as small as a world and as large as alone

8:31pm August 3, 2015

andreashettle:

endquestionmark:

every so often i post a few passages from this. it’s by ken liu, whose explanation of silkpunk i just reblogged, and it’s an excerpt from his story paper menagerie (linked here in its entirety; it won the hugo, the nebula, and the world fantasy awards, the first work of fiction to do so). it is not remotely an easy read, particularly if you are a child of a diaspora, particularly if you have ever struggled with assimilation, particularly if you are struggling with cultural and personal identity. it shouldn’t need to pull its punches, and it doesn’t. if you haven’t read it already, i cannot recommend it highly enough. it will not make you feel better, but it is an axe for one’s internal frozen sea, if you will. sometimes a story like this is the only way to stay alive.

Do read the paper menagerie story at the link, it is heartbreaking and beautiful. Unfortunately, some of the comments from readers are not as pretty (I did not read all of them, but the ones I did glance at … )

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