‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ Author, passes away at 88: HumSub.TV
‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ Author, passes away at 88: HumSub.TV: Robert Maynard Pirsig, a denizen of United States of America, he was a soul so deep that it was destined to become a writer and with even a heart more deep he was naturally a philosopher. In his lifetime he authored two philosophical novels.
Talking about the books, ‘Lila: An Inquiry into Morals’ came out in 1991, but his most celebrated novel is ‘Zen and the Art Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values’ which came out in 1991.
“Lila: An Inquiry into Morals,” which basically was a sequel of sorts but not as successful its predecessor.
Setting aside what abrupt notions strike on the peripheral lines of mind after reading the title of the book, upon delving into it, one finds out that this book is written on metaphysics and existential philosophy, precisely the ideas of Soren Kierkegaard, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Friedrich Nietzsche.
It has sold more than five million copies around the globe.
In the introduction, Pirsig said that, despite its title, “It should in no way be associated with that great body of factual information relating to orthodox Zen Buddhist practice. It’s not very factual on motorcycles, either.”
Talking further about his magnum opus book, it embraces the first person narrative style that tells about a 17-day adventurous ride he took in the US in 1968 with his 11-year old son starting from Minneapolis to San Francisco.
He lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota and was a college writing instructor and freelance technical writer despite the fact that by training he was a biochemist.
In the book, ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’, Pirsig adopted the name of Phaedrus, the same character Plato employed against his protagonist, Socrates, in one of his dialogue composed around 370 BC. He tried to explain the history of philosophy briefly and then explained his own personal thoughts. Among various other aspects, he has reflected on the necessity of simple life by explaining that how to rely on to the things which are important and how to spurn the call of complexities, arising out of things which are not important at all.
One excerpt from his book reads, “Is it hard? Not if you have the right attitudes. It is having the right attitude that’s hard.”
In his book review, George Steiner a French-born American literary critic, essayist, philosopher, novelist, and educator, compared Pirsig’s writing to that of Dostoevsky, Broch, Marcel Proust, and Bergson, stating that “The assertion itself is valid… the analogies with Moby-Dick are patent”.
In the years of World War II, he was stationed in South Korea, enlisted as a US Army soldier. There he accumulated the philosophical realities and cemented his wavering thoughts, which eventually helped him to embark a journey of an author in later years of his life. The dense smoke of the grand war of 19th century when thinned, it left the mental condition of Pirsig impaired for a while, later he recovered and jotted down his first novel.
Pirsig passed away at his home in South Berwick, Maine, on Monday, The New York Times reported. His publisher, William Morrow, confirmed his death, saying the writer’s health had been failing.
‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ Author, passes away at 88: HumSub.TV
‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ Author, passes away at 88: HumSub.TV
‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ Author, passes away at 88: HumSub.TV
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