Category: 2022 Books
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[ESSAY] “There Is Never Anything So Difficult That It Cannot Be Resolved: Translating the Ma Yongzhen and Ma Suzhen Novels of Qi Fanniu and Zhu Dagong” by Paul Bevan 🌻Paul Bevan (translator). Murder in the Maloo: A Tale of Old…
![[ESSAY] “There Is Never Anything So Difficult That It Cannot Be Resolved: Translating the Ma Yongzhen and Ma Suzhen Novels of Qi Fanniu and Zhu Dagong” by Paul Bevan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/murder-in-the-maloo-a-tale-of-old-shanghai.png?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Fathers Aren’t Mountains: A Closer Look at Buddhisagar’s Karnali Blues” by Abhinav Tulachan Buddhisagar (author), Michael Hutt (translator). Karnali Blues, Penguin Random House, 2022. 422 pgs. What role does a…
![[REVIEW] “Fathers Aren’t Mountains: A Closer Look at Buddhisagar’s 𝐾𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖 𝐵𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠” by Abhinav Tulachan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/buddhisagar-author-michael-hutt-translator.-karnali-blues-.png?w=970)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Between Moonlight and Market Prices: Reading Yam Gong” by Jonathan Han Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon Moving a Stone. Yam Gong (author), James Shea and Dorothy Tse (translators), Moving a…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Between Moonlight and Market Prices: Reading Yam Gong” by Jonathan Han](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/moving-a-stone.webp?w=900)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “When Goodbyes Are Not Permanent: Kit Fan’s Goodbye Chinatown” by Susan Blumberg-Kason Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon Goodbye Chinatown. Kit Fan, Goodbye Chinatown, World Editions, 2026. 268…
![[REVIEW] “When Goodbyes Are Not Permanent: Kit Fan 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑏𝑦𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑛 by” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/goodbye-chinatown-kit-fan-cha.jpg?w=938)
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[ESSAY] “Maggie Cheung and the Refusal of Cinematic Immortality” by Anna Nguyen I have many confessions. I am exhausted by the discourse surrounding Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love (2000). I am exhausted by fandoms that fixate on aesthetic…
![[ESSAY] “Maggie Cheung and the Refusal of Cinematic Immortality” by Anna Nguyen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/irma-vep-1996-maggie-cheung.jpg?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Alternative Local and Translocal Hong Kong Histories in Larissa Lai’s The Lost Century” by Yiwen Liu Larissa Lai, The Lost Century: A Novel, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2022. 374 pgs. Published…
![[REVIEW] “Alternative Local and Translocal Hong Kong Histories in Larissa Lai’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝐶𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑦” by Yiwen Liu](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/larissa-lai-the-lost-century.png?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Fiction as Control: Yiyun Li’s Exacting The Book of Goose” by Zalman S. Davis Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Yiyun Li. Yiyun Li, The Book of Goose, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022.…
![[REVIEW] “Fiction as Control: Yiyun Li’s Exacting 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑒” by Zalman S. Davis](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/yiyun-li-the-book-of-goose-farrar-straus-and-giroux.jpg?w=978)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Rajan Kurai Krishnan, Ravindran Sriramachandran, and V.M.S Subagunarajan, Rule of the Commoner: DMK and the Formations of the Political in Tamil Nadu, 1949–1967, Cambridge University Press, 2022. 280 pgs.…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Politics of the Plebs—𝑅𝑢𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑟: 𝐷𝑀𝐾 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑇𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙 𝑁𝑎𝑑𝑢” by Kathiravan Annamalai](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/rule-of-the-commoner.jpg?w=419)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Aftershock—When the Report Becomes the Story: Journalism as the Literature of Crisis” by Andrew Barker Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Aftershock. Holmes Chan (editor), Aftershock: Essays from Hong Kong, Small Tune Press,…
![[REVIEW] “𝐴𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑐𝑘—When the Report Becomes the Story: Journalism as the Literature of Crisis” by Andrew Barker](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/aftershock_holmes-chan.jpeg?w=500)
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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 Life Ceremony. Sayaka Murata (author), Ginny Tapley Takemori (translator), Life Ceremony, Granta Books, 2022. 266 pgs. Whenever I encounter the name Sayaka Murata,…
![[REVIEW] “Tender Aberrations: Reading Sayaka Murata’s 𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝐶𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑦” by Tyran Grillo](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/sayaka-murata-author-ginny-tapley-takemori-translator.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Also read “Feature: Lu Xun” in Cha. Lu Xun (author), Eileen J. Cheng (translator), Theodore Huters (editor), Wild Grass & Morning Blossoms Gathered at Dusk, Harvard University Press,…
![[REVIEW] “One of the Greatest Writers, Full Stop: Lu Xun’s 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑠 & 𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐵𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑠 𝐺𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝐷𝑢𝑠𝑘” by Robert Postings](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/wild-grass-and-morning-blossoms-gathered-at-dusk-harvard-university-press-2022.-272-pgs.jpg?w=955)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Stephanie Foo, What My Bones Know, Ballantine Books, 2022. 352 pgs. Addressing trauma is never an easy undertaking—especially when it is the survivor herself who must confront it. Stephanie…
![[REVIEW] “The Invisible Pain of Abuse and its Diagnosis: Stephanie Foo’s 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑀𝑦 𝐵𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝐾𝑛𝑜𝑤” by Fathima M](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/stephanie-foo-what-my-bones-know-1.jpg?w=987)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Weike Wang, Joan Is Okay, Penguin Random House, 2022. 224 pgs. Joan is Okay, the sophomore novel by Weike Wang, opens with the line: “When I think about…
![[REVIEW] “The Telos of Toil: Reading Weike Wang’s 𝐽𝑜𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑂𝑘𝑎𝑦 Through Labour and Identity” by Tiffany Troy](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/weike-wang-joan-is-okay.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Nicholas de Villiers, Cruisy, Sleepy, Melancholy: Sexual Disorientation in the Films of Tsai Ming-liang, The University of Minnesota Press, 2022. 216 pgs. As one of the most celebrated Chinese-language…
![[REVIEW] “Feeling Queer—Nicholas de Villiers’s 𝐶𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑠𝑦, 𝑆𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑦, 𝑀𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑦: 𝑆𝑒𝑥𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑖𝑙𝑚𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑠𝑎𝑖 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑔-𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑔” by Haley Agcaoili B.](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/cruisy-sleepy-melancholy-sexual-disorientation-in-the-films-of-tsai-ming-liang.jpg?w=971)
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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 Idol, Burning. Rin Usami (author), Asa Yoneda (translator), Idol, Burning, Canongate, 2022. 96 pgs. Rin Usami’s Idol, Burning (『推し、燃ゆ』, 2020) offers an incisive exploration of…
![[REVIEW] “Belief, Devotion, and Estrangement in Rin Usami’s 𝐼𝑑𝑜𝑙, 𝐵𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔” by James Au Kin-Pong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/idol-burning-canongate.jpg?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 Idol, Burning. Rin Usami (author), Asa Yoneda (translator), Idol, Burning, HarperVia, 2022.144 pgs. Japan, for me, has long been a pop music paradise. On my…
![[REVIEW] “When a Passion Turns Toxic: Rin Usami’s 𝐼𝑑𝑜𝑙, 𝐵𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔” by Wendy Tokunaga](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/rin-usami-author-asa-yoneda-translator-idol-burning.jpg?w=946)
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📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Sawako Nakayasu, Pink Waves, Omnidawn, 2022. 90 pgs. When I received Sawako Nakayasu’s Pink Waves, I was drawn to its cover. Green, black, and blue arranged in shapes suggest…
![[REVIEW] “She Was Elegylight: Sawako Nakayasu’s 𝑃𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑊𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑠” by Tim Tim Cheng](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/pink-waves.png?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Dress Up for Indonesia: Benjamin Hegarty’s The Made-Up State” by Mario Rustan Benjamin Hegarty, The Made-Up State: Technology, Trans Femininity, and Citizenship in Indonesia, Cornell University Press, 2022. 198 pgs.…
![[REVIEW] “Dress Up for Indonesia: Benjamin Hegarty’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑑𝑒-𝑈𝑝 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒” by Mario Rustan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/finalreadingsbooklaunch20april2023_poster.jpg?w=816)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Emi Yagi (author), David Boyd and Lucy North (translators), Diary of a Void, Viking, 2022. 213 pgs. Shibata works for a cardboard tube company on the fourth floor of an overheated office.…
![[REVIEW] “Reimagining the Void: Emi Yagi’s 𝐷𝑖𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑉𝑜𝑖𝑑” by Lucy Hamilton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/review-reimagining-the-void-emi-yagis-diary-of-a-void22-by-lucy-hamilton.jpg?w=925)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Finding Hope in Despair: Shuang Xuetao’s Rouge Street” by Kammy Lee Shuang Xuetao (author), Jeremy Tiang (translator), Rouge Street: Three Novellas, Metropolitan Books, 2022. 216 pgs. Over the past few…
![[REVIEW] “Finding Hope in Despair: Shuang Xuetao’s 𝑅𝑜𝑢𝑔𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡” by Kammy Lee](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/rouge-street-three-novellas.jpg?w=971)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Critic’s Notebook: On Dennis Lim’s Tale of Cinema” by Nirris Nagendrarajah Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Hong Sang-soo. Dennis Lim, Tale of Cinema, Fireflies Press, 2022. 216 pgs. In February,…
![[REVIEW] “The Critic’s Notebook: On Dennis Lim’s 𝑇𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐶𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑚𝑎” by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/dennis-lim-tale-of-cinema-copy.jpeg?w=500)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Keeping You Captivated: Kyung-sook Shin’s Violets” by Dorina Tataran Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Violets. Kyung-sook Shin (author), Anton Hur (translator), Violets, The Feminist Press, 2022. 218 pgs. I fell in…
![[REVIEW] “Keeping You Captivated: Kyung-sook Shin’s 𝑉𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑠” by Dorina Tataran](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/violets.jpg?w=932)
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📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS 📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Thuận (author), Nguyễn An Lý (translator), Chinatown, New Directions, 2022. 160 pgs. A train in the Paris Metro is brought to a halt by a potential bomb threat. Her commute disrupted, the unnamed narrator of Chinatown begins…
![[REVIEW] “On the Primal and Final Mystery: Her Mind Unravels in Thuận’s 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑛” by Kammy Lee](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/chinatown.jpg?w=800)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Rather Demolish Ten Temples Than Destroy One Marriage: Tiantian Zheng’s Violent Intimacy” by Laurence Westwood Tiantian Zheng, Violent Intimacy: Family Harmony, State Stability, and Intimate Partner Violence in Post-Socialist China,…
![[ESSAY] “Rather Demolish Ten Temples Than Destroy One Marriage: Tiantian Zheng’s 𝑉𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑐𝑦” by Laurence Westwood](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/violent-intimacy-family-harmony-state-stability-and-intimate-partner-violence-in-post-socialist-china.jpg?w=1000)
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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 Life Ceremony. Sayaka Murata (author), Ginny Tapley Takemori (translator), Life Ceremony, Granta Books, 2022. 266 pgs. Dubbed “Crazy Sayaka” (クレイジー沙耶香) by her readers,…
![[REVIEW] “Feasting on Futuristic Melancholia: Sayaka Murata’s Life 𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝐶𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑦” by Zifei Wang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/life-ceremony-sayaka-murata.jpg?w=977)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS John Saeki, The Last Tigers of Hong Kong: True Stories of Big Cats that Stalked Britain’s Chinese Colony (with pen-and-ink illustrations by Gary Yeung), Blacksmith Books, 2022.…
![[REVIEW] “The Forgotten Hunters: John Saeki’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑇𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑜𝑛𝑔” by Radha Shah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/the-last-tigers-of-hong-kong-true-stories-of-big-cats-that-stalked-britains-chinese-colony.jpg?w=968)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Sati Mookherjee, Eye, Ravenna Press, 2022. 67 pgs. Sati Mookherjee’s lyrical Eye is a moving testament to her grandfather, Sri Anil Hari Chatterjee, who was exiled from…
![[REVIEW] “Under Mother Durga’s Watchful Eyes: Sati Mookherjee’s 𝐸𝑦𝑒” by Al Lim](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/sati-mookherjee_eye.jpg?w=986)
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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 The Flowers of Lhasa. Tsering Yangkyi (author), Christopher Peacock (translator), The Flowers of Lhasa, Balestier Press, 2022. 205 pgs. The city of Lhasa in Tibet is…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Four Women Migrant Workers: TSERING YANGKYI’S 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐿ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑎” by David W. Landrum](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/flowers-of-lhasa_tsering-yangkyi.jpg?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Losers of China’s Sexual Revolution: Tsering Yangkyi’s The Flowers of Lhasa” by Kevin McGeary Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on The Flowers of Lhasa. Tsering Yangkyi (author), Christopher Peacock (translator), The…
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “On Behalf of Those Who Weren’t Able to Survive: Kyung-Sook Shin’s Violets” by Beth Adams Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Violets. Kyung-Sook Shin (author), Anton Hur (translator), Violets, The Feminist Press,…
![[REVIEW] “On Behalf of Those Who Weren’t Able to Survive: Kyung-Sook Shin’s 𝑉𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑠” by Beth Adams](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/violets_anton-hur.jpg?w=1024)
Cha 