Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Bantam (1967), Edition: 1st pb, Paperback, 154 pages
Description
30 years after its publication Marshall McLuhan's The Medium is the Massage remains his most entertaining, provocative, and piquant book. With every technological and social "advance" McLuhan's proclamation that "the media work us over completely" becomes more evident and plain. In his words, so pervasive are they in their personal, political, economic, aesthetic, psychological, moral, ethical and social consequences that they leave no part of us untouched, unaffected, or unaltered'. McLuhan's remarkable observation that "societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate than by the content of the communication" is undoubtedly more relevant today than ever before. With the rise of the internet and the explosion of the digital revolution there has never been a better time to revisit Marshall McLuhan.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member mjgrogan
The phonetic alphabet gave man “an eye for an ear” (I still have two…of both, thank you.) which made us visual beings. “Vision” is “rational” and “uniform” and so forth, that found its apotheosis in Renaissance introduction of the” detached observer.” This had been decidedly
With all of this, “Television completes the cycle of the human sensorium” (never mind that no TV I’ve ever come across offers olfactory interaction. Don’t even ask about taste) that necessitates “participation and involvement in depth of the whole being.”
That’s all great and certainly seems, as many have pointed out, to foreshadow the arrival of the internet (or is internet an abomination of the “completion” offered by 60s TV?). Certainly we are all “affected” by media throughout the globe (first use of the now-cliché “Global Village”?), and if this was really the first exposition of the medium (rather than just an aphoristic, graphically provocative pamphlet) then I’m certainly impressed. Admittedly I haven’t read other McLuhan offerings, nor do I have a degree in Ethnomethodological Sociology. Perhaps I’ll go for one of those as it couldn’t possibly have lower earning potential than being an architect, but until I do I’ll go immerse myself in a televised Ford F150 commercial occasionally interrupted by the reality of actress wanna-be “professionals” trying to toss fish bones into a bucket for immunity.
And, I am hoping that my fellow citizens have indeed lost their “eyes” as I started reading this in the children’s section of my local library, turned a page while talking with my son, only to discover that I’m exposing some floating topless woman centerfold on pp 38-9!
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ungroovy stuff. But then media in the form of television granted the potential to return us to that most groovy “primordial feeling” with desirable “tribal emotions.” This is evidenced by the fact that “as soon as information is acquired, it is very rapidly replaced by newer information” via electric circuitry and we can, instead of laying blame, regain that tribal empathetic affinity for the instigator of “hideous events.” However, this new multi-sense offering is made to do the dirty bidding of old, visual methodologies promulgated by nasty 19th-centuryesque bureaucrats, thus the youth (ie, my parents) are prevented from a “total involvement” that denounces goals in favor of R-O-L-E-S, thus leading to the dropout and teach-in. With all of this, “Television completes the cycle of the human sensorium” (never mind that no TV I’ve ever come across offers olfactory interaction. Don’t even ask about taste) that necessitates “participation and involvement in depth of the whole being.”
That’s all great and certainly seems, as many have pointed out, to foreshadow the arrival of the internet (or is internet an abomination of the “completion” offered by 60s TV?). Certainly we are all “affected” by media throughout the globe (first use of the now-cliché “Global Village”?), and if this was really the first exposition of the medium (rather than just an aphoristic, graphically provocative pamphlet) then I’m certainly impressed. Admittedly I haven’t read other McLuhan offerings, nor do I have a degree in Ethnomethodological Sociology. Perhaps I’ll go for one of those as it couldn’t possibly have lower earning potential than being an architect, but until I do I’ll go immerse myself in a televised Ford F150 commercial occasionally interrupted by the reality of actress wanna-be “professionals” trying to toss fish bones into a bucket for immunity.
And, I am hoping that my fellow citizens have indeed lost their “eyes” as I started reading this in the children’s section of my local library, turned a page while talking with my son, only to discover that I’m exposing some floating topless woman centerfold on pp 38-9!
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LibraryThing member herschelian
This slim book had a profound effect on me when I read it in my teens nearly 40 years ago. McCluhan argues that society has always been "shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate than bny the content of the communication". He makes the arguement in a series of assertations,
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guesses, puns and quips all mingled together and brilliantly set out by Quentin Fiore's design ingenuity which uses photographs, typography, prints and sketches. This is a book I will never lend as I would be devastated to loose it. I have shown it to many young people and they are always as stunned by it as I was. What is more, McCluhan's ideas have not only stood the test of time, they have proved prophetic. Everyone should read this. Show Less
LibraryThing member Muscogulus
The title plays off McLuhan's motto, which became a 1960s buzz phrase, "The medium is the message." This book uses design, as much as text, to reinforce McLuhan's ideas.
LibraryThing member edwebb
Utterly essential to understanding not only the television age, but also the age we inhabit now, of social networking via digital technology and all the other good stuff going on around us. The work is utterly contemporary, very fresh, speaks to the now. Particularly powerful insights on education
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(and for educators). Read it! Show Less
LibraryThing member PinkPandaParade
In one of the most interestingly presented books I have seen, socio-cultural theorist, Marshall McLuhan, and graphics designer and artist, Quentin Fiore, present The Medium is the Massage, a book that, while written in the 1960s, has more direct application to our contemporary times than it did
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during its inception. Taking its cue from the saying, "the medium is the message" and altering it to fit their own message, McLuhan and Fiore present the argument of how the electronic media is slowly lulling us into not realizing the dramatic changes and new perspectives this technology is creating. Their 'writing style', if it can be called such, is a provocative, visually-impacting array of photographs, unique texts, quotes, humorous cartoons, and other images to give the reader a better understanding of the ideas being presented. While there is a slight danger of their message being lost in its unorthodox presentation, (two pages, for example, are printed with the text upside-down), their argument is solid and restated in unique ways throughout. The book is revolutionary in the way it shows how electric technology is continually changing our government, our families, our jobs, and our social relationships. While the evidence and the way it is presented does reveal its origination in the earlier part of this technological movement, the words nonetheless show its relevance to our time period. Show Less
LibraryThing member Cecilturtle
Back to the source of the quote. McLuhan revolutionized the ad and pop industry; too bad he was analysed to death
LibraryThing member JoS.Wun
I read this a long time ago and found it heavy going. Great title but I found the innards a bit incoherent. I have a feeling he could have said what he wanted to say in a couple of blog posts. Interestingly, if I recall correctly, his main point was that the form of communication, rather than its
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content, is what shapes societies. Try telling that to a blogger. I suspect she will tell you that content is everything! Show Less
LibraryThing member tcw
before the internet, before cell phones, before walkman's, before cable tv, this guy was on top of how everything influences us: what we are bombarded with in sight and sound. (do not think about the white bear.) so, he's been in and out of favor, perhaps he states what's obvious to us now:
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advertising lives this bible. plus! it's a very clever read. ad note: I'd forgotten how small the first edition book was until i stumbled across it. 6 stars. Show Less
LibraryThing member keylawk
First published in 1967, the book actually looks like an internet site. It challenged us to "look-around" to see what's happening. It explained why.
Look at...You, your family, your neighborhood, your education, your job, your government, and "the others". McLuhan walks us through the way this
The media as an extension of human faculties--as the wheel is an extension of the foot, electric circuitry is an extension of the central nervous system. Both action and thought are altered.
McLuhan popularized the observation that communication technologies are at the cutting edge of change, and lie on a vector - he explores where it points, and how it shapes and colors thinking/being/doing. The vector of stone, clay, paper, cathode ray, real-time screen.
Look at...You, your family, your neighborhood, your education, your job, your government, and "the others". McLuhan walks us through the way this
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environment has been messaged, compellingly, into participation. The media as an extension of human faculties--as the wheel is an extension of the foot, electric circuitry is an extension of the central nervous system. Both action and thought are altered.
McLuhan popularized the observation that communication technologies are at the cutting edge of change, and lie on a vector - he explores where it points, and how it shapes and colors thinking/being/doing. The vector of stone, clay, paper, cathode ray, real-time screen.
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LibraryThing member Paperpuss
A must read (view, see, grok) for everyone.
LibraryThing member scottjpearson
In the 1960s, McLuhan presaged the communications age through his studies of “electronic media.” His thoughts shone light on the way forward and are now standards of understanding today. For instance, he coined the term “global village” in showing the ways of globalization.
This work
He looks to history to see how Gutenberg transformed the world through the advent of print media. He contends that television, movies, and other pictorial media begun the transform the world in the 1950s and 1960s. It made the world a smaller place, a global village, where people in far-flung places of the world borrow and learn from each other.
To him, electronic media are non-linear, unlike books. Rather, they unite thought and action in a way that books do not. This allows fields like psychology to flourish as instant reactions become more important. In its production, each page is adorned with images that reinforce McLuhan’s message. While such things are commonplace over fifty years later, this type of presentation was pioneered in these works. We can now observe through studying contemporary discourse that this work was spot-on in its predictions.
For me, as a software developer and student of culture, this work simply reinforces what I see around me. I spend a lot of my time on the computer and Internet. I see first-hand that McLuhan’s theses worked out. Still, I found this image-oriented book very stimulating. All of the poignant pictures tired out my eyes. It reminded me of the electronic media that are now standard, like the electronic news or even Facebook and Instagram.
This work continues to inform the intellectual class and students of culture. Those interested in the history of ideas will be particularly attracted to this work. Those, like me, who are concerned with the role of computers in society will find this work compelling. As commonly said, we live in the Information Age, and this book sketched the outlines, fifty-plus years ago, of what that would look like. Many say that it is the most mature expression of McLuhan’s thought. For that reason, it’s worth attending to his perspective today.
This work
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consists of much more than text. Published in black-and-white, it portrays a series of images that move the reader through the contention that media – particularly electronic media – “massages” messages to us. McLuhan squarely places the focus on the nature of the media.He looks to history to see how Gutenberg transformed the world through the advent of print media. He contends that television, movies, and other pictorial media begun the transform the world in the 1950s and 1960s. It made the world a smaller place, a global village, where people in far-flung places of the world borrow and learn from each other.
To him, electronic media are non-linear, unlike books. Rather, they unite thought and action in a way that books do not. This allows fields like psychology to flourish as instant reactions become more important. In its production, each page is adorned with images that reinforce McLuhan’s message. While such things are commonplace over fifty years later, this type of presentation was pioneered in these works. We can now observe through studying contemporary discourse that this work was spot-on in its predictions.
For me, as a software developer and student of culture, this work simply reinforces what I see around me. I spend a lot of my time on the computer and Internet. I see first-hand that McLuhan’s theses worked out. Still, I found this image-oriented book very stimulating. All of the poignant pictures tired out my eyes. It reminded me of the electronic media that are now standard, like the electronic news or even Facebook and Instagram.
This work continues to inform the intellectual class and students of culture. Those interested in the history of ideas will be particularly attracted to this work. Those, like me, who are concerned with the role of computers in society will find this work compelling. As commonly said, we live in the Information Age, and this book sketched the outlines, fifty-plus years ago, of what that would look like. Many say that it is the most mature expression of McLuhan’s thought. For that reason, it’s worth attending to his perspective today.
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LibraryThing member MarkLacy
Perhaps if I took a course in media studies, I would understand this book. I actually read it about age 13, I believe, and I can't say that fifty years later I understand it any better.
LibraryThing member therebelprince
I hate it when my review is above the global average but, come on! MCLUHAN!
"There is absolutely no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening."
"There is absolutely no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening."
Subjects
Awards
Guardian 100 Greatest Non-Fiction (Politics)
Language
Original publication date
1967
ISBN
none