#2 Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

I have Cat's Cradle queued up to follow. I am not sure I'm going to continue discussing the Buzzfeed book list. Two reasons: (1) I'm not clear that this space and my desire to write are sufficient to do justice to any of these works and (2) what was the point of this blog again? Are my children really going to care?

Any opinions? Don't worry, you can't hurt my feelings, so say what you wish. (PS, I am going to keep reading them--to the bitter end--but if 'public opinion' suggests there is no need to share, I can keep my thoughts to myself). 

I read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance when I was high school age-ish, and, in hindsight, did not understand a word of it. It is interesting to me that I read Catch-22 around the same time and understood it well enough that it became my favorite book for several decades following, but Zen escaped me. Although, if you know both books and me personally, perhaps it's just ironic? 

If you have read Further Adventures of the $700 Pony, "zen" and my general lack of it play a large role in the book. To this day, I still have a tendency to miss the forest for the trees, but I would argue in general I have absorbed the basic moral of the story: "Quality is focusing on a job and doing it well by in part eschewing distraction." 

For people who spend their lives with horses, this is a lesson well learned early. If you can feel properly what is going on underneath you, you can ride dressage. If you notice when your horse is not quite right before things go too badly south, you can manage a physical problem before it becomes a career ending injury. If you notice if your horse is suddenly a bit more lethargic than usual, you can manage colic before it goes Code Red. Or at least reduce the suffering of a horse that is going to go Code Red no matter what you do. 

The point is, horses are sensitive, fragile creatures for all their size, and people who are able to tune out The-World-At-Large and tune in to what is happening in front of or underneath them, will ultimately be more successful. So an important lesson for horse people to internalize.  

The book itself is an interesting read, switching between the vantage point of a 17-day motorcycle journey the author and his 11-year old son take, to a period of time when the author was suffering from mental illness that eventually resulted in electroshock therapy. As a reader, I found the periods of time the author delves into philosophy to be a bit draggy; I'm shallow that way. But, I did find the narrative, split screen journeys across the country and the decent into madness fascinating, and chilling. 

I do believe this is one of those books where researching the background makes for a much richer read: the author's son was eventually murdered in his early 20s. The author subsequently had another child with his (much younger) second wife. There was apparently consideration to end the pregnancy (as the author was in his 50s and was concerned about being an "old father"). There was some sort of spiritual moment, however, where the author felt that the spirit of his dead son was going to end up in the new child, so they pregnancy was allowed to continue and they ended up with a baby girl. 

Judge all you will (and I did, believe me), this background information made reading Zen all the more poignant. My key takeaway from the book?  Mental illness is an SOB.

There are mental health issues in my family; I live a life where every single day I thank all that is holy that I do not suffer from mental illness, so it is possible I lost a bit of the forest for the trees in this one.

Next: Athens 

 

 

 

Comments

[Rodneyssaga]

Sorry. I loathe this book. It represents everything that was wrong with the English department at my college. Scarred? Moi?

[Beth P]

Ellen, what I, as a reader, take away from your blog is an appreciation of what you experience. I would love to continue to get your comments as you read through the Buzzfeed list since yoru life experience is so varied you bring an expanded viewpoint to what you are reading.

You asked :)

PS. since these are 'classic' books in a sense, I would think your children will enjoy your take on each book as they are introduced to it in turn.