Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance...

15 people? For Christmas? I can't think of more than two of my closest frenemies that I would want to give that book to.

But then again, it's the thought that counts!

 

I suppose it was the summer of '73....I was 12 and had just gotten a well-flogged 90cc Suzuki.
I had dreams of being the next Roger DeCoster.
Someone gave me a copy of Zen...
I was way too young to get it...I remember thinking, "this book has very little to do with motorcycles OR their maintenance."
I was MUCH more interested in the latest issue of Dirt Bike or Motocross Action.
I've never been without a motorcycle since then (Although I'm damned close, now!) and I wish I had a buck for every time I've heard, "Of course, you've read Zen and..."

 

I did this with ant farms one year.

 

My brother gave me a copy 20 yrs ago, said id like it.
I didn't.

 

I read one chapter - in front of a couple hundred people. My public speaking instructor handed me the book and said to pick a chapter.

 

To be fair, it doesn't have a lot to do with Zen either

 

I read it. Can’t recall the precise timing (sometime in the 70’s most likely) and can’t recall many specifics about the book. A friend recommended it, as we both had some interest in looking at the connections between “eastern and western thinking”. I use the quotes because, at the time, not a whole lot of my opinions had been tested or framed by experience, or in any event, harsher realities. Not saying that trial by fire is the only true test, but it does come in handy for finding out what works well under pressure.

About all I can remember is having mixed feelings; liked some of it, and found some of it overly convoluted and unresolved. Can’t say I feel the need to revisit it.

It did get me thinking of that time in life when you start to realize that there’s no easy way to be a useful adult. Somewhere along the line, a lot of hard work is involved and a good way to deal with that is being true to yourself. I didn’t learn that from a book, though.

 

"Eat your veggies and don't be a ****" --- that's all I got to go on.

 

I'm noticing an incredible similarity to the discussions of whether the film "Birdman" is wonderful genius or unresolved and convoluted over acting....

 

..what more do you need? sounds about right...

 

I truly liked the movie better.

.

 

Coincidence again, I had just visited my sister in Scottsdale who was a chef. even made it on tv, "Great Chef's of the Southwest. Cheffing was crap for her, my brother the chef got out of it too. The similarity ends here, I still love my beer.

now my dad is pushing me to read Montaigne who Wiki quoted as "the first modern man"

 

Read it way back when. At times a bit of a chore, but I liked it.......... especially when I was done. I read it again twice, but only the motorcycle parts.

 

I've read it a few times over the years, but Hesse was more my style. I can't recall the number of times I've read Siddhartha, and the first time I read Steppenwolf I was absolutely awake and awakened.

 

After 40 years and five or six readings I still find myself quoting it all the time. It changed how I thought about the world.

 

It took me three attempts, but I finally got through it.

Here is an easier, better, lighter read, and more informative:

View attachment 360456

 

I didn't even own a motorsickle but think I read and liked that book and now not sure I should fess up to it.

 

Just read it again.

Sad about Chris.

My favorite philosophic novelist is Dostoevsky.

I wish there was more.

 

I stayed up all night reading Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance in the dorm as a college freshman, and then quoted it in every one of my humanities classes that year.

Beer can shims, classical/romantic, and the inherent flaw of the scientific method...

 

Hmm, yeah...