Ryan Berger

Ryan’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (2848)
currently-reading‎ (10)
read‎ (509)
wip-gullerack‎ (238)
wip-calorie‎ (150)
wip-pig-iron‎ (122)
science-fiction‎ (100)
nonfiction‎ (72)
lit-fic‎ (62)
humorous‎ (61)
classics‎ (60)
fantasy‎ (58)

short-stories‎ (56)
favorites‎ (45)
humor‎ (42)
craft-of-writing‎ (41)
wip-bozo‎ (40)
essays‎ (39)
lit-criticism‎ (32)
surreal‎ (31)
translations‎ (29)
historical-fiction‎ (28)
postmodern‎ (25)
to-teach‎ (25)

science‎ (24)
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sleeze-lit‎ (22)
horror‎ (21)
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politics‎ (21)
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education‎ (16)
new-york‎ (16)
psychology‎ (16)
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media-studies‎ (13)
personal-growth‎ (13)
sports‎ (13)
re-read‎ (12)
plays‎ (11)
collected-works‎ (10)

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Ryan is Currently Reading

Ryan Berger is currently reading

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

by Michael Chabon

bookshelves: wip-pig-iron, currently-reading, historical-fiction, lit-fic, new-york

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Dec 15, 2025 06:35PM

Ryan Berger is currently reading

The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time (The Gonzo Papers, #1)

by Hunter S. Thompson

bookshelves: essays, nonfiction, politics, sleeze-lit, currently-reading, humorous, travel-writing, wip-pig-iron, wip-calorie

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progress:

(page 38 of 624)
"The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved - The birth of Gonzo journalism. The story that made HST a star. Funny, scary, honest, and fascinating in its construction. Been on a close-reading kick lately, I might wanna write about this one soon." — Feb 29, 2024 08:31AM

Nov 02, 2025 10:22AM

Ryan Berger is currently reading

Fahrenheit 451

by Ray Bradbury

bookshelves: classics, science-fiction, wip-calorie, favorites, to-teach, currently-reading

read in June 2024

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Ryan Berger said: " "Do you know why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality. And what does the word quality mean? To me it means texture. The book has *pores*. It has features. This book can go under the microscope. You'd find life under the glas "Do you know why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality. And what does the word quality mean? To me it means texture. The book has *pores*. It has features. This book can go under the microscope. You'd find life under the glass, streaming past in infinite profusion."

Irreplaceable.

This is not a book about censorship any more than To Kill a Mockingbird is about the legal system. Race is the subject in Harper Lee's book, the demon the book takes aim at. The plot is merely the arena the argument is fought in. So too is censorship Bradbury's arena, and his real foe is anti-intellectualism, an excess of comfort, and the freedom literacy provides (not merely freedom for freedom's sake). Any English teacher treating it as a matter of straight-up censorship without examining the underlying causes of how this world came to be should leave their badge and gun on my desk.

It is hard to imagine a book that argues with as much sincerity and urgency for the joys and necessity of reading than Bradbury's masterwork. In many ways it isn't just a story, but an expose for what is possible through the novel. One can picture Bradbury, maybe America's most underrated and wrongfully maligned stylist, as a kind of one-man circus. Not only is he telling a story, but he's seeking to convince an audience of the underestimated power of books through the sportive tricks that only Bradbury can land. He doesn't stop as simply gorgeous language and throwing mental pictures at the wall-- he also plays with rhythm and song, creating soundscapes that almost seek to upend the TV screens he was competing with.

(I think Bradbury sometimes gets painted as anti-any-art-that-isn't-written because of this book, but I think you'll find that isn't true the more you listen to him. Hell, The Ray Bradbury Award is literally given to a dramatic performance on screen. This is the guy who emphatically believed that Walt Disney should be made Emperor of America. Neither his opinion of Disney nor the idea that anything on-screen is evil are good takes. The only difference is that only the former happens to be true.)

One thing that Bradbury does masterfully here that so many modern writers are terrible at is lending his villain some credibility. People who think that his world and metaphors are too far-fetched must be sticking their fingers in their ear when Beatty speaks. He makes all the seductive, well-argued points *against* reading and intellectual pursuit. Who hasn't been exhausted by the idea that all of philosophy is one big cat-fight? Aren't authors vain things? And what real power do books have anyway? Does anybody think that the fascists of the world would be rehabilitated if only they read the right books?

Beatty is such an excellent antagonist because Bradbury anticipates the arguments against books. Part of the reason why we there seems to be a deficit of iconic villains across storytelling today is because I think you'll find most are so cartoonishly evil or fumblingly immature that they come off as phony and even if they represent a real problem, we don't get the sense that the author has a strong grip on the problem. Beatty cannot be classified as cartoonish or silly because he's simply too well-spoken. He argues well. He argues from a place of intellectual strength and political authority. One of the tensest moments in the book, when Montag sits down for cards with Beatty and squirms as his commanding officer continues to berate books, is so effective because it represents the helplessness of being a midwit, not ready for intellectual primetime. Montag wants someone (Faber in this case) to fight his battles for him. His reading journey has just begun and he is completely dismantled because of it. Luck helps Montag eventually escape and prevail, but even Bradbury understands that this is a win on the margins-- and for literacy to succeed it must play to its greatest strength: longevity. It must wait out the bombs and churn the written word passed down across the centuries, waiting for its moment to lend wisdom to the people of tomorrow. It cannot be done without devoted acolytes and the enthusiasm of the common soul.

The world is not full of Beatty's but it is run by them. Bradbury conjures a more compelling and frightening enemy in a handful of pages than most authors can prop up for an entire series. Beatty's schemes aren't personal to him-- he's merely exacerbating an existing issue.

We are made out of the books we read. And yet, no two people who read the same books will get the same things out of them. The alchemy that happens to a book when it is placed in the crucible of your blood is what makes it magic and not science or even art. It is important that we read, but also hurt,love, thrill-- then record that feeling, and pass it on so somebody in the future can know that they are not alone.

If you can't be sentimental, romantic, and feverishly defensive about books then you're on the wrong social media app bubba. ...more "

progress:

(page 7 of 180)
"Deep sigh of relief that this is the first book on my school’s shiny new curriculum— a book I could teach in my sleep.

My opinions on this book have ripened and shifted, and may continue to change over the years, but I still love it. Hoping to write about those shifts in perception the more time I spend in this world." — Aug 31, 2025 09:31AM

Aug 31, 2025 09:28AM · see review

See all 10 books that Ryan is reading…

Ryan’s Quotes

“The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting. This is the treason of the artist; a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain.”
― Ursula K. LeGuin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

tags: art, artists, evil, happiness, pain

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