Category: 2019 Books
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βRealism and Memory in Chinese Film: CecΓlia Mello’s The Cinema of Jia Zhangkeβ by Tim Murphy Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon Jia Zhangke CecΓlia Mello. The Cinema…
![[ESSAY] βRealism and Memory in Chinese Film: CecΓlia Mello’s πβπ πΆπππππ ππ π½ππ πβπππππβ by Tim Murphy](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cecilia-mello.-the-cinema-of-jia-zhangke-realism-and-memory-in-chinese-film-bloomsbury-academic.jpg?w=1000)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Alex John Catanese, Buddha in the Marketplace: The Commodification of Buddhist Objects in Tibet, University of Virginia Press, 2019. 334 pgs. The phenomenon of religious commodification across diverse…
![[REVIEW] “Commodifying the Sacred: Alex John Catanese’s π΅π’ππβπ ππ π‘βπ ππππππ‘πππππ” by Palden GyalΒ](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/buddha-copy.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Chen Qiufan (author), Ken Liu (translator), Waste Tide, Tor Books, 2019. 352 pgs. They call us “the waste people.” Waste is dirty, inferior, lowly, useless, but omnipresent. They produce…
![[REVIEW] βA Harrowing Future of Waste in Chen Qiufanβs πππ π‘π ππππβ by Loritta Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/chen-qiufan-author-ken-liu-translator-waste-tide.jpg?w=798)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Hiroko Oyamada. Hiroko Oyamada (author), David Boyd (translator), The Factory, New Directions, 2019. 128 pgs. Hiroko Oyamadaβs The Factory weaves…
![[REVIEW] βA Senseless Menagerie: Hiroko Oyamadaβs πβπ πΉπππ‘πππ¦β by Tyran Grillo](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/the-factory.png?w=562)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Thomas Barker, Indonesian Cinema After the New Order: Going Mainstream, Hong Kong University Press, 2019, 244 pgs. After reviewing several books on East Asian films and pop culture, it…
![[REVIEW] “Master in Its Own House: On Thomas Barkerβs πΌππππππ πππ πΆπππππ π΄ππ‘ππ π‘βπ πππ€ πππππ” by Mario Rustan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/thomas-barker-indonesian-cinema-after-the-new-order-going-mainstream-1.jpg?w=1001)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS BuYun Chen, Empire of Style: Silk and Fashion in Tang China, University of Washington Press, 2019. 272 pgs. Although the name βSilk Roadβ is a fairly modern…
![[REVIEW] βTantalising with Questions: BuYun Chen’s πΈπππππ ππ ππ‘π¦ππβ by Stephen Maire](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/empire-of-style-silk-and-fashion-in-tang-china.jpg?w=1024)
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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Hiroko Oyamada. Hiroko Oyamada (author), David Boyd (translator), The Factory, New Directions, 2019. 128 pgs. The cover is what first…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βSome Sort of Enclosed System: Hiroko Oyamadaβs πβπ πΉπππ‘πππ¦β by Jane McBride](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/hiroko-oyamada_the-factory.jpg?w=931)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Stephen To, Eastern Approaches to Western Film: Asian Reception and Aesthetics in Cinema, Bloomsbury, 2019. 304 pgs. What does it mean to appreciate or read a Western film from…
![[REVIEW] “A Noteworthy Project: Stephen Teoβs πΈππ π‘πππ π΄ππππππβππ π‘π πππ π‘πππ πΉπππ” by Joel Gn](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/eastern-approaches-to-western-films.png?w=1024)
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TH: With great pleasure we are presenting Matt Turner’s preface to his translation of Lu Xun’s Weeds ιθ, published by Seaweed Salad Editions in 2019. The book also includes an introduction by Nick Admussen and woodblock print artwork by Monika…
![[FEATURE] Lu Xun’s πππππ : Preface](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/screenshot-2023-02-06-at-22.02.47.png?w=1024)
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After Death by Lu Xun, translated from the Chinese into English by Matt Turner I dreamt I was dead on the road. Where I was, how I arrived there, how I died, I understood none of it. In short, by…
![[FEATURE] Lu Xun’s πππππ : After Death](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/lu-xune28094monika-lin-1.png?w=1024)
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Beggars by Lu Xun, translated from the Chinese into English by Matt Turner Iβm walking alongside a high, peeling wall, stamping loose dust. Several others walk alone. A breeze comes up, and tree branches above the wall, with still-unwithered leaves,…
![[FEATURE] Lu Xun’s πππππ : Beggars](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/weeds_lu-xun.webp?w=1024)
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Trembling Decay by Lu Xun, translated from the Chinese into English by Matt Turner I dreamt I was dreaming. I didnβt know where I was, before my eyes, late night, the confining interior of a small hutβand I could also…
![[FEATURE] Lu Xun’s πππππ : Trembling Decay](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/web-page-2-1024x693-1-1.webp?w=604)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Maghiel van Crevel and Lucas Klein, eds., Chinese Poetry and Translation: Rights and Wrongs, Amsterdam University Press, 2019. 356 pgs. In a previous article about how late 20th/early 21st-century British and American…
![[REVIEW] “πΆβππππ π ππππ‘ππ¦ πππ πππππ πππ‘πππ: A Multi-Angled Overview of What Happens When Worlds Collideβ by Cyril Camus](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/chinese-poetry-and-translation-lucas-klein-.png?w=1024)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Monika Gaenssbauer and Nicholas Olczak (editors). Of Forests and Humans: Hong Kong Contemporary Short Fiction. Edition Cathay, vol. 74, Bochum, Projekt Verlag, 2019. 126 pgs. In Of Forests and Humans, Monika Gaenssbauer…
![[REVIEW] βStories Grow in Hong Kong: A Review of ππ πΉππππ π‘π πππ π»π’ππππ β by Astrid MΓΈller-Olsen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/of-forests-and-humans-1.jpg?w=519)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} β Fiona Sze-Lorrain, Rain in Plural, Princeton University Press, 2020. 120 pgs.β Yin Lichuan (author), Fiona Sze-Lorrain (translator), Karma, Tolsun Books, 2020. 222 pgs.β Ye Lijun (author), Fiona Sze-Lorrain (translator), My Mountain…
![[REVIEW] “Fiona Sze-Lorrain: Poetry and Translations” by Elizabeth Chung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/fiona-sze-lorrain-7.png?w=1024)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Yeng Pway Ngon (author), Natascha Bruce (translator), Lonely Face, Balestier Press, 2019. 152 pgs. Yeng Pway Ngonβs novella Lonely Face, translated into English by Natascha Bruce, relates an unnamed middle-aged manβs reflections on his…
![[REVIEW] βExistential Capsules and Cusps in Yeng Pway Ngonβs πΏπππππ¦ πΉπππβ by Frances An](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/lonely_face-1-1.jpeg?w=902)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Peng Hsiao-yen (editor), The Assassin: Hou Hsiao-hsienβs World of Tang China, Hong Kong University Press, 2019. 252 ppgs. Published in 2019 by the Hong Kong University Press, The Assassin: Hou…
![[REVIEW] “A Historically Cosmopolitan, Mixed Culture: π»ππ’ π»π πππ-π»π πππβπ πππππ ππ ππππ πΆβπππβ by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/the-assassin.jpeg?w=1024)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} β Ho Chee Lick and Anne Lee Tzu Pheng, Common Life: Drawings and Poems, Ethos Books, 2018. 191 pgs.β Elaine Woo, Put Your Hand in Mine, Signature Editions, 2019. 91 pgs. Each time I…
![[REVIEW] “In Search of the Extraordinary in the Ordinary: A Review of Ho Chee Lick and Anne Lee Tzu Pheng’s πΆπππππ πΏπππ and Elaine Woo’s ππ’π‘ πππ’π π»πππ ππ ππππ” by Stephanie Studzinski](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/common-life_put-your-hand-in-mine-1.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Xuan Juliana Wang, Home Remedies, Penguin Random House, 2019. 240 pgs. Watching Olympic diving is agonisingly tense, even as I sit at my laptop in London to watch, 9,500km…
![[REVIEW] “Building Their Own Universes: A Review of Xuan Juliana Wang’s π»πππ π
πππππππ ” by Suyin Haynes](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/home-remedies_xuan-juliana-wang-copy.jpg?w=1024)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Tsering DΓΆndrup (author), Christopher Peacock (translator), The Handsome Monk and Other Stories, Columbia University Press, 2019. 216 pgs. Tsering DΓΆndrupβs The Handsome Monk and Other Stories shows that literatures from less visible…
![[REVIEW] “Noir Fables of Tibet: Tsering DΓΆndrupβs πβπ π»ππππ πππ ππππ πππ ππ‘βππ ππ‘πππππ ” by Michael Tsang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/the-handsome-monk-and-other-stories_asian-cha.png?w=1024)
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{Written by Tim Murphy, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βCanonical Stories, Replacement Texts: A Review of The Japanese Discovery of Chinese…
![[REVIEW] βCanonical Stories, Replacement Texts: A Review of πβπ π½ππππππ π π·ππ πππ£πππ¦ ππ πΆβππππ π πΉπππ‘πππβ by Tim Murphy](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/william-c.-hedberg-the-japanese-discovery-of-chinese-fiction.jpeg?w=870)
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{Written by Susan Blumberg-Kason, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} YΕ« Miri (author) and Morgan Giles (translator), Tokyo Ueno Station, Tilted Axis Press, 2019 (first published in 2014). 197 pgs. Kazu Mori is…
![[REVIEW] “Critical Social Commentary of Modern Japan: A Review of YΕ« Miri’s ππππ¦π ππππ ππ‘ππ‘πππ” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/tokyouenostation-2.jpg?w=762)
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{Written by Elaine Chiew, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Chia Joo Ming (Author), Sim Wai Chew (Translator), Exile or Pursuit, Balestier Press, 2019. 306 pgs. Exile or Pursuit employs the genre…
![[REVIEW] βBildungsroman of a Singaporean Ordinary Joe: A Review of Chia Joo Mingβs πΈπ₯πππ ππ ππ’ππ π’ππ‘” by Elaine Chiew](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/exile-or-pursuit.jpg?w=1024)
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{Written byΒ Marc de Faoite, this review is part of Issue 46 ofΒ Cha.}Β {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay (author) and Arunava Sinha (translator), The Yogini, Tilted Axis Press, 2019. 208 pgs. The Yogini is Sangeeta Bandyopadhyayβs third…
![[REVIEW] “Parallel and Intertwining Interpretations: Reviewing Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay’s πβπ ππππππ” by Marc de Faoite](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/the-yogini.png?w=1024)
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{Written by Ang Kia Yee, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Che Qianzi (author), Yunte Huang (translator), No Poetry: Selected Poems of Che Qianzi, Polymorph Editions, 2019. 177 pgs. The poems in No…
![[REVIEW] “Loving Anarchy: A Review of No Poetry” by Ang Kia Yee](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/no-poetry.jpg?w=707)
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