The Paper Menagerie
Today I read the short story The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu. It's a good read for busy times because it reminds one to take a step back and think about family, much like how The Little Prince reminds one to think about childhood. Books and movies that inspire us to think about important themes, especially those that become infrequent with age, are important. It would be interesting to build a collection of such media, so that whenever we feel like we are forgetting about family, childhood, etc. we can consume the media to be reminded of something that was once important to us.
On a tangent, I also just finished the Rememberance of Earth's Past (aka The Three Body Problem) trilogy, written by Cixin Liu. Ken Liu translated two of the three novels from the original Chinese text, which is how I found out about his own story. I have never read Chinese or Chinese-American fiction before, but I enjoyed both of these immensely and would like to read more of them. I think I also feel more connected to and pride for my Chinese heritage, because I now see modern literature as a field that Chinese writers can excel at. Even though race is probably superficial, having role models who are the same race as you can be much more motivational. The idea that sharing one thing in common (race) means it is more likely to share something else too (success) is faulty but useful.