I’ve been pacing myself, reading a story a day of Ken Liu’s speculative short stories collection, The Paper Manegerie. It feels like a treat every time, experiencing his storytelling power with inventive magical or scientific elements, and the masterful and economic character and world building.
But oh, yesterday….yesterday, I encountered “The Literomancer,” a story set in mid 20th century Taiwan, weaving together American Intelligence work, the political tension between Communist China, KMT Taiwan government, and the sentiment of the “original province people” (benshengren/penshengjen) with the innocent, and innocuous, school girl outcast experience, uprooted from Texas to Taiwan.
How I wish I am able to UNread this story. UNremember what transpires 3/4 into the tale. The story of mild upsetting scenarios of a girl being bullied and then finding likable strangers who care for her, almost like family suddenly takes an extreme, nightmarish, and traumatizing turn when innocent people are suspected to be spies.
I had to quickly skimmed past the graphically described torture scenes and speed-read to the concluding paragraphs of the story, finding the whole experience nauseating and chilling. I was ANGRY! How poorly the story is contracted, pivoting without warning and throwing such brutality at my unsuspecting eyes. And I thought Liu knows how to pace and plot.
Then…I realized, that would have been exactly how the characters feel – brutally torn from the idyllic and caring circumstances to face the sudden and extreme tortures. That’s what is so scary when the guilt-less are smooshed senselessly and bloodily under the cruel tracks of the metaphorical tank operated by those who believe that it’s better to sacrifice a thousand innocents as long as they don’t miss the possibilities of eliminating one real enemy.
I know you are brilliant…Ken Liu, but now I don’t even know if I dare keep reading the other stories in the collection. (I will, because the book is SO good but now I read with caution and a nagging fear.)
Artwork by Dave McKean, Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Chris Bachalo, Michael Zulli, Kelley Jones, Charles Vess, Colleen Doran, and more.
by Neil Gaiman
by David Sedaris, read by the author
by Vivian Vande Velde
I definitely liked the character very much and enjoyed a few stories tremendously: especially the first story when she was 7 and the story about her first romance. However, it does not quite feel that all the stories are connected, and I can’t quite figure out how each of them builds on the previous version of Dolores. I think that is the intention — to show how she becomes the Dolores of the next stage. But, it might be just me as a reader who failed to see the connection between one set of characteristics to the next. It also seems very unrealistic, fairy-tale like almost — although I do know young women who remain true to their inner-selves and are accepted and even admired for their fierce loyalty to their own hearts. So, maybe it is not quite a fairy-tale!
Whether the writing is too bland or the reader too inappropriately dramatic, I couldn’t tell. But, this very famous and popular title of the last couple of years only delivered information… long passages of it devoted to documenting the people involved in the fast food industry… without satisfying my literary “appetite.” It also has a pretty strong and unhidden agenda that feels a bit heavy handed. I am still happy that I read/listened to it and that I was “informed.” Beyond that, there is not much more to say about it.
Another audio book that is absolutely fantastic to listen to. Read by the author/public speaker with his signature nasal voice that is both sarcastic and completely sincere — incredibly cynical and yet touchingly innocent. The short autobiographical episodes are entertaining, enlightening, and memorable. Absolutely loved it!
