snap-e-tom's New Writeupshttp://everything2.com/?node=New%20Writeups%20Atom%20Feed&foruser=snap-e-tom2010-08-18T00:25:40ZZen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (person)http://everything2.com/user/snap-e-tom/writeups/Zen+and+the+Art+of+Motorcycle+Maintenancesnap-e-tomhttp://everything2.com/user/snap-e-tom2010-08-18T00:25:40Z2010-08-18T00:25:40Z<p><a href="/title/Zen+and+the+Art+of+Motorcycle+Maintenance">Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance</a> is a great book. It has no pretense of being a blueprint for life. It is a candid account of Pirsig's efforts to work out a theory of <a href="/title/ontology">ontology</a> told in the form of a personal essay. He wanted to describe his intellectual journey and eventual mental breakdown. He talks about <a href="/title/Aristotle">Aristotle</a> and the Western approach to knowledge. He felt there was something fundamentally wrong with the academic world and with science in general, and tried to understand why. Pirsig's book deserves a place among the works of writers like <a href="/title/Orwell">Orwell</a>, <a href="/title/Huxley">Huxley</a> and <a href="/title/H.G.+Wells">H.G. Wells</a>, authors who thought about how the <a href="/title/industrial+revolution">industrial revolution</a> had dehumanized society and caused us to lose something basic to our nature, something precious, the down side of <a href="/title/Western+Civilization">Western Civilization</a>. It is a very engaging book by a sincere, brilliant man. I remember reading it 30 years ago and enjoying it very much.</p>
<p>The fact that the book became popular and part of pop culture is not Pirsig's fault. Many young<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…