The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories

“Every act of communication is a miracle of translation.”

In his preface, author Ken Liu explains how he thinks of writing. He is a translator, having brought Chinese works of authors like Cixin Liu and Xia Jia to English-speaking audiences. He points out that the entire idea of writing something down, then having it read by someone else in another place and time, seems “fragile, preposterous, science fictional” (viii). Liu echoes this sentiment in his depictions of alien bookmaking in “The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species.” 

“Everyone makes books.” 

In the first story, Liu structures the narrative like an informational essay that may be considered a bit meta, given that readers are reading a book and the tale is about bookmaking. The idea is that making books—setting down information in a way that others can reproduce and understand for later use—is a universal activity practiced across the universe in a multitude of ways. This narrative helps the reader consider the meaning of thought and the passing down of wisdom through generations, and how it is necessary for a species to grow and evolve. He uses the quote above twice, once at the beginning of the story and once at the end, to stress its importance.