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jeremiah_scanlan's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Incredible. Illuminates many of the deepest questions I've carried with me, a skeleton key for philosophy, fiction, history, and all the rest. It was "communication" all along.
"That we are destined to interpret, and that interpretation will always involve our desires and their conflicts, does not signal a fall from the supposed grace of immediacy; it is a description of the very possibility of interaction. . . . The question should be not Can we communicate with each other? but Can we love one another or treat each other with justice and mercy?"
Can't wait to read his book on media.
"That we are destined to interpret, and that interpretation will always involve our desires and their conflicts, does not signal a fall from the supposed grace of immediacy; it is a description of the very possibility of interaction. . . . The question should be not Can we communicate with each other? but Can we love one another or treat each other with justice and mercy?"
Can't wait to read his book on media.
jeljh98's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
fmoreno's review
4.0
Communication defines us. We need to communicate in order to survive, to fit in, to be understood by others and so that we can understand others. This is a subject which I am passionate about and that's why I decided to read this book - well, not only because of that but well, the other motives aren't relevant in this instance.
The author wrote an amazing overview of the history of this complex concept: how it came about, different uses of the concept and how it evolved through the centuries. He wrote things about communication I had never considered. Probably I had already thought of some of the issues communications raises but I hadn't exactly considered critically. This book made me stop and think about communication - I mean, really think: to what extent does communication defines our existence. Why are we the only species able to communicate through a complex system that combines words and sounds? What really fascinates us more: to be able to communicate or breakdowns in communication?
It raises lots of interesting questions about our biological need to reach others and create a connection, to communicate. I really liked to read this and it's a book I would like to come back to.
The author wrote an amazing overview of the history of this complex concept: how it came about, different uses of the concept and how it evolved through the centuries. He wrote things about communication I had never considered. Probably I had already thought of some of the issues communications raises but I hadn't exactly considered critically. This book made me stop and think about communication - I mean, really think: to what extent does communication defines our existence. Why are we the only species able to communicate through a complex system that combines words and sounds? What really fascinates us more: to be able to communicate or breakdowns in communication?
It raises lots of interesting questions about our biological need to reach others and create a connection, to communicate. I really liked to read this and it's a book I would like to come back to.
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