This time through, the story strikes me for its unity of journeys: how the narrator's intellectual journey is mirrored and given color by the landscape he moves through, by the experiences between he and Chris, by the way concepts are unified with the person. So landscape (of the world and mind), concepts, and interpersonal relationships merge into a story of the person. Perhaps that is meant to be Pirsig's synthesis. I have read the work enough that it serves as a reminder and cause for reflection on how I have changed. It remains an aspirational work to engender a hoped-for unity of work, person, and understanding. That such a path is useful, and such an outcome possible, is comforting.
From a 1974 interview with Pirsig, "The goal is just to live your life without too much fuss about it."
