‘The Paper Menagerie’ Book Review

Mount Readmore Book Review, 2018 35/200

The Paper Menagerie By Ken Liu

LaVar Burton Reads Edition, Episode 11

Finished on 3/5/2018

Goodreads

Description:

A young man recalls his youth. His mother, a mail-order bride, feels isolated from everyone but her family. When her son is inconsolable one day, she must rely upon her knowledge from a past life – she makes an origami animal to serve as a toy. The boy was so delighted that she kept making them for him, even as he grew up in the world outside the house.

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. Find out what all the excitement is about, and discover one of science fiction’s fastest rising stars

Genres: Short Story, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Immigrant Experience

Origami, or the Art of Breaking Hearts

Spoiler-ific review

Here’s a short review for a short story.

This is the story of the relationship between a boy and his mother, how as he grows up they gradually grow apart. However not even death can stop her from loving him.

This story was bittersweet, and excellent. LaVar and his production team did an excellent job bringing this heartwrenching tale to life. Highly recommended. It’s only 15 pages so you can read it in a handful of minutes, or you can download the LaVar Burton Podcast of it and listen to it in less than an hour.

Stay Sunny!