Quote #100

Told by the blurb that we have here 'one of the most unique and exciting books in the history of American letters,' one bridles both at the grammar of the claim and at its routine excess. The grammar stays irreparable. But I have a hunch that the assertion itself is valid... Zen and the Art is awkward both to live with and to write about. It lodges in the mind as few recent novels have, deepening its grip, compelling the landscape into unexpected planes of order and menace... the narrative tact, the perfect economy of effect, defy criticism... the analogies with Moby Dick are patent. Robert Pirsig invites the prodigious comparison... What more can one say?

More from Robert M. Pirsig

  1. This book is brilliant beyond belief, it is probably a work of genius, and will, I'll wager, attain classic stature.
  2. Profoundly important... full of insights into our most perplexing contemporary dilemmas... It is intellectual entertainment of the highest …
  3. Pirsig's Postulate: The number of hypotheses available to explain any given phenomenon is infinite.
  4. A moving tale of the modern soul, and a fine detective story of a man in search of himself. Beautifully, lucidly written, it offers a large…
  5. Why is the illusion of life so 'fake'?
  6. A hypnotist's crystal... sparkled with diamonds.
  7. To an experienced Zen Buddhist, asking if one believes in Zen or one believes in the Buddha, sounds a little ludicrous, like asking if one …
  8. It is filled with beauty. . . a finely made whole that seems to emanate from a very special grace.

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