Tuesday, 25 April 2017

'Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' Author Robert M. Pirsig Dies At 88

quote [ Zen was published in 1974, after being rejected by 121 publishing houses. "The book is brilliant beyond belief," wrote Morrow editor James Landis before publication. "It is probably a work of genius and will, I'll wager, attain classic status." ]

(sigh)
[SFW] [obituaries] [+7 Informative]
[by Bob Denver@5:15amGMT]

Comments

NuncEstBibendum said[3] @ 8:39am GMT on 25th Apr [Score:1 Underrated]
The whole "Philosophy of Quality" thing was a very personal delirium, but the narrative of the novel is captivating, and quite moving.
It belongs to the "Guru-Book" category, along with Coelho's Alchemist, de Saint Exupery's Petit Prince, Bach's Livingstone's seagull, Hesse's Siddartha, etc.
Some of them are fine, some are bad, but they are all good to be quoted in Facebook, or to inspire the strategies of some CEO with a thing for New-Age.
HoZay said @ 5:41am GMT on 25th Apr
I remember the book as a good read, but maybe a bit overhyped as to significance.
machpi said @ 6:14am GMT on 25th Apr
I really enjoyed it when I first read it eons ago. A few years ago I came back for a re-read, and couldn't make it past the first chapter or two. YMMV, but it was definitely a child of its times.
captainstubing said @ 7:16pm GMT on 25th Apr
I had the same experience. And I had this discussion with a work colleague a few years ago.

But I might have another crack at it in the next year or two, just to make sure.
Abdul Alhazred said @ 7:02am GMT on 25th Apr
"Zen" was a great book. I first read it when I was about 14, and parts of it obviously were over my head, but I got about 80% of it.

I re-read it in my twenties and understood it better and enjoyed it more.

I did it again in my thirties and still loved it. I had two friends who had also read it and loved it, and we spent a fair bit of time discussing and debating it.

He then came out with "Lila", which I initially disliked. He had it alternating between his story of a woman he picked up in a bar who was troubled and thoroughly disliked by Pirsig's friends and his recollections and reflections on a fellow professor in Montana. I didn't like flipping back and forth between the stories, but found that it you read one storyline through and then read the other, as if they were separate books, that it too was a great book.

But that was just my take on it.
yunnaf said @ 5:47pm GMT on 25th Apr
From Canada, Cliff notes
http://www.cbc.ca/books/2017/04/robert-m-pirsig-author-of-zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance-dead-at-88.html

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