Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a book that tries to answer the big questions of life. It is shocking to find such a profound and moving book that has been written so recently, but this book delivers. The main question is the definition of “quality”, which Pirsig ultimately finds indefinable. The book follows the narrator and his son on a seventeen-day motorcycle trip, and the thoughts of the narrator while traveling cross-country. The book becomes a mosaic of the human condition in all of its forms. Logic, creativity, and soul are the lifeblood of the narrator’s worldview. With these he spends stretches of road and many stops thinking of the elusive idea of quality. What this book will teach you is the subtle ideas of quality, identity, and maintenance.

Quality, like pornography, is something you know when you see it, but you can’t easily define it. There are no rules; there are no guidelines to quality. The surest way to destroy quality is to try and quantify and define it. It is the most elusive value of this world that artists, scientists, and all others have been searching for all time.

Quality…. You know what it is, yet you don’t know what it is. But that’s self-contradictory. But some things are better than others, that is, they have more quality. But when you try to say what the quality is, apart from the things that have it, it all goes poof! (p.231)

This book tackles the question of quality more thoroughly and forcefully than I could imagine sharing with you. Pirsig writes in a concise and simple way to illuminate his ideas. Do not confuse that for triviality, in fact this is the question of life. Every page of this book will have you on the precipice of “knowing,” feeling closer to the truth, but never quite reaching it. It will shake your identity to the core.

Identity is another topic tackled by Pirsig in this book. In fact, quality and identity are somewhat intertwined. Throughout the novel the narrator is confronted with an alter ego named Phaedrus, the man the narrator had been before electro-shock therapy. Phaedrus, a name Pirsig had misidentified as the Greek word for “wolf”, is the Greek word for brilliant or radiant. The misnomer actually is a better application than before. The identity of the narrator and Phaedrus are separate. The narrator wants to fit into society and not cause any problems. Phaedrus wants to question the truths, and actions of the day, he is willing to learn but not willing to obey for the sake of ease or obedience.

The main struggle of the book is for Phaedrus to reappear as the narrator. Allowing for the narrator to be “one person again.” This is a problem I find myself facing at certain times in my life. I enjoy people greatly, and want to participate in the world around me. However, I often find that I question the things people take for granted and see the world in a different light than most. I am often faced with the question of what type of person to be. I do not think I am alone in this predicament. What this book really does well is allowing the narrator and any reader to accept

themselves fully: the flaws and the brilliance being part of an undefined whole that must be appreciated, but maintained. (A worthy goal of any many or woman.)

Maintenance is the last idea that fully encapsulates life for Pirsig. Throughout the novel, the narrator talks about the simple ideas of motorcycle maintenance. This is mirrored by a companion biker at the beginning of the trip who refuses to do any work or maintenance on his bike. The companion is fully accepting of the motorcycle as is, day in day out, without worrying about the consequences of wear and tear. The narrator on the other hand, has taught himself the basics of self-care that will allow his motorcycle to run for as long as he owns it.

Although one can get a decent understanding of the mechanics and maintenance of a motorcycle from the narrator, the true purpose of this maintenance is the maintenance of the narrator himself. He finds the whole world interconnected and the motorcycle a reflection of himself. Therefore the continual checks and improvements allow him to keep going to down the road safely and efficiently, paying attention to the noises and changes that could cause a crash. This is a way of life that we should all try to embrace. I know I should. Being able to correct problems before they get out of hand, realizing that you are capable of fixing most of the problems in your life by yourself if only you stay aware, these are the prescriptions for a life filled with quality and dare I say Zen.

This book explores the deep reaches of the mind to understand quality, identity and maintenance. I cannot claim that everyone will have a transcendent experience while reading this book. But I do believe that everyone will start asking better questions after. I hope that others read this book, to realize their oneness with the world they create around them. I am optimistic that the more people that read this book, the more each will be willing to travel their own road, rather than one decided for them.