Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals Kindle Edition

Doesn't get the attention that ZAMM gets, probably because it is significantly less accessible. But the ideas expressed in here are profound, and the effort expended in understanding them is greatly rewarded.

An absolutely mind bending exploration of Pirsig's metaphysics. There are several moments where I had to set the book down and let the ideas flow over me.

I can't recommend this book enough. The framework on morals, and the value patterns discussed bring meaning and understanding to everyday life. It has shaped how I view the world more than any other.

Mr Pirsig's model reconciles Morals and Quality - this book is the final piece making the Metaphysics of Quality a complete, elegant, practical model. Extremely talented, the writer demonstrates how philosophy drives - or may drive - your own life choices without any attempts to lecture the reader. I'm grateful to Mr Pirsig for giving me a solid foundation I feel so safe to build upon.

This is really two books combined into one.The first, the saga of Phaedus and his anti-muse Lila is a good read that is too short and ends too soon.The second involves a dialectic that contains moments of brilliant insight (particularly with regards to the importance of Native American culture) mixed with navel gazing. The "home run" epiphany at the end of the book is more of a ground rule double.

This book will change your life-not like our pandemic! For better. Author wrote two books. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is first. It’s not a fluffy, read on the beach book. It’s real and it’s long but it’s so amazing!!

If you’re so intrigued by Pirsig and you just cant get enough then go ahead and read Lila...its really just OK, meh...there is a philosophical purpose but after 200 pages I just got disinterested...the story meanders and he just seems to be making it up as he goes along...I stopped caring around page 200. Sorry, its sort of a dud.

I tried this book because I liked the Mage the ascension line (game books which deal with alternate realities, paradox, etc.) and the authors noted that Pirsig's books influenced them. I figured the Zen book was about using a trip/motorcycles as a metaphor for life or something but since this one mentioned morality (which also interests me), I figured that I'd start here. Here are my problems with the book...1.As someone noted in another review, you shouldn't read this book without reading "zen" first. I figured that this book would cover completely different ground but apparently it just continues on with subjects that were discussed in the zen book so you may get lost starting here.2.On paging through a sample version of the book I saw notes about Indian/Native American spirituality, Victorians, science, morality, and so forth and thought this is the kind of book that I would really like. The section on Indians mostly involves whining about anthropologists. The parts about Victorians blame them, religions in general and the field of traditional morality for every wrong in life. Victorians take the blame for the massacre of Native Americans, the world wars, and pretty much everything else.3.If you're looking for what Pirsig refers to as social-biological morality with rights and wrongs and "civilized behavior" this is only really useful if you want an opposing viewpoint. according to the book, social morality is a waste of time and based on Victorian points of view and anyone who doesn't hate Victorians and their moral codes is an extremist right winger, a religious fundamentalist or stupid.4.a point that annoyed me at first is that either the author or character seems to be an extreme hypocrite. He complains about anthropologists arguing over the meaning of a simple word then does it himself. He puts down others for not thinking as they do and then he does it himself. He says at first that quality can't be defined then gets upset when no one understands what it is. He saves himself however by noting these flaws and lessens the hypocrisy.5.The character of Phaedrus (what Midwesterner is named Phaedrus?, I think he might have explained that though) is extremely unlikeable although the author seems to know it and comments on it.6.Much of the story is a waste of time. The main character picks up a barfly then the author rants about anthropologists for an endless amount of time before talking about his card catalogue system and process of writing. Eventually the barfly Lila wakes up then the author talks about science for awhile. A few chapters later they have breakfast.7.Grammar. I'll admit my grammar sucks and part of my problem reading this book is because sometimes when the author is talking about metaphysics (for example) he is referring to the main character's book "Metaphysics of quality" and so on. In other cases he is giving new meaning to other words (like quality) which the reader already has a definition for (that is completely different from Pirsig's). Plus, although I hadn't read the previous book and reading it might've made this one easier to process, sentences like: "writing a metaphysics is a degenerate activity" is a little jarring. How about "writing ABOUT metaphysics is a degenerate activity"?8.Other reviewers have complained about a key idea: that Pirsig's morality seems to be mostly about psychological advancement (in a way). Basically, if you had to save either an "evil" mad scientist (although calling him evil just because he wants to kill people is wrong and is a Victorian viewpoint) OR some children with little potential for higher advancement, the "moral" thing to do is to save the scientist because his thoughts are more valuable and evolved even if he is homicidal. (The fact that the scientist may do more harm than "good" and that social morality may lead him to more productive/ evolved discoveries is unimportant. Social morality/ control is wrong/ Victorian).When dealing with his ideas and many of the complaints about Pirsig personally, I think maybe people are judging the author when he might just be throwing out hypothetical ideas. Given the choice, he may still do the "socially moral" thing... save the children. The character of Phaedrus also may have parts of Pirsig in him but that doesn't mean that they are the same.... Overall, I say I'd keep the book because it discusses ideas (even if I don't agree with them all) but because I strongly disagree with many ideas and the "story" itself is almost nonexistent, I don't see myself reading it again. If anything I'll refer back to the dog eared pages. In short: its something to get you thinking and create a discussion. If that's not what you are looking for, don't bother with this book!

Lila is the natural extension and continued exploration of the metaphysical concepts first discussed in Zen and the Art... Personally I have never before come across a set of ideas that so completely accurately explain the fabulously complex nature of the human condition. What really scares me is that many critcs review it as "insufficiently entertaining", particularly when compared to the more "exciting" Zen and the Art! Perhaps they might be better served seaching in the "adventure" section.Pirsig is going to become acknowledged academically posthumously because the worlds intellectual elite are simply too "culturally immune" to cope with the implications of his genius. The ideas in both his books are quite literally..."it all"

A classic

The man was a genius. Nothing more needs to be said.

Prompt delivery - book exactly as advertised.

Good!