"In this delightful volume Nora Bateson playfully and poetically follows in her father's footsteps in search of complex wisdom for our uncertain world."
Alfonso Montuori, Professor, California Institute of Integral Studies “The way we see affects what we do,” writes Nora Bateson near the start of this exploratory, far- ranging foray into “unauthorized knowledge.” In a series of premise-investigations undertaken by way of essays, conference talks, autobiographical story, quotes and poems, ranging through linguistics, biology, semantics, cognitive theory, justice awareness and embrace of paradox, Bateson invites and advocates suppleness of perception, rigor of mind, and depth of feeling. In this book that moves above all by its questions, Bateson embodies that rarity, a truly free thinker also fully engaged with the fates of all."
Jane Hirshfield, Chancellor of The Academy of American Poets and author of The Beauty and Ten Windows: How Great Poems Transform the World "Do buy and read Nora Bateson's beautiful new book. It takes us through a great circle of poetry, science, ecology, dreams, economics, politics, childrearing. Birthing the future. The prose is juicy and delectable, and brings us face to face with the most complex global questions. Intimate, complex, open-ended." Stephen Nachmanovitch
"This is a wonderful text, beautifully written and enriched with deep insights. So, I’ll have to accustom my tongue to Symmathesy, which of course will require some serious symmathesizing."
Jesper Hoffmeyer, emeritus professor at the University of Copenhagen Institute of Biology, President of the International Society for Biosemiotic Studies, author of Biosemiotics and Signs of Meaning in the Universe. "Small Arcs of Larger Circles is a marvellous meditation of moving words making new pathways manifest in a lush and densely interconnected forest of ideas and experiences. Poetry, philosophy, and memoir merge in ecological thinking at its best."
Professor Evan Thompson, University of British Columbia, author of Waking, Dreaming, Being and Mind in Life. "Nora provides a multifaceted invitation—one that avoids dichotomies—to see the complexity of our world. Because “we are more than one plus one,” she says that mutual learning is the basis to understand and mitigate the injurious patterns that are in opposition to nature. Her writing makes this very difficult task comprehensible due to her poetic, honest, and empathic style. She also seamlessly blends a three-generational legacy of evolving thoughts on this topic from her grandfather William, Gregory, and her own personal journey. Her many profound and interrelated chapters flow with narratives of her evolving contexts. They bring you through questions that ask: What it is that “holds anything together” within an order that “we are within and that is within us”? She covers interdisciplinary examples and encourages us to be “flexible and alive in relation to one another and the outside world.”
Dr Kenneth Silvestri, Psychotherapist writing in Journal of Systemic Therapies, Vol 36, No. 2 Read the full review What can one say about this book? It almost defies words, because she uses language to go beyond language itself. Hers is the finger pointing at the moon. It's a beautiful mix of poetry and imagination, as well as the rigorous inquiry of science. Nora Bateson continues and extends the legacy of her father, Gregory Bateson. This is a book that keeps on giving. Fresh. Lively. Full of love for the real complexities of life. Keep this book by your bed. Give it to someone you love.
Robert Althouse on amazon.com |
REVIEWS of Small Arcs of Larger Circles
|