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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 Yiyun Li. Yiyun Li, Must I Go, Penguin Random House, 2020. 368 pgs. Lately, I find fewer and fewer books that surprise me—novels capable of…
![[REVIEW] “A Meditation on Memory and Loss: Yiyun Li’s 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝐼 𝐺𝑜” by Dorina Tataran](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/must-i-go-cha-an-asian-literary-journal.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Fang Li (director), The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru, 2023. 123 min. The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru is a documentary film recounting the torpedoing of the Japanese cargo…
![[REVIEW] “Crying in the Cinema, Chinese Style: Fang Li’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑖𝑠𝑏𝑜𝑛 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑢” by Edward Allen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/fang-li-director-the-sinking-of-the-lisbon-maru.webp?w=680)
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There is a scene in the television show Friends where the six main characters—the titular friends—discuss “Chinese food.” Chandler jokingly remarks, “Yes, but in China, they just call it food.” It was a humorous moment, and it made perfect sense.…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “The Beginning of My Education in The Finer Points of Chinese Cuisine” by Jeff Beyl](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/fremont-film-still.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Katarina Zhu (director), Bunnylovr, 2025. 86 min. A webcam turns on: a white fishnet stocking appears up close, resembling a fence—one that invites the possibility of being climbed, crossed,…
![[REVIEW] “The Good Girl: On Katarina Zhu’s 𝐵𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑦𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑟” by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/bunnylovr.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Rohan Parashuram Kanawade (director), Sabar Bonda, 2025. 112 min. A death has already occurred—one that, over the ten days in which Sabar Bonda unfolds, will be mourned by a…
![[REVIEW] “An Unmarried Man: On Rohan Parashuram Kanawade’s 𝑆𝑎𝑏𝑎𝑟 𝐵𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑎” by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/sabar-bonda.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Shze-Hui Tjoa, The Story Game: A Memoir by Shze-Hui Tjoa, Tin House Books, 2024. 208 pgs. It was exam season, except this time I was in university. This class…
![[REVIEW] “Excavation and Memory in Shze-Hui Tjoa’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝐺𝑎𝑚𝑒: 𝐴 𝑀𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑖𝑟” by Nur Hadziqah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/shze-hui-tjoa-the-story-game-a-memoir-by-shze-hui-tjoa.jpg?w=971)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Fugitive: Bei Dao’s Sidetracks” by Jeff Tompkins Bei Dao (author), Jeffrey Yang (translator), Sidetracks, New Directions, 2024. 176 pgs. The “sidetracks” of Bei Dao’s title can first be understood…
![[REVIEW] “The Fugitive: Bei Dao’s 𝑆𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑠” by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/sidetracks-bei-dao_cha.jpg?w=611)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS 📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kōki Mitani (director), Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald, 1997. 103 min. Kōki Mitani has a particular knack for satirising the Japanese inclination to avoid confrontation. As the screenwriter…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Japanese Comedy Cinema at Its Finest: Kōki Mitani’s 𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝐵𝑎𝑐𝑘, 𝑀𝑟. 𝑀𝑐𝐷𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑑” by Jeremiah Dutch](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/mv5bodhimtlimzmtodk0my00ogjklwjjmwytythlyta3mzllzjq1xkeyxkfqcgc40._v1_.jpg?w=853)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS 📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Karan Mujoo, This Our Paradise, Penguin Random House, 2024. 240 pgs. For some, Kashmir is a paradise of serene valleys and pristine lakes. For others, it is…
![[REVIEW] “A Fractured Paradise: Karan Mujoo’s 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑒” by Ananya Singh](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/this-our-paradise.jpeg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS 📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Susan Lieu, The Manicurist’s Daughter: A Memoir, Celadon Books, 2024. 305 pgs. The Manicurist’s Daughter: A Memoir is both a profound exploration and a courageous recovery of…
![[REVIEW] “Teetering Between Cultures: Susan Lieu’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡’𝑠 𝐷𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟” by Thu Le](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/the-manicurists-daughter.jpg?w=987)
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Header artwork by Annysa Ng 茶 First Impressionsclick for information 茶 Essays click for information 茶 Proposals click for information 茶 En Routeclick for information 茶 XI XI—Can We Sayclick for information 茶 Write to Powerclick for information 茶 Auditory…
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