Chapter 1 Summary

The novel, published in 1974, uses a long motorcycle trip to frame a prolonged exploration of the world of ideas about life and how best to live it. It references perspectives from Western and Eastern Civilizations as it explores the central question of the how to pursue technology so that human life is enriched rather than degraded. Narrated in the first person, it incorporates a parallel presentation of trip details and an ongoing retrospective concerning dramatic events from the Narrator's past, creating rich symbolism and including numerous analogies reinforcing the overall theme of coming to terms with the mysteries of why we exist and how best to live.

The book starts with the Narrator and his son, Chris, on one motorcycle and John Sutherland and his wife Sylvia on another riding northeast on a back road from Minneapolis toward the Dakotas, with Bozeman, Montana...