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Dec 25, 2011

Greg rated it:

It took me a long time to read this book, and I'm not sure how much these disparate readings affected my overall impression of the book. Pirsig doesn't have a narrative structure, he wanders. And these wanderings tend to circle back around and all tie in to a greater point or idea he's trying to get to the root of. Leaving the book for days or weeks at a time makes it hard to follow that strand and keep a sense of how the ideas you're reading about tie into the overall purpose of the book.
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3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jul 04, 2007

Aerin rated it:

I like Lila better than its prequel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which is saying quite a bit - Zen is one of my very favorite books.

In the decades between the books' publications, Pirsig's philosophy matured considerably; this book is simpler, more direct, and more eloquent than its predecessor.

"When he was young Phædrus used to think about cows and pigs and chickens and how they never knew that the nice farmer who provided food and shelter was More...

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Nov 24, 2007

Keely rated it:

This book started out quite promisingly. It had some really amazing, mind-blowing parts. But near the middle of the book there is a light drizzle and then a torrent of classism and a touch of veiled racism. The ending is also rather disappointing. The book hovers between epiphany and wrongheadedness. It was to be fair, a very ambitious topic, constructing an entirely new metaphysics based on the value as an intuitive undefinable concept. The sort of project where it is easy to lose your way.
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0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 18, 2009

James rated it:

1) The story is compelling. Post post midlife crisis man meets younger voluptuous woman. They travel down the river together. The convention is quite cheap. But he never saves her or she him and neither victimizes the other either. That's good. It's not really sensual (except for one scene). And the (self) portrait of the narrator is absolutely unsparing as is his portrait of the girl. She's not a waif or a femme fatale, but a complicated damaged person and him too. 2) The philosophy is narrati More...

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Dec 17, 2009

Raja rated it:

I haven't read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, but from what I understand, Pirsig spends the entire book arriving at the notion of Quality. In Lila, he expands this into a metaphysical framework, which has since come to be called the Metaphysics of Quality ([http://moq.org]). It's more of a philosophical treatise than a novel, and the MoQ is an interesting and appealing framework.

I may actually not get around to reading ZMM, but Lila stands well on its own.

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 30, 2011

Beau rated it:

Much slower than the first book. I always start to read it, then get bored and move to something else. Very long winded in proving his point of philosophy. A great book for when I'm worried about a mad case of insomnia.

Now, that all sounds bad, but I actually like this book....or what I've read of it. I plan to finish it one day. I keep telling myself to put it in the glove box of my car, so I'll read on it whenever I'm stranded or stuck somewhere, like the author recommends in More...

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Dec 25, 2007

Dax rated it:

This was a fantastic read. There were two "mind-blowing" branches in this book. The first centers around evolution and morality among the three basic forces: biology, society, and intellectualism. The second talks about morality and ties into quality in terms of metaphysics and having "quality" be a scientific metric to judge things. This was a great book - more accessible than its predecessor (to me) and caused me to think quite a bit.

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Aug 30, 2009

Jamie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Feb 03, 2012

Kyle rated it:

For readers of Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, you may as well give Lila a chance. Brace yourself for a change of story. Unlike Zen and The Art of, Lila is Phaedrus's story with Lila on a boat. There's no father/son story here. It's Phaedrus developing his Metaphysics of Quality and exploring values in whatever context presents itself along the way--in every tangent Phaedrus owes each topic/issue the complexity it deserves (i.e. he offers enough depth, provides examples in lo More...

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Jan 30, 2012

Marc rated it:

This is the not-as-good sequel to "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," which I loved. This book expands on the same theories of Quality as "Zen" does, but this time the author uses the metaphors of a sailboat and a crazy woman named Lila, instead of a motorcycle, to examine Quality.

Phaedrus, aka Pirsig, now owns a sailboat which he sails about the East Coast. He hooks up with a girl named Lila and takes her on board. His friends warn him about her, but he More...

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May 25, 2009

Harish rated it:

You have to muddle through the first few chapters as Pirsig sets up his assumptions and recounts his key findings from Zen and the Art.., but what follows is a compelling read about a highly evolved metaphysical system- one that bridges the gap between Eastern mysticism and Western empiricism (or romanticism and classicism), and solves numerous problems inherent in the subject-object metaphysic while sketching out an important framework for a new moral code.
In addition, the book contains More...

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Jan 06, 2012

Nick rated it:

I won't waste time in digging into the intellect that Pirsig puts into a fully formed idea within this book. It speaks for itself once you read it. That being said, if you are interested in a very brilliant look at philosophy/metaphysics/quality/values/morals, it doesn't get much more digestible and enjoyable than this. I loved this book, probably more so than Zen...perhaps because there are so many musings on so many subjects within these 400 or so pages, it becomes addictive to take in the More...

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Sep 26, 2011

Kurtbg rated it:

Dynamic, and static forces of evolution for creatures and societies. Intellectuals are dynamic - bring back instruments to improve society. Without that purpose the dynamic state can be chaotic and not enhance the conservative/static elements of society. Americans are broken into two psyches. The Europeans need for form, purpose, order, and hierarchy versus the elemental, freedom, and open space qualities that are adapted primarily from the American Indian. Static holds the learned body of knowl More...

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Jul 27, 2011

Jeff rated it:

What is quality? Is it a noun or a verb? Why is quality so important?

These are deep questions that affect everyone. Pirsig follows up his Zen book with a smoother, more sophisticated, and clearer book that may not be as mystifying and haunting, but is certainly more mature. This book made me rethink myself, my relationships with everyone I know, my professional behavior, and much about my research. By my limited understanding of Lila, I am a more effective father, friend, son, brother, More...

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Dec 07, 2011

Hshafter rated it:

There are some really interesting ideas in this book. Here are my favorites (in my own words-mostly):

-Darwin's Theory of Evolution fails to account for improvement; the author posits that it's not about survival, it's about striving towards Quality

-There are 2 kinds of Quality: Static and Dynamic. Dynamic Quality allows for change that creates improvement. Static Quality prevents backsliding. Too much Static Quality leads to stagnation. Too much Dynamic Quality lead More...

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Feb 29, 2008

Julie rated it:

The philsophical inconsistencies between this and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, made me want to write an argumentative letter to the author .. . which I take as evidence that he had something of import to say.

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Dec 16, 2009

Barb rated it:

Like Zen and the Art of MM, he investigates/explores the giant philosophic questions - life's questions - within a perfectly written tale of human curiosity, isolation and connection and mostly, insanity - all the stuff I LOVE!

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 02, 2011

Nick added it

if you have read Zen and enjoyed the philosophy aspect of the book (rather than the narrative) then I would recommend taking a look at Lila. The format of the book is similar to Zen, with the narrative introducing the topic and then moving into a full blown exploration of the philosophy. I enjoyed Pirsig's idea about moving from a subject-object metaphysics to a static-dynamic viewpoint, and it is well explained with examples. I think the book focuses more on philosophy but I must say that the p More...

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Aug 27, 2011

Sherry rated it:

I was delighted to find this book in the library of the retreat centre I was staying at for a week's quiet and reflection, but I was a little disappointed with the reading of it, compared to my experience of reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I loved that book. This one pursued some interesting ideas, but on the whole it didn't inspire me much. Then again, where does one possibly GO after Zen? Pirsig's writing has probably improved some, but it felt like he had said everything th More...

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Feb 07, 2011

Kj rated it:

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Dec 27, 2010

skye is currently reading it

Picked this up at the Erratic Rock hostel in Patagonia, and read half of it in Torres del Paine national park. It's a sequel to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which I loved when I read it 6 or so years ago. This book had much that annoyed me, but enough truly excellent insight to keep me reading. Now I need to find a copy in Seattle...

Key ideas so far: our American morality battles of the 2nd half of the 20th century all go back to the Victorian code of ethics. And that cod More...

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Jan 06, 2008

Marc marked it as to-read

Need to read this after enjoying Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance.

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Feb 10, 2009

Peter rated it:

I admit I had to put this one down before completing it. I'd read Zen earlier that year, and was very interested in what a long hiatus would bring. I was thoroughly unimpressed and fairly disenchanted. Zen had a wonderful feeling of exploration, both in the narrative as well as his approach to structuring a "new" definition of quality. Lila has none of this... it feels worn out and desperate. Pirsig seems to be striving to regain some relevancy, but honestly, all I could think abo More...

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Jan 04, 2011

Pvw rated it:

After he based his first novel "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" on a road trip he undertook with his son and had bantered all the time about 'Quality', Pirsig's inspiration seemed to have dried up. Decades later, Pirsig has lived in England for a while and has bought a yacht with which he visited different ports. Remarkably enough he finally has ideas for a new novel, "Lila". The book tells the story of Phaedrus, the protagonist from his previous story, who has liv More...

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Jan 08, 2012

David rated it:

This book was a disappointment for me. Pirsig somehow is interested in the world of ideas in a way that I am not, and spent most of Lila further developing the stystematic philosophy that he had begun in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I was actually interested in Lila herself, the woman who forms a kind of backdrop for all these ideas, but she never really came into focus, and I didn't think the author ever took her that seriously. I'm interested in people, not ideas, but Pirsig More...

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Aug 19, 2011

Derek rated it:

Textually, I admire "Zen and Art of Motorcyle Maintenance" more. There, the melding of travel, recollection, philosophical discovery and breakdown was so much more seamless. Here, perhaps because I was expecting it, it is more obvious and a bit clunky.

But philosophically, this is the superior work. The ideas are powerful and have been churning around my head. As with "Zen", there's no way I can do them justice with a short summary. All I can say is: you should rea More...

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Dec 23, 2011

Seymour rated it:

This is a sequel to the cult classic, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values, and Pirsig, by his own admission, anticipated that it would stand the test of time even better than his first work. Philosophically it is more conclusive and I found it more satisfying than ZAMM. The "enquiry into morals" seems to actually lead to some more concretely applicable conclusions than the previous "enquiry into values". We journey with the same character, Phaedr More...

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Jan 06, 2009

Russen rated it:

I started this book with a heavy bias. First of all, I got stuck on the idea of him being on a boat now instead of a motorcycle. Instead of traveling :into: America, he was hiding from it. The greatest parts of the subcontext of 'Zen' were the ways that he described the emotional landscapes, that is, the way that the changes of different sections of the terrain influenced and governed the emotional temperature of his riding group.

'Lila' fleshes out the Metaphysics of Quality establi More...

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May 22, 2008

Jack rated it:

I read this book because I liked Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance so much. The thing is, where the philosophic musings of Zen seemed tangential to the narrative element, and helped illuminate it, Lila had a narrative that was tangential to the philosophy, and did little for it.

Pirsig may even have recognized this himself, and what he says just a few pages before the end of the book could serve as a review of the book itself: "It attempts to capture the Dynamic within a More...

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May 02, 2008

Mason rated it:

Like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, this book has a lot of deep philosophical discussion interlaced with stories of a journey of some sort that Phaedrus (the author in his earlier life) is on. In this one, Pirsig is on a trip to sail down the Hudson River into the Atlantic and then down to Florida. The story begins just outside of Manhattan where he encounters a mysterious woman named Lila who spends a few days on his boat with him. She is somewhat of an unsavory character, and lat More...

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