I have started reading The Medium is the Massage by Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore. What a delightful illustrated classic this is! Today's post is not quite a book review since I still haven't finished going through the whole book yet, but I wanted to pen down some initial thoughts.
Firstly, this is one of the four books assigned to my Computers and Writing class. Textbooks can be verbose, so I was pleasantly surprised with The Medium is the Massage, which has engaging graphics and close-up black and white shots accompanying the text. Secondly, the word "massage" in the title made me think I was missing some hidden message (haha). Apparently, it was an error by typesetters but McLuhan loved the unintentional quirk and kept it.
The medium of communication, especially with the developments in technology, has evolved so much from alphabets and pen and paper to code, which forms the basic structure of new media. But if we look beyond traditional linear composition practices, aren't ancient codices an example of this multi-layered, non-linear, graphical means of conveying a message?
I am happy I chanced upon this little treasure of a book; every time I browse through this unique kaleidoscope, I receive a new message. I look forward to exploring it more.