Friedrich A. Kittler (1943–2011)

I'm completely puzzled about how to rate this one. Kittler's presentation of the development of certain media was really interesting—but he so often makes argumentative leaps that seem to need more support. He might also make too many assumptions about how much a nonspecialist in certain aspects of German history/literature will know about certain individuals, groups, developments, etc. Still: really glad I read the book, and it's provided a good deal of food for further thought.

First encountered this book one bored afternoon spent in the college library. What attracted me was the book's appearance. It's a beautiful book. So I opened it and the ideas were interesting, but the tone and the style of the prose is more interesting. Frenetic. Hectic. Apocalyptic. Can't remember much, but I remember a lot of neologisms and words I haven't encountered before. It's an example of those books that is somewhat beyond my understanding to totally appreciate.