relentless search for the meaning of "quality" that would, via some turbulent PhD study in which he wages war on Ancient Greek philosophy and its proponents, eventually lead to total breakdown and state-imposed electric shock treatment that essentially extinguished Phaedrus' personality, leaving in its place that of the controlled, but shallower, narrator.
The philosophical discussions are delivered in discrete pieces called Chautauquas (from the early educational assemblies that sought to bring knowledge and culture to the American masses). The narrator argues that the tensions of the time (late 60s, early 70s) stem from two distinct world views: the romantic, which is concerned with immediate appearance, and the classic, which focuses on underlying form. The differences are introduced by the narrator, who carries out all his own motorcycle maintenance, comparing himself to travelling companion John who rides an expensive bike and delegates mechanical work to professionals. John and Sylvia are portrayed as romantics with a contempt for modern technology.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance makes for compulsive reading, though for the unfamiliar the more complex philosophical diversions may require a re-visit to grasp their full meaning. Regardless of how deeply one wishes to engage with the philosophical arguments ZMM offers an absorbing, provocative and inspirational experience.
In a poignant postscript, Chris was murdered in 1979Â leaving the San Francisco Zen Center. Later editions of the book feature an afterword by Pirsig questioning what had happened to Chris's "spirit". He concludes that (in accordance with Zen philosophy) it entered the body of his then unborn daughter, Nell.
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