Hey everyone! Recently I started a long-form discussion series on ZAMM. If you want to hear the much higher quality (ha!) analysis that I do in that series, here it is: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8noU1kGxH1A.html JF
I loved his reference to the Japanese Bicycle assembly manual where the first step listed was to have a good and positive mindset. It's one of my most valuable takeaways from the book.
Most influential book in my life, partly because of the timing (read it at 15 years old), but mostly because of deep yet accessible nature of this book.
Good short analysis. I've read ZAMM 6 or 8 times over the years. So much could be said about it, but one thing that always blows me away is how it is a philosophical thriller - with clues, evidence, building tension as Phaedrus comes out of the shadows. My all time favourite book. I agree with you, that if you pay attention this book can make you a better person.
I have listened to a lot of Alan Watts. I’ve tinkered with eastern and western philosophy and spiritualism. I suppose it was inevitable that I listened to the audio book of Zamm. I really enjoyed it and will give it another play in the future. I’ve learned that there is so much we do not know and how much is subjective. We all live here and there is no escaping from it or ourselves. The best way to live is how we see fit. This order and chaos is a fact we each have to live with. Never stop asking and always be the genuine.
Just finished reading it. I can see why it can make an impact on people that do not have any previous exposure to some of these ideas. I also understand how influential it was at the time it came out. A classic perhaps but mostly for historical reasons. It is long and tedious to read. There are some pearls of wisdom but most of the philosophical ramblings are barely coherent ramblings. The patronizing tone is annoying at times. Reads like two separate stories cut and pasted into one. Just my 5 cents.
Read This book 35 years ago...Phaedrus had a calming effect, through clearing my ability to understand...I think... Only read it once...still have it somewheres...maybe time to dust it off..
I'm curious how/if your view of it and the lessons you pull from it have changed over time. For me it's very koan-like, I keep finding new angles and lessons. JF
I liked the book a whole lot and decades ago I even lost a copy (the pink one) on an L.A. beach. I like to think that whoever found it discovered just what a wonderful gift it was/is. Also, I think the author's son, Chris, was 11, though I could be wrong. (Terrible how he died, btw.)
Loved this book. I read ir yonks ago in the 1980’s. I don’t think I got anything from it that was great wisdom or insight (that I am consciously aware of at least) but that’s just me. I just really loved the atmosphere of it. I tnink it did effect me at a level that I am just not aware of maybe. I certainly do not see it as a ‘self help’ book. To me it’s more of a book that maybe just opens your mind.
I read this book in college. As a student majoring in architecture and art I was always concerned with the nature of quality and beauty. I could not accept the old saying "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder." Usually it was the yahoos with no real grasp of aesthetic issues who were trying to legitimize their abominable taste.
I think the more you try to become enlightened, the more frustrated you become, and in extreme cases like Robert, you go crazy. The great philosophers figured out nothing and spent their lives arguing about trivial ideas that were neither right or wrong, or even mattered. Zen cant be found. Zen sneaks up when it’s ready and leaves when you try to to master it. Robert was wrong about John and Sylvia’s “fear of technology.” They actually didn’t like Robert’s patronizing know-it-all attitude. Besides, their motorcycle was still under warranty and it didn’t need to be tinkered with.
That's an interesting reading of zamm, and I think you're right about zen sneaking up on you. I can't help but think that there's a place, though, for trying to push the limits of thought. Both JB and I felt like there was something there that we just barely couldn't grasp and we were reaching out after it. JF
There's an episode from the original Will & Grace TV show where Grace gets her boyfriend that book. "What are the three things he loves the most? Zen, art, and motorcycle maintenance. So I got him a signed, first edition copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenace."
Only a trendy television writer could put high and low culture in the same situation. Thankfully that silly foursome never tried to take on more challenging things like Stravinsky's "Le Sacre du printemps" or Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilyich." Andy Warhol, however would be right up their alley.
I did NOT enjoy this book very much. I'm guessing anyone who likes this book loves philosophy. I could have enjoyed its occasional insightful themes with far less redundancy and jargon. Also, the narrative aspects are certainly behind today's high standards of style. The dialogue, particularly during conflict, is spotty, and some scenes should have been told more up-close and personally rather than summarized (e.g. the classroom argument with the Chairman, etc.) It has it's moments. The analogical insights into bike repair and craftsmanship is sometimes fun. The intro conflict between him and his friend who dislikes bike repair hooks you, but we probably only get moments like that every hundred pages. It is not for novel-readers who expect rich, depthful character development and dialogue, and the only "plot" really is finally finding out what happened to "Phaedrus" in the backstory.
I love the book but let's be honest, it's not really that revolutionary. He's basically taking Eastern philosophy and applying it to Western civilization.
