Riding off to the Chataqua: Robert M. Pirsig (September 16, 1928, April 24. 2017)
I'd known he was in poor health in recent years.
I'd read ZaTAoMM at uni, and again a couple of years ago as I found myself wondering again at the questions of what Quality and Truth were. I came away with less on the second reading than the first, in terms of philosophy, though enjoyed the story, and found that much of its message was now me.
http://boingboing.net/2017/04/24/rip-robert-m-pirsig-author-o.html
@mjb When you're first testing the limits of your initial education and world-understanding, many such works seem profound. The bridge between the literal, mechanical, technological world, and the philosophical one, as encompassed in the title itself and much of the book, is an extremely useful one to have, and almost certainly fit with the bias then, and now, of a large /technically/ but not /philosophically/ trained class within the US and probably Europe. Looking back the way seems obvious.
@mjb But that may be due to Pirsig's skill in showing it and building that bridge.
Or it could be that the book itself was simpler than we'd thought.
But I'll give him credit for opening doors for me, even if it later turns out the walls they broached /were/ far more permeable than I'd realised at the time.
@dredmorbius Is it worth reading even if I could not care less about the maintenance of internal combustion engine powered, dual-wheeled vehicles?
@hennejg If you really have to ask that, no.
If you didn't really have to ask that, you already know the answer.
@dredmorbius well, of course the question was somewhat tongue-in-cheek but fact 1: I haven't read it yet and fact 2: I am actually wondering whether it is one of those books which, despite their status as a classic, didn't age very well. Alas, it seems like I will have to find out myself.
@hennejg I stand by my first response.
@dredmorbius I read it way back when, too, and then read Lila a few years later but was a bit disappointed with it. I fear that were I to reread Zen it might not measure up to my recollection of how good it was. Although, there might be some treasures within that just went over my head and given what I've learned of Eastern philosophy… Dunno, maybe I should read it again.