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The Paper Menagerie
Ken Liu's incredible story "Paper Menagerie" just became the first work of fiction to win all three of SF's major awards: the Hugo, the Nebula and the World Fantasy Award. And we're proud to be able to reprint the whole story, right here at io9. Here's your chance to find out what all the excitement is about, and discover one of science fiction's fastest rising stars.
32 pages, ebook
First published March 1, 2011
84 people are currently reading
7108 people want to read
About the author
Ken Liu
467 books22k followersKen Liu (http://kenliu.name) is an American author of speculative fiction. A winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards for his fiction, he has also won top genre honors abroad in Japan, Spain, and France.
Liu’s most characteristic work is the four-volume epic fantasy series, The Dandelion Dynasty, in which engineers, not wizards, are the heroes of a silkpunk world on the verge of modernity. His debut collection of short fiction, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, has been published in more than a dozen languages. A second collection, The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, followed. He also penned the Star Wars novel, The Legends of Luke Skywalker. His latest book is All That We See or Seem, a techno-thriller starring an AI-whispering hacker who saves the world.
He’s often involved in media adaptations of his work. Recent projects include “The Regular,” under development as a TV series; “Good Hunting,” adapted as an episode in season one of Netflix’s breakout adult animated series Love, Death + Robots; and AMC’s Pantheon, with Craig Silverstein as executive producer, adapted from an interconnected series of Liu’s short stories.
Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Liu worked as a software engineer, corporate lawyer, and litigation consultant. He frequently speaks at conferences and universities on a variety of topics, including futurism, machine-augmented creativity, history of technology, bookmaking, and the mathematics of origami.
In addition to his original fiction, Liu also occasionally publishes literary translations. His most recent work of translation is a new rendition of Laozi’s Dao De Jing.
Liu lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.
Liu’s most characteristic work is the four-volume epic fantasy series, The Dandelion Dynasty, in which engineers, not wizards, are the heroes of a silkpunk world on the verge of modernity. His debut collection of short fiction, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, has been published in more than a dozen languages. A second collection, The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, followed. He also penned the Star Wars novel, The Legends of Luke Skywalker. His latest book is All That We See or Seem, a techno-thriller starring an AI-whispering hacker who saves the world.
He’s often involved in media adaptations of his work. Recent projects include “The Regular,” under development as a TV series; “Good Hunting,” adapted as an episode in season one of Netflix’s breakout adult animated series Love, Death + Robots; and AMC’s Pantheon, with Craig Silverstein as executive producer, adapted from an interconnected series of Liu’s short stories.
Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Liu worked as a software engineer, corporate lawyer, and litigation consultant. He frequently speaks at conferences and universities on a variety of topics, including futurism, machine-augmented creativity, history of technology, bookmaking, and the mathematics of origami.
In addition to his original fiction, Liu also occasionally publishes literary translations. His most recent work of translation is a new rendition of Laozi’s Dao De Jing.
Liu lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 972 reviews
June 21, 2021
The Paper Menagerie is devastating. Keep a box of tissues handy.
It's the story of a mother and her son. She made paper animals for him and breathed life into them, and they became his friends. For a while, mother and son delighted in this magic together. But after an incident with a bully, the son Jack changes his mind. He doesn't want to be half Chinese and half American anymore. He wants to be all American. He doesn't want his eyes or his hair or his language or his little paper friends. He doesn't even want his mother.
The Paper Menagerie is about how there is always something about us we want to run away from until we grow up and learn to love it--but by then it's too late. Jack is cruel to his mother, forcing her to abandon her language and cuisine and zhezhi until she is just a shell of herself. And yet his mother still cares about him. She makes sure he stays healthy as he begins to lose himself in being American.
It is just so, so sad. The impact is astonishing. Every sentence carries weight. It's quietly and intimately emotional, and contains situations everyone can relate to in some way.
This short story is about being torn between Western and Eastern cultures and not knowing how to find a balance that you're comfortable with. It's about acceptance, love, and how we often push it away. Jack was born and raised in America, and he constantly feels pressured to pick one or the other culture. It seems very common to me for children to feel the overwhelming need to have to choose. It might make sense to us now that it's possible to live in harmony with all parts of yourself without having to deny some, but I remember vividly wanting to pick and choose parts of myself as a child. I believe I wanted blond hair and blue eyes. I wasn't able to appreciate my different heritages without having a very strong preference for one. And I would swing from one to another with startling quickness. I got whiplash. I was a confused child. Every multiracial person knows what I'm talking about.
Jack never tried to understand his mother. He only tried to push her away. And he succeeded.
The Paper Menagerie is the best short story I have ever read. The only thing I didn't like about it was the random infodumpy letter at the end that took me out of the story a bit. It was kind of melodramatic.
4.5 stars
It's the story of a mother and her son. She made paper animals for him and breathed life into them, and they became his friends. For a while, mother and son delighted in this magic together. But after an incident with a bully, the son Jack changes his mind. He doesn't want to be half Chinese and half American anymore. He wants to be all American. He doesn't want his eyes or his hair or his language or his little paper friends. He doesn't even want his mother.
You know what the Chinese think is the saddest feeling in the world? It's for a child to finally grow the desire to take care of his parents, only to realize that they were long gone.
The Paper Menagerie is about how there is always something about us we want to run away from until we grow up and learn to love it--but by then it's too late. Jack is cruel to his mother, forcing her to abandon her language and cuisine and zhezhi until she is just a shell of herself. And yet his mother still cares about him. She makes sure he stays healthy as he begins to lose himself in being American.
Sometimes, when I came home and saw her tiny body busily moving about in the kitchen, singing a song in Chinese to herself, it was hard for me to believe that she gave birth to me. We had nothing in common. She might as well be from the moon. I would hurry on to my room, where I could continue my all-American pursuit of happiness.
It is just so, so sad. The impact is astonishing. Every sentence carries weight. It's quietly and intimately emotional, and contains situations everyone can relate to in some way.
Mom finally stopped making the animals when I was in high school. By then her English was much better, but I was already at that age when I wasn't interested in what she had to say whatever language she used.
This short story is about being torn between Western and Eastern cultures and not knowing how to find a balance that you're comfortable with. It's about acceptance, love, and how we often push it away. Jack was born and raised in America, and he constantly feels pressured to pick one or the other culture. It seems very common to me for children to feel the overwhelming need to have to choose. It might make sense to us now that it's possible to live in harmony with all parts of yourself without having to deny some, but I remember vividly wanting to pick and choose parts of myself as a child. I believe I wanted blond hair and blue eyes. I wasn't able to appreciate my different heritages without having a very strong preference for one. And I would swing from one to another with startling quickness. I got whiplash. I was a confused child. Every multiracial person knows what I'm talking about.
If Mom spoke to me in Chinese, I refused to answer her. After a while, she tried to use more English. But her accent and broken sentences embarrassed me. I tried to correct her. Eventually, she stopped speaking altogether if I were around.
Jack never tried to understand his mother. He only tried to push her away. And he succeeded.
The Paper Menagerie is the best short story I have ever read. The only thing I didn't like about it was the random infodumpy letter at the end that took me out of the story a bit. It was kind of melodramatic.
4.5 stars
✰ Asian readathon ✰
Book 1: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: ★☆☆☆☆
Book 2: Jade City (currently reading)
Book 3: The Paper Menagerie: ★★★★★
November 4, 2023
This is the title story from the collection, it’s beautifully written and so moving!
May 24, 2022
A beautiful and sad short story which I found very moving. Thanks to my GR friend Esther for bringing it to my attention. I discovered this story is part of the collection by the same title. Now I want to read the collection.
Here’s a link to the story.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&am...
Here’s a link to the story.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&am...
November 16, 2023
”son, i know that you do not like your chinese eyes, which are my eyes. i know that you do not like your chinese hair, which is my hair. but can you understand how much joy your very existence brought to me?”
im so shocked by how much this made me cry. its like 30 pages and the tears were just pouring out im unwell.
it felt very relatable in some ways which broke my heart so much more. why is life like this :(
the mom had my whole heart <3
im so shocked by how much this made me cry. its like 30 pages and the tears were just pouring out im unwell.
it felt very relatable in some ways which broke my heart so much more. why is life like this :(
the mom had my whole heart <3
February 10, 2020
"Are you as devastated as I am?" - LeVar Burton
Haven't cried this much in a while. A story full of unbelievable loss, so universal in immigrants who enter a seemingly callous America. Made me google zhezhi (Chinese origami), Hebei province, and Sigulu village. Like probably every reader, I so want to believe the magic is real.
.
Haven't cried this much in a while. A story full of unbelievable loss, so universal in immigrants who enter a seemingly callous America. Made me google zhezhi (Chinese origami), Hebei province, and Sigulu village. Like probably every reader, I so want to believe the magic is real.
.
December 17, 2023
Oh wow! What an amazing story. It almost made me cry. Yes, me. I kid you not.
It’s about a young man that was born to an American father and a Chinese mother, and how the relationship between Jack and his mother deteriorated because of her ancestry and how said ancestry affected Jack’s life, especially when he was a young boy.
A story about love and loss, about family and about acceptance. It touches on so many themes that are of great importance. The racism and prejudices made me extremely angry. And Jack’s mother is such a kind soul, you can’t help but love her. But unfortunately Jack is not able to do so. It was all so very sad and tragic.
Extremely moving. All the stars.
Apparently this was the first work of fiction to win the Hugo, the Nebula, AND the World Fantasy Award. Well deserved!
You can read it here: https://io9.gizmodo.com/read-ken-lius...
Thank you, Cathy, for making me aware of this story. Frankly, it would have been a tragedy to miss out on this one.
Here’s a short summary I wrote for my English classes:
It’s about a young man that was born to an American father and a Chinese mother, and how the relationship between Jack and his mother deteriorated because of her ancestry and how said ancestry affected Jack’s life, especially when he was a young boy.
A story about love and loss, about family and about acceptance. It touches on so many themes that are of great importance. The racism and prejudices made me extremely angry. And Jack’s mother is such a kind soul, you can’t help but love her. But unfortunately Jack is not able to do so. It was all so very sad and tragic.
Extremely moving. All the stars.
Apparently this was the first work of fiction to win the Hugo, the Nebula, AND the World Fantasy Award. Well deserved!
You can read it here: https://io9.gizmodo.com/read-ken-lius...
Thank you, Cathy, for making me aware of this story. Frankly, it would have been a tragedy to miss out on this one.
Here’s a short summary I wrote for my English classes:
November 15, 2023
Ken Liu's short story "The Paper Menagerie" is a look at cultural identity and racism from the male Chinese American perspective. He expands the theme of connection/estrangement to family as well as culture.
While not usually a fan of magical realism, Liu makes it work here. I am charmed by the origami animals made by Jack's mother, seeing them initially as living through his childhood imagination. Eventually I catch on to the link between them and the mother. (Mark, take note; this is a symbol.)
This artfully told poignant story is worth a bit of your time.
Publication 2011
While not usually a fan of magical realism, Liu makes it work here. I am charmed by the origami animals made by Jack's mother, seeing them initially as living through his childhood imagination. Eventually I catch on to the link between them and the mother. (Mark, take note; this is a symbol.)
This artfully told poignant story is worth a bit of your time.
Publication 2011
November 16, 2023
“When you said your first words to me, in Chinese that had the same accent as my mother and me, I cried for hours. When I made the first zhezhi animals for you, and you laughed, I felt there were no worries in the world.”
3.75 stars but 5 for the mom
Cultural insensitivity (racism) to one’s heritage can really mess with one’s identity as this was a moving short story about a son and mother of Chinese heritage and sadly the son was in denial of it when she just wanted to connect with him. This definitely makes you think twice about the choices you make and the pain they can inflict because there’s moments in life you won’t ever get back.
This didn’t make me full on sob like I wanted it to but did make me sad and tear up at what I knew was coming 🥲 *this was 32 pages btw*
3.75 stars but 5 for the mom
Cultural insensitivity (racism) to one’s heritage can really mess with one’s identity as this was a moving short story about a son and mother of Chinese heritage and sadly the son was in denial of it when she just wanted to connect with him. This definitely makes you think twice about the choices you make and the pain they can inflict because there’s moments in life you won’t ever get back.
This didn’t make me full on sob like I wanted it to but did make me sad and tear up at what I knew was coming 🥲 *this was 32 pages btw*
January 6, 2022
4.5 Stars
Holy hell. That hurt.
In a scant 30ish pages, this will make you re-evaluate every broken, estranged relationship currently in your life and how you want to go about it - for better or for worse.
Brutally devastating in the choices you can’t unmake and the lost chance you’ll never get back.
Holy hell. That hurt.
In a scant 30ish pages, this will make you re-evaluate every broken, estranged relationship currently in your life and how you want to go about it - for better or for worse.
Brutally devastating in the choices you can’t unmake and the lost chance you’ll never get back.
August 3, 2020
Completely mesmerizing and deeply affecting, I never dreamt that such an incredibly powerful story could be told in a mere handful of pages.
Free to read here
Free to read here
May 29, 2022
Lovely heart-aching story.
https://io9.gizmodo.com/5958919/read-...
https://io9.gizmodo.com/5958919/read-...
September 21, 2019
I have seen this title before. It's a short story included in a collection I have seen around in the past, but I've never read anything by this author before. However, it is the first fiction story to win the Hugo, the Nebula, AND the World Fantasy Award so it had to be good. This and today's recommendation made me pick it up finally.
The story is that of a young man, the son of an American father and a Chinese mother. It's the story of a son getting estranged from his own mother simply because of the different culture she came from. It's not that the mother didn't love her son or that her way of loving him was strange - on the contrary, she's a sweetheart. Which makes the story all the more sad and tragic.
There were a few things I understood, like but mostly I was disgusted with the people here and their prejudice and racism. It made me rage and also want to cry (from frustration as much as grief).
Another topic (one of many) addressed in this story that I always find heartbreaking is .
That being said, I also have one criticism about the mother: but maybe that would have been better if people had been more welcoming and kind and helped her.
At least though that was a small comfort.
Sheesh, there are so many more things about this story I want to talk about - that is how much this story makes you think and feel - although this is "just" a short story. I might need to have to get the entire collection after all.
Seriously, this is fantastic, go and read it for free here: https://io9.gizmodo.com/read-ken-lius...
December 12, 2023
“Son, I know that you do not like your Chinese eyes, which are my eyes. I know that you do not like your Chinese hair, which is my hair. But can you understand how much joy your very existence brought to me?”
I'm not crying you are. This was such a beautiful and an emotional short story. It's just 30 pages but I couldn't stop crying. The mom is so precious and she has all my heart and after reading her letter all I want to do right now is just give my mom the biggest and longest hug in this world 🥺❤️🩹
I'm not crying you are. This was such a beautiful and an emotional short story. It's just 30 pages but I couldn't stop crying. The mom is so precious and she has all my heart and after reading her letter all I want to do right now is just give my mom the biggest and longest hug in this world 🥺❤️🩹
August 25, 2022
This 32 pages long short story managed destroy me. It's been 2 days already. But my tears haven't dried yet. "The Paper Menagerie" was beautiful & painful. Ken Liu is a genius. *Lemme go back to sobbing. Someone pass some tissues please*
December 21, 2020
An incredibly sad story of an immigrant mother whose Americanised son start to ignore her out of his feelings of inferiority regarding his mixed race and Chinese roots.
Mom began to mime things if she needed to let me know something. She tried to hug me the way she saw American mothers did on TV. I thought her movements exaggerated, uncertain, ridiculous, graceless. She saw that I was annoyed, and stopped.
October 1, 2025
سومین داستان از مجموعه داستان کوتاه بیکران:
کن لیو خیلی ساده و بیادعا قصهی یه پسر بچه و مادرش رو تعریف میکنه، ولی لایههای پشتش اونقدر سنگینه که تا مدتها ذهن آدم ول نمیکنه. اینکه چطور میشه با کاغذ و خیال، پلی زد بین دو جهان متفاوت؛ یکی ریشهدار در فرهنگ و سنت، و یکی غرق در دنیای مدرن و بیرحم.
لحظهای که باغوحش کاغذی جون میگیره، هم شاعرانهست هم دلخراش. و پایان داستان... همزمان بغض میاره و فکر.
این داستان به من یادآوری کرد که علمیتخیلی یا فانتزی فقط دربارهی دنیاهای عجیب نیست، میتونه آینهای باشه برای زخمها و زیباییهای سادهی زندگی خودمون.
کن لیو خیلی ساده و بیادعا قصهی یه پسر بچه و مادرش رو تعریف میکنه، ولی لایههای پشتش اونقدر سنگینه که تا مدتها ذهن آدم ول نمیکنه. اینکه چطور میشه با کاغذ و خیال، پلی زد بین دو جهان متفاوت؛ یکی ریشهدار در فرهنگ و سنت، و یکی غرق در دنیای مدرن و بیرحم.
لحظهای که باغوحش کاغذی جون میگیره، هم شاعرانهست هم دلخراش. و پایان داستان... همزمان بغض میاره و فکر.
این داستان به من یادآوری کرد که علمیتخیلی یا فانتزی فقط دربارهی دنیاهای عجیب نیست، میتونه آینهای باشه برای زخمها و زیباییهای سادهی زندگی خودمون.
February 24, 2020
5 stars
There is just so much to reflect upon within this sad, beautiful tale.
It left my heart heavy and my mind full...
This is a journey worth taking for many reasons. My hope is that you'll take some time to read this short story in order to experience it for yourself. It is a gift for which the price has been paid many times over by those who have lived it in some way, shape, or form.
Life's journey comes with many lessons and there are few who live without some deeper heartache and/or regret...
We are different and we are the same.
I reached out to Mom's creation. Its tail twitched, and it pounced playfully at my finger. "Rawrr-sa," it growled, the sound somewhere between a cat and rustling newspapers.
I laughed, startled, and stroked its back with an index finger. The paper tiger vibrated under my finger, purring.
"Zhe jiao zhezhi," Mom said. This is called origami.
I didn't know this at the time, but Mom's kind was special. She breathed into them so that they shared her breath, and thus moved with her life. This was her magic.
Mom reached out to touch my forehead, feeling for my temperature. "Fashao la?"
I brushed her hand away. "I'm fine. Speak English!" I was shouting.
"Speak English to him," Dad said to Mom. "You knew this was going to happen some day. What did you expect?"
Mom dropped her hands to her side. She sat, looking from Dad to me, and back to Dad again. She tried to speak, stopped, and tried again, and stopped again.
"You have to," Dad said. "I've been too easy on you. Jack needs to fit in."
Mom looked at him. "If I say 'love,' I feel here." She pointed to her lips. "If I say 'ai,' I feel here." She put her hand over her heart.
Dad shook his head. "You are in America."
Mom hunched down in her seat, looking like the water buffalo when Laohu used to pounce on him and squeeze the air of life out of him.
Every once in a while, I would see her at the kitchen table studying the plain side of a sheet of wrapping paper. Later a new paper animal would appear on my nightstand and try to cuddle up to me. I caught them, squeezed them until the air went out of them, and then stuffed them away in the box in the attic.
Mom finally stopped making the animals when I was in high school. By then her English was much better, but I was already at that age when I wasn't interested in what she had to say whatever language she used.
The language that I had tried to forget for years came back, and I felt the words sinking into me, through my skin, through my bones, until they squeezed tight around my heart.
It is not a very romantic story, but it is my story.
Free story link: https://io9.gizmodo.com/read-ken-lius...
Story narration (by LeVar Burton): https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/stit...
Sometimes we are completely clueless as to the value of the most valuable things in our lives, until they're no longer accessible to us. -- LeVar Burton
*** Thank you, Dennis. 💕
There is just so much to reflect upon within this sad, beautiful tale.
It left my heart heavy and my mind full...
This is a journey worth taking for many reasons. My hope is that you'll take some time to read this short story in order to experience it for yourself. It is a gift for which the price has been paid many times over by those who have lived it in some way, shape, or form.
Life's journey comes with many lessons and there are few who live without some deeper heartache and/or regret...
We are different and we are the same.
I reached out to Mom's creation. Its tail twitched, and it pounced playfully at my finger. "Rawrr-sa," it growled, the sound somewhere between a cat and rustling newspapers.
I laughed, startled, and stroked its back with an index finger. The paper tiger vibrated under my finger, purring.
"Zhe jiao zhezhi," Mom said. This is called origami.
I didn't know this at the time, but Mom's kind was special. She breathed into them so that they shared her breath, and thus moved with her life. This was her magic.
Mom reached out to touch my forehead, feeling for my temperature. "Fashao la?"
I brushed her hand away. "I'm fine. Speak English!" I was shouting.
"Speak English to him," Dad said to Mom. "You knew this was going to happen some day. What did you expect?"
Mom dropped her hands to her side. She sat, looking from Dad to me, and back to Dad again. She tried to speak, stopped, and tried again, and stopped again.
"You have to," Dad said. "I've been too easy on you. Jack needs to fit in."
Mom looked at him. "If I say 'love,' I feel here." She pointed to her lips. "If I say 'ai,' I feel here." She put her hand over her heart.
Dad shook his head. "You are in America."
Mom hunched down in her seat, looking like the water buffalo when Laohu used to pounce on him and squeeze the air of life out of him.
Every once in a while, I would see her at the kitchen table studying the plain side of a sheet of wrapping paper. Later a new paper animal would appear on my nightstand and try to cuddle up to me. I caught them, squeezed them until the air went out of them, and then stuffed them away in the box in the attic.
Mom finally stopped making the animals when I was in high school. By then her English was much better, but I was already at that age when I wasn't interested in what she had to say whatever language she used.
The language that I had tried to forget for years came back, and I felt the words sinking into me, through my skin, through my bones, until they squeezed tight around my heart.
It is not a very romantic story, but it is my story.
Free story link: https://io9.gizmodo.com/read-ken-lius...
Story narration (by LeVar Burton): https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/stit...
Sometimes we are completely clueless as to the value of the most valuable things in our lives, until they're no longer accessible to us. -- LeVar Burton
*** Thank you, Dennis. 💕
November 28, 2022
Not typically in my pool of reading interests, I read this award-winning short story to complete a tricky reading challenge topic. It did the trick, but I’ll admit I’m confused over the buzz and the seemingly profound reactions. Clearly this just wasn’t the story for me.
May 17, 2021
A beautiful and heart wrenching short story, almost made me cry!
August 15, 2025
This short story sneaked up on me with its quiet magic, then sucker-punched my soul with emotional truth. 😭😭😭
If you finish it without tearing up, congratulations—you might be made of cardboard!!
Jack, a Chinese-American boy caught between cultures, languages and the complicated love of a mother who folds origami animals that come to life. Yes!! you read that right—living paper creatures:) It’s whimsical until it’s not... Behind the magic, it’s really about finding out who you are, trying to belong and saying things you should’ve said before it’s too late.
The writing is really simple, like the folds of a paper tiger—each crease hiding layers of grief, guilt and longing. It’s a story that whispers rather than shouts... and somehow that whisper echoes louder than most novels:(
It is like a love letter written in tears and folded into a crane. Read it. Then call your mom.
If you finish it without tearing up, congratulations—you might be made of cardboard!!
Jack, a Chinese-American boy caught between cultures, languages and the complicated love of a mother who folds origami animals that come to life. Yes!! you read that right—living paper creatures:) It’s whimsical until it’s not... Behind the magic, it’s really about finding out who you are, trying to belong and saying things you should’ve said before it’s too late.
The writing is really simple, like the folds of a paper tiger—each crease hiding layers of grief, guilt and longing. It’s a story that whispers rather than shouts... and somehow that whisper echoes louder than most novels:(
It is like a love letter written in tears and folded into a crane. Read it. Then call your mom.
February 22, 2021
داستان کوتاه احساسات برانگیز خوبی بود:)
اما چیزی که نمیفهمم اینه که چرا تو طبقه فانتزی و سای فایه:///
اما چیزی که نمیفهمم اینه که چرا تو طبقه فانتزی و سای فایه:///
December 29, 2020
This story is 32 pages long and will leave your heart in pieces. I cried. A lot.
Jack is the son an American man and a mail-order Hong Kong bride. In his youth, Jack delights in the origami animals that his mother makes for him, breathing her life into them so that they move. As he grows, however, he comes to dislike the things that make him different: his monolid eyes, his low-tech toys and his mother's insistence on speaking Chinese. The question is: will Jack realise what he's giving up before it's too late?
Ken Liu writes beautifully. Each sentence packs a punch, telling a story but alluding to so much more. At its heart, it's a story about difference and acceptance; about the difficulty of growing up a child of two cultures, and the difficulty of moving from one culture to another. There is no right way to manage that challenge; each must just muddle through as best as they can and hope that they're forgiven their mistakes. Unfortunately, sometimes that isn't possible.
The subtle magic of the story is a nice touch. I liked that it doesn't really matter whether the magic is real or not. Instead, it represents childhood innocence and imagination, beauty and authenticity – all of which are in the eye of the beholder.
Read this story. It'll take you 15 minutes and you can find it for free here. It'll be the best thing you do all day.
"You know what the Chinese think is the saddest feeling in the world? It's for a child to finally grow the desire to take care of his parents, only to realise that they were long gone."
Jack is the son an American man and a mail-order Hong Kong bride. In his youth, Jack delights in the origami animals that his mother makes for him, breathing her life into them so that they move. As he grows, however, he comes to dislike the things that make him different: his monolid eyes, his low-tech toys and his mother's insistence on speaking Chinese. The question is: will Jack realise what he's giving up before it's too late?
'Mom looked at him. "If I say 'love,' I feel here." She pointed to her lips. "I I say 'ai,' I feel here.' She put her hand over her heart.'
Ken Liu writes beautifully. Each sentence packs a punch, telling a story but alluding to so much more. At its heart, it's a story about difference and acceptance; about the difficulty of growing up a child of two cultures, and the difficulty of moving from one culture to another. There is no right way to manage that challenge; each must just muddle through as best as they can and hope that they're forgiven their mistakes. Unfortunately, sometimes that isn't possible.
The subtle magic of the story is a nice touch. I liked that it doesn't really matter whether the magic is real or not. Instead, it represents childhood innocence and imagination, beauty and authenticity – all of which are in the eye of the beholder.
Read this story. It'll take you 15 minutes and you can find it for free here. It'll be the best thing you do all day.
January 21, 2021
NOBODY TOUCH ME I AM NOT OKAY 😭😭😭😭
(off to buy the anthology that includes this short story because I am now a Ken Liu stan)
(off to buy the anthology that includes this short story because I am now a Ken Liu stan)
November 27, 2023
“Son, I know that you do not like your Chinese eyes,which are my eyes. I know that you do not like your Chinese hair, which is my hair. But can you understand how much joy your very existence brought to me? And can you understand how it felt when you stopped talking to me and won’t let me talk to you in Chinese? I felt I was losing everything all over again.”
My heart hurts so much for the mother omg and honestly it’s sad how racism plays such a role in the lives of children of immigrants to the point many feel ashamed of their heritage and rather be stripped away from everything that pertains to that heritage. I don’t think I can honestly forget the impact this short story left on me 😖
May 29, 2023
A heartbreaking story about a boy who wanted nothing to do with his Chinese heritage and his mother who desperately wanted to bond with him.
Its a Short story everyone should read
😭
Its a Short story everyone should read
😭
October 21, 2023
I just Loved this. 🌟
October 21, 2024
Ken Liu’s “The Paper Menagerie” is a deeply moving story that beautifully captures a mother’s love and sacrifice. Jack’s mother, a Chinese immigrant, faces cultural isolation and personal hardship, yet her magical paper animals symbolize her unwavering dedication to her son. The story explores themes of identity, belonging, and the pain of unreciprocated love. As Jack distances himself from his heritage, his mother’s condition deteriorates, reflecting her emotional struggle. This touching tale is a must-read for its profound portrayal of family, love, and cultural identity.
January 4, 2021
Skaisti par mātes un bērna sarežģīto mīlestību.
December 29, 2021
cried for what felt like the entirety of this short story wtf. i’m so upset.
January 2, 2023
What a powerful story!!
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