The Best Book Ever
This Tuesday past, Jane and I went over to the 'Royal Leamington Spa' for dinner. It's not quite as posh as it sounds. The 'Royal Leamington Spa' is actually a town just outside of Coventry and it's 'Royal' status is the result of queen Victoria visiting... once... in 1850. Also the dinner was sortof a potluck with some of Jane's office-mates. Our primary hosts were Sam (a very nice fellow who is a bit of a mumbler and, it turns out, the hell of a Thai chef) and his partner Connie. They have recently bought a 'cozy' (by North American standards) house in Leamington (2 bed, one bath, around 1600 sq ft.) for around half a million Canadian dollars. And that is probably a steal of a deal, I kid you not. Also present were Ana, who is originally from Spain, and Alejandro, representing Cuba.
The main meal, which was supplied entirely by our hosts, was Thai. Lamb in a peanutty-milk sauce (only thai cuisine would include peannut-milk sauce), thai bean salad and thai vegetable stir-fry on rice. Yummy. Ana and Jane and I ponied up desert, the former supplying a very tasty custad pudding and the latter a chocolate fondue. I may have overdone it a bit, but I'm thinking the post-meal abdominal pain was totally worth it.
What does all of this have to do with the title of this post? Well, while Connie was giving us a tour of her house, I noticed my favorite book beside their bed. Yes, Connie was reading 'Zen and the Art of Morotorcycle Maintenance' which is the best book ever written. Zen was written by Robert M. Pirsig, who is very, very smart (he says in the book that his I.Q. was measured at about 170 and I believe him). I discovered Zen through, of all things, a role playing game. It was listed in the references section of White Wolf's 'Mage' (which is, incidentally, the best role playing game) Players Handbook as having been an inspiration. I thought the title was funny, soI asked my mom if she had ever heard of it. As it turns out, we had it, so I was saved a trip to the library.
Zen is much too complicated to do justice in a summary, but what the hell. It's basically written on three levels. On the the surface, he's telling the story of a motorcycle trip across the country with his son. On the next level 'down', Pirsig is recalling the man that he used to be. That man, whom he calls Phaedrus (greek for 'lone wolf', apparently), bacame obsessed with the deconstruction of the concept of 'Quality' and went insane. He was given electroshock therapy which erased the old personality and replaced it with the equaly intelligent - but sane - person who is writing the book. On the third level, he explores some of the most basic questions in philosophy (phylosophical metaphysics) and eventually combines these into a working metaphysics which incorporates 'quality' as the judgement that occurs prior to the delinitation of experience into 'subjective' and 'objective'.
Zen inspired me to read Hume and Kant, the great 'experiential' philosophers, and sparked an enduring interest in philosophy. It also lead me to Pirsig's sequel to Zen, which is called Lila. Lila is actually better than Zen, in my opinion, but I still call Zen the 'best book' because it was there that the whole metaphysics of Quality was introduced. Lila extends this metaphysics to give a completely secular guide to morality.
In any case, if you are still reading this, then Zen might be for you. I freely admit that it is one of the most boring books I have ever read (actually another great book, Kant's 'Critique of Pure Reason' get's the prize in that catergory), and it is certainly one of the most difficult, but I am forced to admit that many of the best books I have ever read were also the most boring. Strange that. In fact, the second best book every written is an exception to this rule... but more on that later. You have suffered enough :-)
The main meal, which was supplied entirely by our hosts, was Thai. Lamb in a peanutty-milk sauce (only thai cuisine would include peannut-milk sauce), thai bean salad and thai vegetable stir-fry on rice. Yummy. Ana and Jane and I ponied up desert, the former supplying a very tasty custad pudding and the latter a chocolate fondue. I may have overdone it a bit, but I'm thinking the post-meal abdominal pain was totally worth it.
What does all of this have to do with the title of this post? Well, while Connie was giving us a tour of her house, I noticed my favorite book beside their bed. Yes, Connie was reading 'Zen and the Art of Morotorcycle Maintenance' which is the best book ever written. Zen was written by Robert M. Pirsig, who is very, very smart (he says in the book that his I.Q. was measured at about 170 and I believe him). I discovered Zen through, of all things, a role playing game. It was listed in the references section of White Wolf's 'Mage' (which is, incidentally, the best role playing game) Players Handbook as having been an inspiration. I thought the title was funny, soI asked my mom if she had ever heard of it. As it turns out, we had it, so I was saved a trip to the library.
Zen is much too complicated to do justice in a summary, but what the hell. It's basically written on three levels. On the the surface, he's telling the story of a motorcycle trip across the country with his son. On the next level 'down', Pirsig is recalling the man that he used to be. That man, whom he calls Phaedrus (greek for 'lone wolf', apparently), bacame obsessed with the deconstruction of the concept of 'Quality' and went insane. He was given electroshock therapy which erased the old personality and replaced it with the equaly intelligent - but sane - person who is writing the book. On the third level, he explores some of the most basic questions in philosophy (phylosophical metaphysics) and eventually combines these into a working metaphysics which incorporates 'quality' as the judgement that occurs prior to the delinitation of experience into 'subjective' and 'objective'.
Zen inspired me to read Hume and Kant, the great 'experiential' philosophers, and sparked an enduring interest in philosophy. It also lead me to Pirsig's sequel to Zen, which is called Lila. Lila is actually better than Zen, in my opinion, but I still call Zen the 'best book' because it was there that the whole metaphysics of Quality was introduced. Lila extends this metaphysics to give a completely secular guide to morality.
In any case, if you are still reading this, then Zen might be for you. I freely admit that it is one of the most boring books I have ever read (actually another great book, Kant's 'Critique of Pure Reason' get's the prize in that catergory), and it is certainly one of the most difficult, but I am forced to admit that many of the best books I have ever read were also the most boring. Strange that. In fact, the second best book every written is an exception to this rule... but more on that later. You have suffered enough :-)
posted by Derek at 9:41 AM
4 Comments:
Derek, do you not have enough to do with your post doc? Should i call the Canadian government and Cambridge? lol... jk :) you should write a book... wouldn't that then be the BEST BOOK ever written? ~Anne
Well, I don't know about my book... but the above is definitely the best comment ever written :)
Well I don't know about all this metaphysics crap. Sounds like voodoo magic to me, is it experimentally verifyable.
As for best book ever, your actually putting this above Lord of the Rings. That is a dangerous position to take. Your indanger of having the geek police come over and revoke your card.
As for Mage, your right it is the best RP I have played and I have played far to little of it. No good Storytellers around, only teenage vampire players. You shold check out a game called Paranoia, lots of fun.
When you're all done your PhD and you are sucked back into the singularity that is Ontario, we will definitely have to get a good Mage game going. Among other things, it'll ensure my retention of the 'geek card'.
Post a Comment
<< Home