Three books on the immigrant experience from Ken Liu, Younghill Kang and Carlos Bulosan
- Writers Ken Liu, Younghill Kang and Carlos Bulosan each tackle the immigrant narrative
- In their books, they explore themes of assimilation, breaking free, colonialism and activism
The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu, Head of Zeus
Third-culture kids will chortle at the observations of William, in “Ghost Days”, one of Ken Liu’s short stories in his latest collection. Educated in Britain, the put-upon son wants to be seen as a “proper Englishman”, and flinches when his Cantonese-speaking father insists on using his child’s Chinese name. In perpetual disagreement with his own heritage, William piles on contempt for the old ways, lamenting to himself: “It’s the first decade of the twentieth century, and everyone still acts like they live in villages.”
That tale, “Hong Kong, 1905”, is one of three in this offbeat story, which borrows its name from the English translation of gweilo (“ghosts”, or foreigners). Daring in structure, it uses an ancient Chinese coin to connect three plots, the other two set in “Connecticut, 1989” and “Nova Pacifica, 2313”.
Young and old generations and cultures clash, even in the 24th century, where, on a poisonous planet on the other size of the galaxy, a teacher tells her non-human charge: “You must know where you came from.” In an American high school 324 years earlier, Fred Ho, the first student whose mother tongue isn’t English, tries, with limited success, to blend in – the most essential skill for survival.
With its themes of assimilation and breaking free, of colonial and other yokes, the immigrant experience feels familiar, yet strange, in the hands of Lanzhou-born, US-based Liu, a master also at translating Chinese science fiction. His ideas about different worlds will transport you.
East Goes West by Younghill Kang, Penguin Classics