Hi focs:
Rather than pose a question, I'd like to focus on the original work by
simply re-reading it together, with fresh eyes.
And this proposal for March is designed as an experiment to see if we want
to cover the entire book together. If we decide to go ahead after one month
of experimentation, the entire re-reading project would take about a year.
Perhaps you saw the conversations about all this in the other forum? Anyway,
there are 36 chapters in Lila and 12 months in a year. Obviously, that works
out to 3 chapters per month.
So I propose that we experiment with this method for our March discussion.
We'll discuss the first three chapters. We'll work out the details as we go
along, but the main idea is to re-read big chunks of the book so that we can
see the context of all our favorite quotes and examples. We'll look at the
literary aspects to see how they enhance, support or clarify the ideas being
presented. All the while we are just asking one main question; What is
Pirsig saying? What does it mean?
I don't even recall what issues are covered in the first three chapters. And
it doesn't really matter. The idea is to go through the MOQ in the way
Pirsig intended, starting on page one and then page 2, etc. I think
simplicity is the greatest feature of this plan. Let's read it together and
listen carefully to the main man. Not to agree or disagree even, just to
really, really hear what he's saying. Lets get some pure Pirsig going. Let's
look again with fresh eyes. Let's look at Pirsig's words in their full
context. What do you say?
I don't know if this method works in cyberspace, although I can't see why it
wouldn't. But I do know for sure that it works in live discussions. In fact,
I've had tremendous success with it in the past. We read ZAMM this way. We'd
usually pick books that might be kind of difficult to read on your own, you
know. We read lots of pretty heavy stuff like, The Varieties of Religious
Experience, Manufacturing Consent, The Tao of Physics and we read novels
this way too. I never read so well. Its magic if you do it right.
There's quite a bit of flexability too. A person could just gobble up all
three chapters and respond to whatever happens to jump out. Or you could be
a methodical detective and take notes as you read. You could read a page or
a chapter at a time if you want. Keep a copy in the bathroom. Whatever
works.
MOQ.org - http://www.moq.org
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