Novel tackles technology and inner peace
As author Robert Pirsig states in the introduction of his philosophical novel “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”, the book is “Not very factual on motorcycles.” It’s not about motorcycles at all, really; it’s about knowledge, understanding, academia, disconnection, and the role of technology in our lives, as exemplified by the simple act of motorcycle maintenance.
It’s very heavy stuff, and it would be daunting were it not for Pirsig’s clear and compelling writing style. The novel follows the narrator and his son Chris as they go on a cross-country motorcycle journey, but the majority of it deals with the narrator’s philosophical discussions, dubbed “Chautauquas” in the tradition of American speaking summits. Underlying these discussions is the narrator’s past self, referred to as Phaedrus, and the story of his descent into philosophical madness.
The clarity of the writing, combined with the compelling story underpinning the novel, serves to do what some would deem impossible, making philosophy easy to understand and compulsively readable. Every college students owes it to him or herself to read some philosophy and challenge their existing forms of thought, and “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” is an excellent candidate for that intellectual step.
Over the course of his Chautauquas, the narrator seeks to make peace between science, religion and humanism. He analyzes the view of technology as an impersonal, monolithic dividing force and how by making changes in how we view the world and appreciate the underlying functions and intricacies of technology, we can make it a valuable part of our life rather than a constant annoyance. The thought is exceedingly relevant to our modern-day situation.
The narrator goes on to detail his past self’s battle against academia, raising questions about the very purpose of college and schooling. Through the eyes of past self Phaedrus, he bristles against “the many millions of self-satisfied and truly ignorant teachers throughout history who have smugly and callously killed the creative spirit of their students with this dumb ritual of analysis, this blind, rote, eternal naming of things.” Phaedrus’s fiery independence is juxtaposed with the narrator’s folksy, laid-back ruminations; between the two, most aspects of modern life are dissected with wit and insight.
“Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” is a thought-provoking and accessible novel, and belongs in any college student’s reading list.