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Robert M. Pirsig, whose "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," a dense and discursive novel of ideas, became an unlikely publishing phenomenon in the mid-1970s and a touchstone in the waning days of the counterculture, died on Monday at his home in South Berwick, Me. He was 88.
According to the New York Times.
This was one of those books that more or less defined an era. I would recommend it, but I know from experience that it does not resonate the way it did in the '70's. A philosophy professor I knew said he used to use the novel to introduce philosophy, but one year, in the early '80's it just stopped working. Nonetheless, it is worth a read, even though,
In a foreword to the book, Mr. Pirsig told readers that despite its title, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" should "in no way be associated with that great body of factual information relating to orthodox Zen Buddhist practice."
He added, "It's not very factual on motorcycles either."
But it does have a rather long discussion of Plato's Phaedrus and quite a lot about a certain motorcycle shop in Miles City, Montana. And the novel is much better than the movie, which of course was never made. Open roads, and may your handlebars never come loose, Robert!
(Score: 5, Interesting) by VLM on Tuesday April 25 2017, @08:46PM (3 children)
... one of those books that more or less defined an era..... does not resonate the way it did in the '70's..... one year, in the early '80's it just stopped working...
That in itself is an interesting topic.
Anyway I nominate this 1979 classic: "Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter" I remember hearing nothing but praise for it in the 80s and obtained a copy in the 90s and was underwhelmed, like I'd gotten bigger kicks off the back of cereal boxes.
Now up for discussion, is 2002 classic "A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram" up for nomination or not to that list? I like the hell out of it, but a lot of people are WTF. I mean I'm used to people WTF me about politics (now go away and read some Evola or moldbug...) , not so much CS/IT/EE stuff. I still think ANKOS is a good book he dindu nuthin wrong. Its a friggin popular science book not a journal article....
I've been told William Craddock's autobio is in this set of non-resonators yet I read it a couple years ago and it was pretty interesting.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 25 2017, @10:51PM
You ought to read eckhart tolles - the power of now
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Wednesday April 26 2017, @12:44AM (1 child)
I was amazed by GEB in High School and bring it up mostly nowadays as trivia, with it being the first item sold on Amazon and all.
For Zen Buddhism, you have to read books by Zen Buddhists. Happiness by Mattieu Ricard is a secular exploration of the Buddhist philosophy on happiness - how it functions, why it functions, how to cultivate your psyche for health and wellness benefits.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 26 2017, @06:52AM
For some Zen literature, you could always read Zen in the Art of Archery which preceded the motorcycle maintenance book.