Summary of Robert Pirsig's Lila

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 Lila was sound asleep. She was cherubic, like a small girl with blond hair, wide cheekbones, and a small turned-up nose. She looked so familiar it attracted a natural affection. But when she opened her sky-blue eyes in the morning, she would look into the features of a gray-haired man she would never remember.

#2 The boat was moving down the river, and Phædrus was beginning to feel the effects of the cold wind that had been blowing down the valley. He had seen three movies in a row and smoked too many cigarettes, and his head was starting to throb.

#3 The half-forgotten images are strange, like dreams. The sleeping Lila, whom he had just met, was someone else. Or not someone else exactly, but someone less specific, less individual. There is Lila, this single private person who sleeps beside him now, who was born and now lives and tosses in her dreams. But there is also lila, who inhabits Lila for a while and then moves on.

#4 The space that the yachtsmen experienced was what made the trip so enjoyable. It was the lack of barriers to the ocean that gave them a sense of openness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jun 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822528949

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Insights on Robert Pirsig's Lila

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Lila was sound asleep. She was cherubic, like a small girl with blond hair, wide cheekbones, and a small turned-up nose. She looked so familiar it attracted a natural affection. But when she opened her sky-blue eyes in the morning, she would look into the features of a gray-haired man she would never remember.

#2

The boat was moving down the river, and Phædrus was beginning to feel the effects of the cold wind that had been blowing down the valley. He had seen three movies in a row and smoked too many cigarettes, and his head was starting to throb.

#3

The half-forgotten images are strange, like dreams. The sleeping Lila, whom he had just met, was someone else. Or not someone else exactly, but someone less specific, less individual. There is Lila, this single private person who sleeps beside him now, who was born and now lives and tosses in her dreams. But there is also lila, who inhabits Lila for a while and then moves on.

#4

The space that the yachtsmen experienced was what made the trip so enjoyable. It was the lack of barriers to the ocean that gave them a sense of openness.

#5

The owners of the boatyard were looking for space, nothingness, and emptiness. They thought that was worth a lot of money. They would not let Rigel answer the phone or come out when someone was knocking at the front door, even when the kids were home and had turned up the TV.

#6

As the boat traveled south, he noticed a growing aura of social structure. The mansions that had become more numerous were getting closer and closer to Europe.

#7

The woman, Lila, kept staring at Rigel. He was the one she was looking for, but then she kept on looking. Eventually, she slammed the door in anger.

#8

The Canadian and his girlfriend came off the dance floor. They saw Lila and almost stopped, then went forward slowly to the bar. Three people around them suddenly stiffened. The man turned around and looked scared.

#9

When Lila asked where he had seen her before, he realized it was her, the one on the streetcar. He had thought she had gone away in the crowd, but she had been laughing at him.

#10

Phædrus was alone with Lila, and he was beginning to feel a bit empty. He didn’t know what to say, so he just danced with her. They got into a sort of a whirl thing.

#11

The Canadian dancer came over and wanted to cut in. Lila told him to get lost and he could tell from a change in her body how good she felt about that. He began to feel sleepy. It didn’t make any sense at all.

#12

When Phædrus woke up, he saw that the sky had become less black. The cold deck on his bare feet woke him up. He went back to the stern of the boat and relieved into the creek, then went into the main cabin and pulled open a wood bin-cover.

#13

The author found matches and alcohol. He brought a little cupful of the alcohol to a small coal stove mounted on a bulkhead at the other end of the cabin and poured it over some charcoal briquets inside. He then lit a match and