 Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert M. Pirsig.
I'm sorry, but this book bored me out of my mind. It's a lightly fictionalized story of a motorcycle trip the author took with his 11-year-old son. Motorcycle maintenance is used as an allegory for problem-solving, and the ride itself is an example of the Zen value of "being present." That part is fine, easy enough to follow even if (like me) you know nothing about motorcycles. As the book goes on, we get fragmented memories of the unnamed narrator's younger self, called "Phaedrus" after a character in Plato's dialogues. Phaedrus was obsessed with the question of "What is Quality?" We get endless pages of what Phaedrus thought this meant, what various ancient philosophers thought it meant, and what the author currently thinks it means. It's all very abstract and pointless. We eventually learn that Phaedrus had a mental breakdown and was subjected to electroshock therapy. He was left with little memory of his prior life, which is why the author thinks of him as a separate person. But "Phaedrus" is now reasserting himself in the author's psyche . And, what is Quality? I checked in afterward with a couple of people I know who'd liked the book, trying to see what I was missing. Their response: "I skipped/skimmed the philosophy parts." Which was most of the book. Trigger warning for involuntary electroshock treatment. Also, in the afterword to later editions, you learn that one of the people in the book was murdered a few years later. I understand why the author included the information, but holy hell. Popsugar Reading Challenge: Title starts with "Z". 52 Book Club: Genre-defining book. Booklist Queen Challenge: Popular book you've never read. Around the Year Challenge: "Z" in the title or author's name.
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