Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance / Robert M. Pirsig

RATINGS

Overall: 5/ 5 stars

Text Level: Hard

Entertainment: High

Self-Help: High

Genres: Fiction, Philosophy, Psychology, Travel, Spirituality, Self-Help

Page Count: 540

Is this book right for me and my inmate?

Do people tell you that you don't care about the things you have in the relationships in your life? This book works on the concepts of a life of Quality and the dedicated careful work it takes to get there.

Buy on: Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Review By: Blackbird (Inmate)

A journey on a motorcycle that leads to a deeper understanding of life.

As inmates, many of us have spent our lives going through our work and relationships with little concern about the level of effort it requires to make them healthy. We have shown our employers, families, and community a lack of care in how we go about our actions. Not dedicating ourselves to care for our responsibilities in the way that they deserve, has led to lives that for many of us are missing Quality. In this book by Robert M. Pirsig, we learned the beginnings of what makes a meaningful life of Quality, by taking the time to recognize the care we must give to every task we take.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a philosophical journey that follows a man pondering what a life of Quality is as he travels across the country on a motorcycle road trip with his young son. The author covers a variety of life topics along the way, as strained relationships with family and depression plagued him. Throughout the journey, the main character is always in search of what Quality really means to him and how he can apply that knowledge to better his life.

What does Quality mean to you in your life? Often it seems too connected to materialistic things that seem to always require more. For inmates, we rarely can't answer what Quality in life means, because we don't have the beginning place to start to work towards it. In this book, Pirsig uses the concepts of motorcycle maintenance to find that starting point towards Quality. He teaches the reader that taking the time to slow down and recognize all the small things in front of you allow you to organize your life. This ability to see the small meaningful things and organize their real importance is beginning to show care for the world around us. This care leads to greater Quality and shows you value what you have.

When we are home, and the world seems to be moving at a fast pace it will be key to recognize the small, needed steps in life to show the community we care for the actions we are doing. The urge to rush and get things done quickly only harms Quality. We can demonstrate we understand Quality if we show we care for our work, which will itself prove we value the things in our lives.

Book Quotes

“A person who sees Quality and feels it as he works is a person who cares. A person who cares about what he sees and does is a person who is bound to have some characteristics of Quality.”

“To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountains which sustain life, not the top. Here's where things grow.”