Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Robert Pirsig
193 people recommended it in 68 threads, 2007–2024.
21 commenters pushed back on it — worth reading the threads.
What people on Hacker News said
It's not a travel book. It's a personal journey of discovery that just happens to be on a motorcycle. Essentially, Pirsig's bike trip is a metaphor to revisit his fragmented past and forgotten identity through the lens of a curious mind.
Zen is a journey in your mind, disguised as a journey by motorcycle by a father and his son.
"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig takes you deep into the philosophy on what is 'quality'. Once you see it you can't unsee it.
Some of my favorite passages pertain to the awareness of-and management of- one's internal motivation and thought process when attempting to do good work.
I thought the first third of the book was absolutely fantastic. But then it quickly decayed into philosophical drivel, IMO.
While it's also a tale of travel and self-exploration (the rediscovery of identity after a nervous breakdown and shock therapy), mostly the book is about thinking.
It has shaped my thinking on 'what is good' or 'what does quality' mean. As an engineer it is easy to appreciate the author slowly going insane about the details he keeps coming back to, and as a human it is invaluable to have an understanding yourself of when something is 'good'.
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