Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu

32 reviews

meatballhead02's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Ken Liu's short stories in The Paper Menagerie are a blend of science fiction and fantasy that also weave in elements from Chinese mythology. 
In the short stories in this collection, Liu often tells stories of Asians divided with westerners along the lines of race and ethnic customs in a way that is all too reminiscent of interactions I've also had in my life. 
 

In the short stories in this collection, Liu often tells stories of Asians divided with westerners along the lines of race and ethnic customs in a way that is all too reminiscent of interactions I've also had in my life. 

 

Liu’s prose is simple and easy to read. His stories very perfectly capture the discomfort and pain of racism and prejudice towards cultures branded as “the other”. Many stories in here also feature war as a backdrop, and along with that, gruesome depictions of violence and torture. In terms of theme and writing style, his works very much reminded me of Ted Chiang (another SF writer I adore). 

I'll definitely be reading Liu's future works. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture and Violence

k_aro's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

A really, really good book that I also am kind of uncomfortable in reading. The book is, I guess inevitably, about Chinese history, tracing all kinds of past atrocities and conflicts, all of which is marred by the decay of history, the anti-Communist and Sinophobic world we currently live in, as well as complications around how we should talk about all of these things. These stories have also all been written at various points in Liu's life, which may or may not change how we can read them/where his feelings have changed.

A lot of really imaginative sci-fi concepts; I especially love the first short story, which follows in the Invisible Cities tradition of a society/universe? sketched out by its constituents, by its minor details. It's really magical and a great introduction to the series. I'm not really sure what to make of "The Regular"; it does feel a little like the conclusion is that cops should shoot people faster when they feel justified, but a lot more of the story is bound up in both the stresses that policing introduces on police as well as the biases that exist even in an "objective" world. I also felt a little weird about "Simulacrum", mostly because of my own contested feelings around fatherhood.

There were a lot of stories that I think are stereotypically "diasporic"; I also cried 3-4 times while reading this book, which has to count for something.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Child abuse, Medical content, Rape, Blood, Confinement, Death, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Racism, Xenophobia, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, Torture, Trafficking, War, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Infidelity, Gun violence, Sexual content, Colonisation, Animal death, and Kidnapping

Minor: Dementia and Addiction

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Body horror, Racism, Xenophobia, War, Gun violence, Gore, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Grief

Moderate: Genocide, Animal death, Slavery, Bullying, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Child death

Minor: Infidelity, Excrement, Sexual content, Alcohol, Cancer, and Suicide

Surveillance ("The Perfect Match"). Eye trauma/gore, violence against sex workers ("The Regular").

safiewafie's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Rape, Body horror, Child death, Racism, Sexual violence, Abortion, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Animal death, and War

Moderate: Trafficking and Suicide

pythonesque's review against another edition

The Bookmaking Habits
State Change
The Perfect Match
Good Hunting
The Literomancer
...
This is what I got myself to read.
Stories repeated themselves one tearjerker after another, carbon copied, filled up with cliches, boring me to tears. What a waste of paper and serious literature awards.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Violence

atalea's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racism, Body horror, Violence, Blood, Rape, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, and Medical content

Moderate: Alcohol and Gaslighting

Minor: Child death, Suicide, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Animal death, and War

matcha_pages's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Ken Liu is an incredible story teller, he has a way with words, wit, and feelings. He's able to build these creative worlds with developed characters and flourishes of emotion and hope in short stories.  (Which speaks strongly to his skills as an author, especially considering some popular books of 600+ pages that are mostly filler.) 
This collection covers various topics and spans different genres. There's a good mix of space, sci-fi, fantasy, magical realism, and speculative fiction. The Paper Menagerie was my favorite and struck me to the core. As a first generation kid growing up in a community where barely anyone looked like me I related to the kid so much. But now as an adult, I can see how the sons actions of self preservation impacted his mother and his future self. I had to put the book down and call my mom!
I also enjoyed Mono no Aware, Simulacrum, and Good Hunting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent and Rape

mrmorse910's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Rape, Murder, and Gore

Minor: Violence

lbribiescas's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, War, Rape, Xenophobia, and Violence

fluffballpanda's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Finally finished it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Slavery, Genocide, Rape, War, and Violence

Moderate: Xenophobia, Suicide, Torture, Genocide, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Minor: Kidnapping and Death of parent