Hi em!
One thing to say straight off, there is an industry out there, devoted to Robert Pirsigs classic ZAMM, his second book 'Lila' and a huge following for something called the 'Metaphysics Of Quality' (MOQ) that derives from Pirsigs thoughts and writings.
So you em, and anyone else reading this, could simply peruse the Wikipedia page, go to the section on external links, and then happy browsing!
But thank you, this is my 4th reading and it feels like I didn't really properly read ZAMM over the first times.
I'm really enjoying reading it now, and it's a great challenge to have a go at accounting for the whole thing, as well as how it ended.
But I'm going to cheat. Here is the Wikipedia entry that's a synopsis.
"Structure[edit]
The book describes, in first person, a 17-day journey on his motorcycle from Minnesota to Northern California by the author (though he is not identified in the book) and his son Chris. They are joined for the first nine days of the trip by close friends John and Sylvia Sutherland, with whom they part ways in Montana. The trip is punctuated by numerous philosophical discussions, referred to as Chautauquas by the author, on topics including epistemology, ethical emotivism and the philosophy of science.
Many of these discussions are tied together by the story of the narrator's own past self, who is referred to in the third person as Phaedrus (after Plato's dialogue). Phaedrus, a teacher of creative and technical writing at a small college, became engrossed in the question of what defines good writing, and what in general defines good, or "Quality". His philosophical investigations eventually drove him insane, and he was subjected to electroconvulsive therapy which permanently changed his personality.
Towards the end of the book, Phaedrus's personality begins to re-emerge and the narrator is reconciled with his past."
So what is the ending about, may depend on an understanding of the whole book, in this case, that is, my understanding! Or yours too?
If it's just me, you are going to get a biased rendering, but I'm sure you knew that!
So how to proceed?
I did what I usually do, to anal retentively, count the Parts, Sections and Pages. Here's the report to that first approach.
ZAMM has four parts containing 32 sections.
Part I has seven sections (1 to 7),
Part II -eight sections (8 to 15)
Part III -eleven sections (16 to 26)
and the final Part IV -six sections (27 to 32).
I am currently zooming in on various sections to get a sense of the part it's contained in. But I think the the whole thing may need re-reading (Yay!)
For example, section 29 in the final part, has the longest (most pages) and the most meatiest bit on classical philosophy, and how it pertains to his obsessional quest for 'Quality'.
The book length is about 396 pages of standard paper back length.
At one level the book is simply about
'Father and Son on the road in a shattering odyssey of self discovery'
But also
'...The trip is punctuated by numerous philosophical discussions, referred to as Chautauquas by the author, on topics including epistemology, ethical emotivism and the philosophy of science.'
And also
'...became engrossed in the question of what defines good writing, and what in general defines good, or "Quality'
So all the things I've bolded above are the 'wtf's, that could be chewed upon, and are are floating waypoints along a chautauqua odyssey, but essentially, from the beginning to the end it is Chris and his Father on a motorbike.
What the ending IS, is about is also the book as a whole, but essentially it is (and inspite of Chris nearly going mad with despair over his father's mental state) - a good resolution that is plucked from a drifting disaster.
The other 'things' are more complex and may not have endings so much as standing questions which are also persued and mined in various platforms around the Pirsig industry.
I have on order a book that explains more the philosophy in ZAMM.
So em, looks like I've got to re-read the whole book. and the one to come. Care to join me?!
[To be continued]
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