Monday 23 January 2012

bicycle diaries - david byrne



This book reminded me a lot of Robert M Pirsig's 'Zen And The Art Of Mortorcycle Maintenance', which l read many years ago, when l was a fresh faced young hippie. Both books deal with journeys, but are mainly full of philosophical ramblings about various subjects, but both deal with epistemology.
In David Byrne's Bicycle Diaries, the thoughts mainly concern architecture, city planning, and what makes human behave in certain ways. A bit like the Bill Bryson travel books in fact, but Byrne meets lots of arty types along the way (and doesn't go rambling in the rain).  This may sound unbelievably tedious, but it wasn't, and l found the book to be a lot better than l was anticipating, not being a huge fan of Talking Heads, nor cycling (just huge).
Bicycle Diaries has very nearly inspired me to buy a folding bike, but let's face it, that is not going to happen in a million years, although l may start cycling to work again once the weather improves, after all, l've gotta keep my buttocks like walnuts (or am l getting confused with my testicles?). Either way, I will have to dig out the old 'Zen' book again and re-read that at some stage (and that book made me want to get a motorcycle and ride across America).
Altogether now...Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm  (and don't Bogart the joint)

toodle pip

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