Peter’s Year in Books

What did you read this year?

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2023

10,670

pages read

books read

Peter Zomer

Dialogue sur la nature humaine by Boris Cyrulnik

Shortest Book

pages

Longest Book

532

pages

Average book length in 2023

273

pages

Most Shelved

4,204,746

people also shelved

Liberation in the Face of Uncertainty by Hubert J M Hermans

Least Shelved

people also shelved

Peter’s average rating for 2023

3.2

Highest Rated on Goodreads

4.40 average

Peter’s first review of the year

really liked it

Morin's treatment of the complex topic of Ethics is not only insightful, but also urgent. Reliance (in French) is the central concept, i.e. connection. Ethics is fundamentally about finding, refinding, shaping connection against the tide of continuous entropy. Here Morin shows how ecological his thinking is by the centrality he assigns to connection.
What he writes is compelling. Partly predictable for those who know the basic premises of his comp ...more

PETER’S 2023 BOOKS

it was amazing

Dienstreizen van een thuisblijver by Maarten 't Hart

De houtsnip (De Vogelserie Book 24) by Erwin Kompanje

Raviver les braises du vivant by Baptiste Morizot

it was amazing

Thinking In Systems by Donella H. Meadows

Die Krise der Narration by Byung-Chul Han

really liked it

Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon

Warum machen wir es nicht einfach? Die Psychologie der Klimak... by Isabella Uhl-Hädicke

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney

Dan staat het gras als liefde by Sander Turnhout

De ontsnapping van de natuur by Thomas Oudman

Ogenblikken In Valois by Hella S. Haasse

really liked it

liked it

Leçons d'un siècle de vie by Edgar Morin

Peter’s last review of the year

liked it

This book is perhaps a shorter version of his autobiography 'Les souvenirs viennent a ma rencontre' (which I haven't read yet), but is an autobiographical text all the same. I notice how the autobiography can be a celebration of life, a honoring of it. For instance, in the chapter 'savoir vivre', Morin writes fondly about his friends Maguerite Duras, Robert Antelme and Dionys Mascolo, and he vividly describes their visits to the café L'Espérance This book is perhaps a shorter version of his autobiography 'Les souvenirs viennent a ma rencontre' (which I haven't read yet), but is an autobiographical text all the same. I notice how the autobiography can be a celebration of life, a honoring of it. For instance, in the chapter 'savoir vivre', Morin writes fondly about his friends Maguerite Duras, Robert Antelme and Dionys Mascolo, and he vividly describes their visits to the café L'Espérance and his being part of 'la groupe de la rue Saint-Dénis', i.e. the group that frequents Duras's 'salon'. The book contains a lot about his inspirations, that came so often to him through friendships. Fraternité is a central word for him.

Every time I read one of his books, I discover something new about the man and his thinking. Here I encounter someone who lives intensely and wants to report on it intensely. It seems to me that this has an aspect of securing his legacy, like in so many autobiographical texts. But the intensity leads to wise insights, and therefore this book is at least also very much an account of his wisdom of life.

For the knower of Morin, the book not only contains a nice summary of his thoughts. These thoughts/ concepts are also put in a meaningful biographical perspective. I noticed especially how Morin is so much more than his La Methode: at the core he shows to be motivated by an intense political engagement with the fate of the world. In his life, he has continuously been searching for what is just. It is important to realize that ethics has always been a central driver for him, and not solely the philosophical desire for a conceptual capture of reality.

I also notice that there seems to be little psychology in his thinking. In La Methode, there is enough anthropology to make up for that lack, and also his epistemology has much to add to a psychological perspective of life. But then again, it is striking that his thinking, as it comes to the fore in this little book, is not psychological at first. Maybe Boris Cyrulnik, his kindred spirit, may complete him in this.

I read the book in a day, and it was worthwhile indeed. ...more

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