Ken Liu and The Paper Menagerie and The Message™ and immigrant stories

 

Tuesday September 8, 2026 was a big day for Asian Americans that read and write books, because both Ken Liu and R.F. Kuang had new releases. Taipei Story for Kuang and The Passing of the Dragon and Other Stories for Liu. It was a bigger day still for people in the Boston area (hey that's me!), because both Massachusetts-based authors held events in the city on that day. Big Ken Liu fans and big R.F. Kuang fans who ALSO pay attention to author talks in Greater Boston are probably a small population, but I'm sure there's at least one sad person out there who had to miss one of these conflicting events. 

 

Me? I was merely an aspirational fan of both authors having read 0 works from each (as of September 8). Ken Liu's event in Harvard Square was in conversation with Fonda Lee (another author that am a huge aspirational fan of; Jade City is perpetually the book I want to read next and never get around to), and that's the one I decided to attend. 

 

Ken Liu writes a lot of short fiction. The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories is the most well known collection, though several other stories of his were adapted into the show Pantheon. He's written epic fantasy novels (The Dandelion Dynasty series), at least one sci-fi thriller, and also translated several Chinese works (including The Three Body Problem—yeah I bet you've heard of that one). 

 

The new short story collection, The Passing of the Dragon and Other Stories, was the main topic of this event. Unlike his prior collections, all of these stories share a common theme, but what that theme is is a bit unclear to me without reading it for myself. My impressions based on the discussion: I have a feeling this book will speak the most to other writers and artists in general: people that have put their work out there and have been taken aback by how it was interpreted. "Art requires misunderstanding," he said at one point. If someone reads what you write and derives the "wrong" message, is that a failure of imagination or a failure of craft? They talked about how there is never one single meaning to be taken from a story. "If I had a single thing to say, I would've just said it" made me LOL. They spoke about divisive media: how it's possible to love something and then discover that it's not-so-well-loved by the masses. How you can break established "rules" of a craft in an effective way. A lot of talk about stories and the way they are received. 

 

At one point, Ken mentioned his award-winning short story, The Paper Menagerie, how people have spoken to him about their own interpretations over the years, some that were unexpected. Of all the Ken Liu books/stories I've meant to read, The Paper Menagerie has always been at the top of the list, and this talk gave me enough motivation to go home and read it. In the spirit of this event, I just wanted to know what my own takeaways from this story would be. 

 

I purchased a signed copy of The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories that night. The titular story is notably NOT the first story in the collection, so I did some rule-breaking and skipped to the middle of the book.   

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In one sentence, The Paper Menagerie (2011) is about a biracial boy's relationship with his Chinese mother who makes magical origami... go read it. 

 

This is a heartbreaking immigrant/diaspora story that feels familiar to me in uncomfortable ways. I cried some (a lot). To me, this story is about a mother's unconditional love, it's about how kids are shitty sometimes, it's about how young people struggle to understand their parents, it's about the power of one's native language, it's about being a foreigner in a new country, it's about feeling like a foreigner even when you're not one, and maybe it's about how the dead are watching over us à la The Lion King. I'm sure it's about many other things too.  

 

The Paper Menagerie makes me want to hold my loved ones close and try to be kinder even when it feels impossible. 

 

The speculative aspect of the story feels secondary; I think you could tell a very similar story without it. But it adds to the feeling of nostalgia and childhood wonder. The origami animals are a physical representation of the mother-son relationship, and I do think they are important. 

 

There's a very vividly relatable feeling here of being inherently different than your peers. I'm sure most people feel this in some way or another, and I look back and know it's not really a big deal. But when you're a kid it feels like the biggest deal when you're asked questions that other people don't have to answer. And I still hit scenarios where I feel like the strange one in a group simply because I grew up a little bit different. 

 

The mother's words about feeling English in the mouth but Chinese in the heart really struck me as well. I'm close to monolingual, so I can't directly relate, but I can imagine that one language will always feel the most natural and the most like home. And the way she's treated by the only person that understands her language broke my heart. Sometimes we don't deserve our parents. 

 

This story was a hard one to read. I don't really know grief, not yet. I wonder if reading about these things will be different once I've gone through it. Maybe it will be cathartic or maybe it will be impossible.  

 

Read: September 9, 2026

Rating: ★★★★★ / 5  

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Apparently this story was originally submitted to an anthology about wizards and was rejected, and I think that's pretty funny. 

 

These 15 pages took me 2 nights and probably 2 hours total to read, but I was taking notes and honestly have rarely felt motivated to read with my eyes these days, so it felt like a great accomplishment. Be warned, this one is a bit emotionally manipulative. I'm a crier, so I cried. 

 

Shout out to Harvard Book Store for this cool event. I hope to finish the rest of The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, and maybe I'll pick up The Passing of the Dragon one day as well. 

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Diaspora stories can be so varied, but they all hit hard, and many of the themes are universal. I just started Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim, which is about a woman coming back to Korea after 20 years and meeting the version of herself that never left. I have never moved countries, but I do sometimes wonder who I would be if I grew up in my parents' home country. Even if you're not a first or second generation immigrant, the feeling of "what if" is universal. What if I chose a different major? What if I didn't lose touch with that friend? Who would I be if the world was just a little bit different? 

 

Nick (of Nick's Book Club) says Sublimation is "literally just past lives the movie but sci Fi so far." Hmm I will watch Past Lives after finishing the book. I will judge for myself. 

Not so scary movies about scary things

 

I thought I would never watch Sinners simply because it was labeled "horror." Eventually enough people told me it wasn't that scary, at least two people told me it was their favorite movie of 2025, and I found a friend to watch it with. So I watched.

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Sinners (2025) - directed by Ryan Coogler

 

I am a liker of Sinners. Big fan of the overall vibe and the music. Setting cool. Michael B x2 cool. All the other performances were good too. It also wasn’t boring (high bar). 

The build-up to the conflict was enjoyable, but I thought things became less interesting once it turned into a monster movie. If there’s a thematic explanation that ties it all together, I’m not getting it, but I genuinely want to. 

I like how Michael Smoke and Michael Stack wear different hats so I can tell them apart. Much appreciated, thank you Ryan Coogler.

 

Watched: August 23, 2026

Rating: ★★★★ / 5  

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Miscellaneous thoughts on Sinners:

 

Genuinely very entertaining story and beautiful cinematography. Setting and time period are brought to life really well. 

 

Movie takes its time to set up some interesting character dynamics, but the second half derails that progress. Ideally, the character stories would grow along with the plot, but I don't think that's done in a satisfying way here. I often use Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as an extreme example of this: a setup that brings up a lot of interesting questions and an explosive ending that answers none of them. 

 

I feel like the female characters are fleshed out well in some respects and not in others. Don't know how to elaborate over text or if I should try. I understand what the movie is going for, but it feels a little bit off to me. 

 

So many big movies these days are part of a franchises or are based on other media, so I appreciate this being an original screenplay a lot.

 

That one scene that everyone talks about is good. 

 

Low-key wanted/expected this movie to have a time jump or some time travel. Me and my want of sci-fi 😫

 

First movie started and finished on *my* TV. Shout out to Sandesh.  

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My blog is five movies behind again, so I have many choices of what to write about next. Keeping with the monster movie theme, let's talk about Jaws. 

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Jaws (1975) - directed by Steven Spielberg

 

Not the first time I’ve rated a movie I barely watched, but I don’t usually feel this guilty about it. Next time I go to Coolidge Corner I will eat less pasta and more popcorn 🫠 had one of the most relaxing naps of my life while this beach was being terrorized. 

It was a fun watch, you know, while I was conscious. It had a good script, a bunch of amusing moments. I liked the three main dudes, even if I could not understand a word one of em said. And I think that shark was nice n menacing, even if this movie is unfair shark slander. 

I liked the first two thirds more than the last act on the boat (though ironically, I was the most awake at the end). Brody dealing with the dumbasses that won’t close the beach was pretty good. The last part felt very Old Man and the Sea for some obvious reasons (not a bad thing, just observing).

Ugh I wanna watch it again right now. Hope Jaws and I will get to have a rematch soon, and I think this rating can only go up.

 

Watched: September 7, 2026

Rating: ★★★★ / 5  

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Once again, I enjoyed the Coolidge Corner Theatre experience a lot. "You're gonna need a bigger boat" got big claps. 

One parallel I've noticed between my thoughts on these two movies: I like both first halves better, when the movie is more focused on build-up and people. Once the movies starts focusing on strategizing and actually killing the monster(s), it sometimes feels less personal to me. In the same vein, I'm not super into fight scenes either. All important data for making The Ultimate Pratima Movie. 

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Post written while trying to explain HTML to a ten year old. Hope you enjoy.  

Chai (Pratima style)

 

There are many topics I want to write about, like vampires and immigration stories and how the world is very small sometimes. But today I write about food. 

I went to Momma's Grocery + Wine in Cambridge on a whim one night after seeing this post, because I wasn't able to stop thinking about maple soft serve. Maple creemees (as they are often called) are a Vermont staple, and I don't live in Vermont and thus can't judge the quality, but Momma's soft serve is good enough that I will be waiting in line for it again. Probably soon. Recommend. In addition to soft serve, they're a small specialty grocery store. I bought a frozen Vermont pizza, because I overheard people in line discussing them. Easily influenced, I am. 

This weekend I waited in line for Bagelsaurus, also in Cambridge. They had sold out of everything bagels by the time I got in. How early must one show up for everything bagel? The food was good. Will I wait in line again? Maybe. But I don't think it was as life-changing as my soft serve. The bagels must be pretty good though, because I once had a bagel snob friend, and even she approved of Bagelsaurus. They have a very good logo; I am a fan. 

Whenever I have weekday off, I often find myself in Brookline at Clear Flour Bread. Combination of a great bread reputation and a very small indoor space means there's always a line out the door. I waited patiently to buy focaccia (only available Monday-Wednesday), and I made myself few sammiches out of it. It was a beautiful day, and it made me wish I lived in Allston/Brookline within walking distance of the bakery. It made me wish I ate more bread. Maybe I would if I lived there, but I am just one girl and loaves are big. 

I'm famously anti-waiting-in-line, but that reputation might soon fade. Sometimes there's good food on the other side of the line. Are there other places to buy focaccia? Maybe probably, but I don't know them. 

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I wrote out a recipe today for my good friend, and I don't just want it to live on my phone, so I will post for my other good friends.

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Ingredients: 

Water 
Milk 
Tea leaves – standard loose-leaf black tea, but people like this brand
Cardamom 
Ginger
Sugar

 

Tools:

Pot. 

Spoon, maybe multiple. I don't need to explain spoons, do I? Material depends on your tolerance for microplastics. 

Strainer.

Mugs. 

Grater. Handheld graters or zesters are probably easiest. 

Notes:
For 3 cups chai, about 1 cup milk and 2 cups water. Ratio is flexible; I often use more milk than this. But 2:1 water to milk is a good starting point. 

Tea leaves: ~1 teaspoon per cup of chai (one flat-ish spoonful of a regular plastic spoon; I think that's a teaspoon).

Cardamom: 1 cardamom pod per cup of chai. I break open the pod and put the whole thing in the water. Crushing the cardamom might yield better results (but lazy). Green cardamom, not black. 

Ginger: a little bit?? Cut a thin slice of ginger and grate it. For more cups, use more. Science.

Sugar: I use 1-2 tsp Sugar In The Raw (for one cup chai), but white sugar is not as sweet, so you might need a little more – taste and adjust, my friends.

 

Vanilla/cinnamon/star anise/cloves are all additions you could try and see if you like. I am anti-cinnamon. I am pro-vanilla sometimes. 

I often use saffron (1 strand is enough for multiple cups), but it’s expensive and might not make sense to buy just for this. 

Instructions: 
1. Add water and ginger and cardamom to pot on stove (no milk yet). Use low heat, but you can increase it if you get impatient. 

2. Once you start to see a bunch of small bubbles at the bottom of the pot, add tea leaves (this might depend on your stove, but basically once it’s starting to boil) – stir once or twice.

3. Microwave milk. (45-90 seconds based on amount of milk, 90 seconds is probably good for 1 cup)

4. Once water is bubbling faster (bubbles at the top of the water movin' around), add the warm milk and stir 1-2 times. (You can add sugar now or you can add it to each cup at the end, depends on whether everybody wants the same amount of sweet) 

5. Now we wait until milk boils over – turn off heat to prevent a mess once it starts to rise. (If you have a dumb electric stove like me, you have to move the pot; I assume you know, that but mentioning anyway) 

6. Strain the tea into mugs.

7. Chai time. 

This is the only thing I can make without a recipe, so I promise it's easy. 

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I feel like I'm over-explaining simple things, but I don't cook much, so this is the level of detail I need. Everybody makes chai a little differently; even the cardamom and ginger are optional. You'll probably find many many recipes online. This is mine. 

Light from Uncommon Stars ✨

 

For the first time in my life, I have my very own HBO Max subscription. I've been watching Heated Rivalry which has been fine and good. But what has not been fine or good are the stupid gambling app ads on HBO. With all the money these apps are paying to be shown during an episode, maybe they could consider paying more than 2 dollars to find a person that can act. Possibly another 2 dollars to find a HUMAN to write a less moronic script. Noo 4 dollars is too much, you're right. I can sit through a regular commercial, but these probably-mostly-AI ads are really pissing me off. 

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I have much food in my fridge and on my counter. It's a weird feeling. 

 

Sorry, gimme a second to recalibrate. It's been a while since I've written about a book. 

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Light from Uncommon Stars (2021) by Ryka Aoki

 

Light from Uncommon Stars follows a trans girl that runs away from home, a violin teacher who has made a deal with the devil, an alien captain fleeing a war... and some yummy donuts. Personally I'm just happy that a book with this premise exists at all. 

 

The intersection between sci-fi and the Faustian bargain was goofy, but it worked perfectly with the tone of the story.  I loved the disparate elements at play and the tropes that bend as a result.  

 

It wasn't the most engaging read, and sometimes it felt a bit too saccharine for me, but it did move me in some ways. The plot itself is not something I'll look back on, but I'll remember how some of the passages made me feel. At times it's poetic, and I admire it like a piece of art even if it's not my favorite thing ever. 

 

Light from Uncommon Stars feels like a warm hug despite dealing with a lot of serious subjects. If you've ever needed reassurance that everything is going to be okay, read this book.  

 

I also think this book will speak to people who are really passionate about music. Or who are passionate about music in the same way that Ryka Aoki presumably is passionate about music. Maybe it does have the power to save lives. 

 

Read: August 27, 2026

Rating: ★★★½ / 5  

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Tonight I go to Coolidge Corner. Tonight I watch a movie about a shark. Tonight I eat pasta. 

 

My name Pratima. Your Name?

 

Sometimes life gives you a friend that lets you borrow an entire Steam Deck™, and sometimes you hold the Steam Deck™ hostage for many weeks as you make  very  slow  progress  on a game about an ex-superhero and his first corporate job (💕). I have been playing Dispatch, and I like it so far at 57% of the way through. Big claps to Aaron Paul for playing somebody other than Jesse Pinkman. I really wish I could romance the bat man, but we can't always get what we want. 

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half alive announced a tour. Happy news. 

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I haven't been big on karaoke since I was a wee lad; I thought I left that life behind. But take a girl to karaoke and tell her she has a nice voice and the mic will probably not leave her hand for the rest of the night. This is what I learned. Have a list in my phone of songs-for-next-time.

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Your Name. (2016) - directed by Makoto Shinkai

 

why movie so good, question 🥺

 

Watched: August 19, 2026

Rating: ★★★★★ / 5  

 

 

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Friends, I really liked Your Name. I've been torn between wanting to write about it before I forget things and being nervous that I won't be able to find the words.

I didn't know anything about this movie going in, not the basic premise, not the genre, and nothing about the characters. And honestly, I did that by accident. Someone recommended it to me a long time ago (2025), and I said, "okay, I will watch" without doing any further research than that. It might be the first movie I ever added to my Letterboxd watchlist, and this is evidence that that list is not just a black hole for movies to disappear into. I watched. You should also watch simply because I say so. That's it, post over. 

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My only reference for Japanese animated movies is Studio Ghibli, and I haven't watched a wide variety of those either. The Ghibli movies I've seen are beautiful and cute and whimsical, and I enjoy them. I expected Your Name to be a quiet movie. A beautiful movie. I expected the music to be good. I expected nice visuals. I expected to think it was stunning, and I expected to sob, but I also expected to be a tiny bit bored. 

Your Name is all of the above, except it's not quiet (not particularly loud though) and it's certainly not boring. The movie starts with two teenagers who begin to swap bodies, and that's not even a trope I usually like, but it's engaging and pretty funny and kept me invested while building towards something more. The movie bends your mind a little in a fun way without feeling intentionally trippy or pretentious. It has a cool concept while also being emotionally moving. It was poetic and also a bit silly. It's not an easy balance to strike, but it worked for me. 

This is a story about love above all else. It probably can be interpreted as a romance, but the platonic love and care I felt between these two characters is what moved me the most. (It's something I appreciate about PHM as well. If I find enough connections between movies I like, maybe one day somebody can make The Ultimate Pratima Movie.)

Your Name could've easily felt like an emotionally manipulative movie to me, like it's intentionally trying to evoke an emotional reaction that it doesn't deserve. But the part that actually made me cry was not too over the top at all. I just wanted these two characters to get to be friends so bad. 

There are many ways this movie could have ended, and I probably would have been happy with any of them. It's about the journey. The Climb™. 

A lot of my excitement might just be due to this being my first watch. The element of surprise is a wonderful thing. But the way everything fits together made my brain really happy. You can nitpick about logistics, but I never felt like I had to. I think there's enough here that a rewatch would still be enjoyable, just different. 

I appreciate the accurate depiction of the fleeting feeling of a dream. It's so universal, but I've never thought about putting it into words.  

It was neat to see Japan onscreen shortly after visiting. The ever present vending machines and shrines felt so familiar to me. The Japanese countryside depicted is beautiful. I saw the Tokyo trains, and I was like: whoa I've been there <insert Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme>. 

I'll be recommending this one to a lot of people :) 

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Your Name was in theaters for its 10th anniversary in August, which is what moved me to go watch. The Big screen was a good choice; I am a Big fan. 

Now the least-recently-added movie on my watchlist is The Fast and the Furious. That was also playing in theaters recently for its 25th anniversary, but I'm not watching it. Not yet.