Front-end Developer. Digital hermit. Ersatz cartoonist. All-around average dad.

Okay, Mr. Bradbury

Doomscrolling finally pays off.

In an unlikely turn of events, I was doomscrolling through Instagram reels because I'm human and fragile like everyone else. I landed on a video of Ray Bradbury imploring screenwriting students to read one poem, one essay in any field, and one short story every night. So for the past week, I've done that, working through three books I'd started or half-started:

  1. Selected Poems, Bertolt Brecht (A Harvest Book). This is a bilingual collection — German on the left and English on the right — and the translations aren't the best, but neither is my German, so it's nice to read the lines side by side.
  2. Why Look at Animals?, John Berger (Great Ideas from Penguin UK). This slim collection of essays takes its title from the longest piece. Not entirely about animals, these essays touch on ethics, aesthetics and both seeing and being seen. It also contains a surprise poem that gave Brecht a day off.
  3. Rashomon and 17 Other Stories, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (Penguin Classics). I forget how I came across Akutagawa, but I've always been a sucker for a great short story, and was sold when I learned he was a fan of Poe.

I'd previously read one poem, one essay and about 5 stories before I let anything and everything else get in the way. After Bradbury, I put my phone down and read.

Nov. 16–22

Sunday:

  • Poem: Bertolt Brecht, “Vom Armen B.B.” (1922–1925)
  • Essay: John Berger, “Opening a Gate” (2001)
  • Story: Ryunosuke Akutagawa, “Hell Screen” (1918)

Monday:

  • Poem: Bertolt Brecht, “Apfelböck, oder die Lilie auf dem Felde” (1919)
  • Essay: John Berger, “Why Look at Animals?” (1977)
  • Story: Ryunosuke Akutagawa, “Hell Screen” (continued)

Tuesday:

  • Poem: Bertolt Brecht, “Von der Kindesmörderin, Marie Farrar” (1920)
  • Essay: John Berger, “Ape Theatre” (1990)
  • Story: Ryunosuke Akutagawa, “Hell Screen” (continued)

Wednesday:

  • Poem: Bertolt Brecht, “Bericht vom Zeck” (1919)
  • Essay: John Berger, “The White Bird” (1985)
  • Story: Ryunosuke Akutagawa, “Hell Screen” (completed)

Thursday:

  • Poem: Bertolt Brecht, “Ballade vor des Cortez Leuten” (1919)
  • Essay: John Berger, “The Eaters and the Eaten” (1976)
  • Story: Ryunosuke Akutagawa, “Dr. Ogata Ryōsai: Memorandum” (1916)

Friday:

  • Poem: Bertolt Brecht, “Ballade von dem Soldaten” (1921–1922)
  • Essay: John Berger, “Field” (1971)
  • Story: Ryunosuke Akutagawa, “O-Gin” (1922)

Saturday:

  • Poem: John Berger, “They are the Last” (For Beverly, 2001)
  • Essay: John Berger, “Ernst Fischer: A Philosopher and Death” (1974)
  • Story: Ryunosuke Akutagawa, “Loyalty” (1917)

But as I think about it, this was kickstarted a few weeks ago when I started reading Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea cycle. I'm currently on the third book, The Farthest Shore. I love that Le Guin seems to care as much I do about the things that other people seem to like in fiction. It's not that Earthsea is young adult fiction. I've already read some of the Hainish Cycle, and Le Guin never bores or frustrates by trying to tie every bow and justify the workings of the world, or shock you with sexual violence. I think I'm partly drawn to Le Guin and Berger because both believed in the role of hope in art and the responsibility of the artist to give people a chance to see a better world and to know it's possible.

That video also reminded me that I'd picked up the gorgeous oversized collection of the complete Ray Bradbury EC stories, Home to Stay!, published by Fantagraphics. So now I'm reading more than I have in years: novels, poems, essays, short stories, and comics.