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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Thuận (author), Nguyễn An Lý (translator), Elevator in Sài Gòn, New Directions, 2024. 192 pgs. Nobel laureate Patrick Modiano once wrote that “it is not the future which counts,…
![[REVIEW] “Truth, Lies, and the Mask We Choose: On Thuận’s 𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑆𝑎𝑖 𝐺𝑜𝑛” by Michael Londra](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/f09f9381-return-to-first-impressions-f09f9381-return-to-cha-review-of-books-and-films.jpg?w=881)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Eva Yip Man-lai (director), Cecilia Lau (organiser), Yat Yat Kingdom, 2025. In the world of theatre, actors often serve as vessels for the stories of others, portraying characters born…
![[REVIEW] “Between Play and Pain: 𝑌𝑎𝑡 𝑌𝑎𝑡 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑑𝑜𝑚’s Tender Confession” by Dawna Fung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/e3808ae4b880e4b880e9818ae6a882e5a0b4e3808b.jpg?w=1015)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on So That You Know. Mani Rao, So That You Know, HarperCollins India, 2025. 312 pgs. Referring to notes I made on Mani Rao’s newest poetry…
![[REVIEW] “A Prism of Time: The Shifting Passions of Mani Rao’s Poetry in 𝑆𝑜 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝐾𝑛𝑜𝑤” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/mani-rao-so-that-you-know-cha.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Mahmoud Alshaer & Mohammed Al-Zaqzooq (editors), Letters from Gaza: A Collection by the People; Unveiling Their Stories and Emotions from the Year That Has Been, Penguin Random House SEA,…
![[REVIEW] “A War, Many Cries, and a Long, Unkind Sleep: 𝐿𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐺𝑎𝑧𝑎” by Kabir Deb](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/letters-from-gaza-a-collection-by-the-people-unveiling-their-stories-and-emotions-from-the-year-that-has-been-1.jpg?w=906)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Hiro Arikawa (author), Allison Markin Powell (translator). The Passengers on the Hankyu Line, Penguin Random House, 2025. 256 pgs. It seems fitting that I began reading The Passengers on…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Train Ride of Life: Hiro Arikawa’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑦𝑢 𝐿𝑖𝑛𝑒” by Koay Xinyi](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/81pcgpwou4l._sl1500_.jpg?w=956)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Lav Diaz’s Magellan: From Counter-Time to Counter-History” by Ramzzi Fariñas Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Magellan. Lav Diaz (director), Magellan, 2025. 165 min. If the art of history is to be…
![[REVIEW] “Lav Diaz’s 𝑀𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑛: From Counter-Time to Counter-History” by Ramzzi Fariñas](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/images.jpeg?w=294)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “History as Painting: Lav Diaz’s Magellan” by Alicia Izharuddin Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Magellan. Lav Diaz (director), Magellan, 2025. 165 min. The most striking aspect of Lav Diaz’s Magellan is…
![[REVIEW] “History as Painting: Lav Diaz’s 𝑀𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑛” by Alicia Izharuddin](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/httpschajournal.blog20240915magellan.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Saharu Nusaiba Kannanari, The Menon Investigation, Penguin Random House India, 2025. 246 pgs. In the world of crime cinema, the Austrian film director and screenwriter Fritz Lang is considered…
![[REVIEW] “Silent Screams and Chaotic Truths: Saharu Nusaiba Kannanari’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑛 𝐼𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛” by Kabir Deb](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/saharu-nusaiba-kannanari-the-menon-investigation-.jpg?w=1000)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kong Shangren (author), Wai-yee Li (translator), The Peach Blossom Fan, Oxford University Press, 2024. 816 pgs. Wai-yee Li is one translator who knows how to hook a reader.…
![[REVIEW] “Things Fall Apart: Kong Shangren’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝐵𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑚 𝐹𝑎𝑛” by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/the-peach-blossom-fan.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on So That You Know. Mani Rao, So That You Know, HarperCollins India, 2025. 312 pgs. “Isn’t it better to write poems about topics? On the…
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