Lila : An Inquiry into MoralsLimited Edition

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, thought inspiring book.
Review: After ZAMM Lila is a different flavour, but just as interesting and inspiring. For me Pirsig fights for the under dog, and sometimes in this world, thats all you need to do. Put your hand up and say, "wait wait that's not right". There's a few reviewers vehemently ripping into Pirsig, it's great, he love's it I'm sure. Pirsig says that his MOQ deals with things better than the standard dualistic metaphysics, he draws a few conclusions that are quesionable, but all conclusions on ethics and morals are questionable, it's doesn't stop the fact that his MOQ is fundamentally more useful than western dualism in some situations. Try explaining a city to a child in terms of Subjects and Objects, and then try with Patterns of Value. The MOQ doesn't create the conclusions its another useful tool available to the open minded, Pirsig's not forcing anyone to use it.

I guess people are reading this like a text book, one reviewer even complained that there's no foot notes, the book is not a textbook. Pirsig has to shoot down his opponents to make his point, it's unfair maybe but it's life. If you make a point and then say, "of course this could all be rubbish, it's just an idea", people won't have confidence in what you're saying and won't publish your book. The one star mob and the academics wanted Pirsig to right a text book so they could burn it. He didn't he wrote a book about one mans ideas and most people including myself think it's another brilliant book.

Wright or wrong Pirsig is dynamic, he's trying to push philosophy either upward toward further evolution or accidentally into degeneracy, but without people like Pirsig life would be very boring. The one star mob should concentrate on their own books.

Rating:
Summary: what exactly is his philosophy?
Review: I ended up not caring for this book for several
reasons.
1) Pirsig is not a very nice or likeable
person. Certainly it is not a requirement
to be likeable, but it helps you get through 400+ pages.
He knows this, but doesn't seem to mind enough to
change.
2) Everyone and everything is a foil for his own ego.
He never learns any thing from anyone that doesn't
groove with what he already wants to think.
3) What is his philosophy? There are numerous interesting
observations on indians and victorians, but
his philosophy reminds me of utility theory.
If you are sufficiently clever you can argue for anything.
In these reviews people are saying how great is his
thinking, but if you had to tell someone what his
thinking is, what would you say?

Rating:
Summary: Oh holy crap
Review: I was a real novice to philosophy and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance confused me a lot the first time I read it. But I read it again and then got Lila. Wow.

Pirsig seems to have the ability to explain nearly EVERYTHING. I agree that sometimes his conclusions are a little hasty. However, Pirsig effortlessly explains away things that I had barely registered subconsciously. His view of reality seems to make a lot of sense.

Anyway, I don't know enough about philosophy to say, but I think this book is grossly under-rated. This book is very, very important indeed. Even if it is not true it is well worth reading. I found the story itself amazing.

As you might have guessed, I'm a fan! Awesome book.

Rating:
Summary: Bad, bad, bad
Review: If you liked Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance don't read this, it'll put you off Pirsig forever. A disasterous attempt to prove that his first attempt at writing wasn't a fluke, which ironically proves the precise opposite.

Most of this is just barmy - worthy of a self-published no-hoper. There's a hapless attempt at building a philosophy, pretentiously titled the Metaphysics of Quality, which makes no sense from beginning to end. Other than that he spends most of his time trying to prove that what he says is what everybody already thinks anyway - his metaphysics is consistent with free will, evolution, the American constitution etc - so it MUST be right.

The story part of the book falls flat, the characters never come alive and are too obviously put in to illustrate aspects of his oh-so-precious theory. He borrows from ancient religions under the pretext that he is the first person to dig up these ideas and the only person who has ever really understood them. (Gosh aren't we lucky he was born!) In fact he seems not to even understand what he is writing, because he contradicts himself all over the place. It's as if he just copied bits and pieces from other texts that he fancied without really knowing what they meant. There are no footnotes, no references, nothing, we're supposed to believe that this all came from him. Basically it's all about proving that he's the greatest genius who ever lived and if you don't believe him well that's because you're just too blind to see it.

Rating:
Summary: A good dog...
Review: Much expectation approaching this book. Took me several years to read it as I was afraid to be disappointed. To read this, leave any and all expectations at the door pertaining to his previous book. Read it fresh.

While the tone is somewhat melancholy, there is a sense of spirit bursting free (if only he'd let it!). But the journey, the inquiries, the cultural notes are brilliant. As for the title of the review, it's at the end and it sums up the book.

Highly recommended.

(This is an old review under an old email address.)

Rating:
Summary: Sex, Drugs, and Metaphysics
Review: Phaedrus is back. Not satisfied with naming the unameable, he now must subdivide that which cannot be subdivided. The thrust of this book is a devlopment of a 'metaphysics of Quality." Quality is that nameless indirectly percievable reality Pirsig went to great lengths to show us in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZAMM)." Without ZAMM under your belt, "Lila" will be meaningless babble to you. So if you have not read ZAMM, stop reading this review, and go directly to ZAMM page. It also is a good read; you will not be disappointed.

I am not the intellectual giant that Pirsig is. Before reading Lila, I didn't even know what a metaphysics was; so don't let that stop you. Like ZAMM, "Lila" is a full blown book on philosophy intertwined with a novella, the plot of which serves to drive the orations of the author, and provide case study-like material for the reader.

Phaedrus, having abandoned his motorcycle for a sailboat, is sailing for Mexico and pondering his next book which will be a "metaphysics of Quality" or maybe about Indians. At any rate, at a port bar he picks up a woman that you and I would not consider exactly a "high class" individual. Between Lila and her acquantances, Pirsig offers us an illustration of the different types of Quality. Dynamic versus Static patterns, social versus biological versus intellectual. He weaves a metaphysics that if not true, at least throws everything from quantum mechanics and artificial intelligence to social reform and madness into a strange new light. A light which on the surface seems to illuminate things very clearly. The downside is that the path to this illumination is a bit harder to follow than in his previous book. Consequently, I had to "just accept" some points as opposed to "really digging" them. And that has left a feeling that maybe something is missing in this philosophy. But my gut says it's me that is broke, not the book. Probably just means I need to read it again, which I intend to do.

Pirsig's writting is still beautiful. Can't describe why. It just feels good in your brain when you read his words. They flow together, and he has a talent with developing characters you can really feel. After finishing the book I carried it around for a couple of days, thinking it was kind of like an old friend.

So, in conclusion I must say that Lila is very good. It carries a grand concept that ties love, quarks, and madness with the same strings. So important is this book, that I have added it to my list of required reading for total cosmic understanding. Other members of that list are, "A Brief History of Time"-Hawking, "Chaos-A Foundation of a New Science"-Glieck, and "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maitenance"-Pirsig's first contribution. This pool of literature is guaranteed to put you in your place in the universe. What you might find however, is that "getting drunk, picking up bar girls, and writing books about metaphysics" are all just a part of life.

Rating:
Summary: warm explosion
Review: Pirsig's genius with Zenandtheartofmotorcyclemaintenance is his ability to tie down an almost clinical analysis of life from the busy interactions of sub-atomic particles, to the mystical interactions between humans and their environment. He distils the essence of our own collective, and disparate experiences, to a floating essence of truth. This is not a truth which excludes debate, but like each core physical reaction within us, allows for each individual and new perspective to be considered, and have it's place in the sun. It is an outwardly clinical, but ultimately enriching journey, allowing every reader to interact, react, and leave a better person for it.

Nature repeats its structure from the finite to the infinite, and for me, Pirsig's writing reinforces an idea of humanity which can only encourage hope, and promise

Rating:
Summary: A must read if you are always wondering Why?
Review: The great thing about Pirsig's writing is that he takes apart and analyzes many beliefs that we take for granted in our every day lives. Then he resassembles them into a logical mapping that literally provides an explanation for everything, from the behavior of cells, bacteria, animals, trees, humans, societies.

Granted, the structure of the 'story' makes it such that it is more of a doctrine on morals and values rather than a page-turning novel. But that is what makes it great. We don't have to put up with unnecessary story fluff if it were a true novel, and we also don't have to deal with dry philosophical incantations with equations and symbols etc.

This book will only really be enjoyed by those who liked the first book for its philosphical analysis, because he picks up the discussion and takes it many steps further. For those of us interested in understanding our lives and our behaviors, of why we do what we do, how we got to where we are today, and what it is each of us individually and collectively value, he offers some very amazing and compelling arguments. And he backs each of his theories up with quite rigorous logical explanations. This is one of the main reasons I enjoy his work; he doesn't just throw something esoteric idea out there and wait for someone to prove him wrong; he follows every argument up with logical analysis.

Bottom line, if you are into the philosophy of it, you will come out of each chapter of this book with a different outlook on your everyday life. You will see things in a different light, and that is what makes this book great for me. There are very few other books out there that successfully do this.

Rating:
Summary: Steely Dan and the Art of Writing
Review: There's something about reading Robert Pirsig's Lila that reminds me of listening to Steely Dan records. Everything seems to be mastered, the writing is tight and it allows Pirsig to zone off into what can either be described as self-indulgent tengents or brilliant essays on metaphysics - just like those extended solos and cryptic lyrics on albums like Aja. But like Steely Dan, there's also a cold, almost clinical atmosphere to Pirsig's character Phaedrus. If you're like me you can indulge Pirsig a bit just as much as you can put on a Steely Dan record.

There really isn't any other author I've encountered quite like Pirsig, and that's a good thing. On the surface this is the story of Phaedrus, a man who's written a novel - Zen and the Art, it seems - that has given him fame but also turned him into a recluse. He's traveling alone down a river in upstate New York when he ends up picking up a woman. That woman, Lila, becomes the focus of his wandering search for a more inclusive system of thinking. He calls this system the Metaphysics of Quality and it resembles a computer program in its design. The book then alternates between the story of Phaedrus and Lila (who increasingly is revealed to be mentally ill) and Phaedrus's (sometimes ingenious) musings.

Sleek, well-written, fascinating but also cold and indulgent, I'd recommend Lila to those who aren't bloody-well annoyed when a Steely Dan record comes on.

Rating:
Summary: does this book have quality?
Review: Well, this is certainly not as easy a read as Zen. While the first book cleverly drew the reader into philosophical debate, gently revealing the background and views of the author almost stealthily, in this new volume Pirsig clearly expects the reader to have already cleared any psycholoigical block that might require such intellectual massage.

Twenty years on Pirsig is far more forthright in his attempts to explain his highly original and complex world view, to the extent that the 'story' becomes something of an irritating interuption. What plot there is (a couple of days on a boat), is so clearly autobiographical, that the use of the 'character' name Phaedrus would be highy pretentious were it not for a need for continuity from the previous book.

Even more that Zen, this is little more than an attempt by the author to convince the audience of his very personal philoshophical standpoint, and in this he is evangelical to the point of arrogance. But this detracts only a little from the undeniable fact that his socio-metaphysical standpoint is indeed highly self-consistant and quite staggeringly original. That he falls into the trap of proving his points using an internal logic that pre-assumes the veracity of his system is no more or less a problem here than in conventional philosophy.

All in all, the writer is more mature and cynical after the intervening years, and this book lacks the sense of revelation to be found in Zen, but it has to be recognised that this follow up is refining a concept first espoused in the earlier book, and it's hard to imagine how it could have been presented differently.

What Pirsig has to say definitely deserves to be heard, and it is to his credit that he delayed following up a previous smash hit until he had something concrete to add.