Category: 2023 Books
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yiu-Wai Chu, Hong Kong Pop Culture in the 1980s: A Decade of Splendour, Asian Visual Cultures series, Amsterdam University Press, 2023. 305 pgs. While my previous two…
![[REVIEW] “Esprit of the City: Yiu-Wai Chu’s 𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑃𝑜𝑝 𝐶𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 1980𝑠” by Mario Rustan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/hong-kong-pop-culture-in-the-1980s.jpg?w=930)
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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 A Cha Chaan Teng That Does Not Exist. Derek Chung (author), May Huang (translator), A Cha Chaan Teng That Does Not Exist, Zephyr…
![[REVIEW] “A Bilingual Local Tasting Menu: Derek Chung’s 𝐴 𝐶ℎ𝑎 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑎𝑛 𝑇𝑒𝑛𝑔 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐷𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝐸𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡” by William Lau](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/a-cha-chaan-teng-that-does-not-exist.jpg?w=1024)
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📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS 📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kim Hyesoon (author), Don Mee Choi (translator), Phantom Pain Wings, New Directions, 2023. 208 pgs. Reading Kim Hyesoon’s Phantom Pain Wings is an uncanny experience of growing wings and…
![[REVIEW] “The Birth of Deathly Birds: Kim Hyesoon’s 𝑃ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑜𝑚 𝑃𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠” by Kammy Lee](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/phantom-pain-wings.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, 2023. 272 pgs. Sayaka Murata’s Life Ceremony is a disturbing…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “When The Translations Hit, They Really Hit: Sayaka Murata’s 𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝐶𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑦” by Grace Najmulski](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/life-ceremony_cha.jpg?w=933)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILM Wang Anyi (author), Todd Foley (translator), I Love Bill and Other Stories, Foreword by Xudong Zhang, Cornell University Press, 2023. 260 pgs. Since reading the original in 2001, I…
![[REVIEW] “China’s Most Important Woman Writer of The Last Half-century: A Review of Wang Anyi’s 𝐼 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝐵𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑂𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠” by Sabina Knight](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/copy-of-copy-of-copy-of-chris-song.png?w=940)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Banality That Starts It All: Dorothy Tse’s Owlish” by Luca Griseri Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Owlish. Dorothy Tse (author), Natascha Bruce (translator), Owlish, Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2023. 224 pgs. Many reviewers…
![[REVIEW] “The Banality That Starts It All: Dorothy Tse’s 𝑂𝑤𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ” by Luca Griseri](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/dorothy-tse-cha-an-asian-literary-journal.jpg?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “History As Written by the Successful Underdogs: Jing Tsu’s Kingdom of Characters” by Kevin McGeary Jing Tsu, Kingdom of Characters, Riverhead Books, 2023. 336 pgs. The earliest known empire…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “History As Written by the Successful Underdogs: Jing Tsu’s 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠” by Kevin McGeary](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/jing-tsu-kingdom-of-characters.jpg?w=994)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “No Better Place to Start: Fuchsia Dunlop’s Invitation to a Banquet” by Kyle Muntz Fuchsia Dunlop, Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food, Particular Books, 2023, 480 pgs. China…
![[REVIEW] “No Better Place to Start: Fuchsia Dunlop’s 𝐼𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑡” by Kyle Muntz](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/invitation-to-a-banquet-chinese-food.jpg?w=961)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Leta Hong Fincher, Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China (10th Anniversary Edition), Bloomsbury, 2023. 280 pgs. In Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China Leta Hong…
![[REVIEW] “A Great Cry for Help: Leta Hong Fincher’s 𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑡𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛” by Marika Trimigno](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/leta-hong-fincher-leftover-women-the-resurgence-of-gender-inequality-in-china-1.jpg?w=568)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Bae Myung-hoon (author), Stella Kim (translator), Launch Something!, Honford Star, 2023. 368 pgs. Telling us he was inspired by the “ridiculous heatwave in the summer of 2018”, Bae Myung-hoon…
![[REVIEW] “A Novel of Space-time: Bae Myung-hoon’s 𝐿𝑎𝑢𝑛𝑐ℎ 𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔!” by Lucy Hamilton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/launch-something.jpg?w=977)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Liang Wern Fook (author), Christina Ng (translator), The Joy of a Left Hand, Balestier Press, 2023. 144 pgs. When my youngest child was about two years old, I noticed…
![[REVIEW] “Humans in All States of Emotion: Liang Wern Fook’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐽𝑜𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝐻𝑎𝑛𝑑” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/the-joy-of-a-left-hand.jpg?w=880)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ricky Lee (author), Noelle Q. De Jesus (translator), For B (or How Love Devastates Four out of Every Five of Us), Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2023. 230 pgs.…
![[REVIEW] “Processing Love in Ricky Lee’s Novel 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝐵” by Frances An](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/for-b-or-how-love-devastates-four-out-of-every-five-of-us.png?w=987)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Paul Lynch, Prophet Song, Oneworld Books, 2023. 320 pgs. Although I was reading about a fictitious Ireland, as I began Prophet Song, Paul Lynch’s Booker Prize-winning novel, I felt…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “To Flee or Not to Flee: Paul Lynch’s 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑡 𝑆𝑜𝑛𝑔” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/prophet-song.jpg?w=978)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Shibani Mahtani and Timothy McLaughlin, Among the Braves: Hope, Struggle, and Exile in the Battle for hong Kong and the Future of Global Democracy, Hachette Books, 2023. 336 pgs.…
![[REVIEW] “The Story Isn’t Over Yet: Shibani Mahtani and Timothy McLaughlin’s 𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑠” by James M Zimmerman](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/shibani-mahtani-and-timothy-mclaughlin.png?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Writing from the Margins: Mahasweta Devi’s Truth/Untruth” by Jack Greenberg Mahasweta Devi (author), Anjum Katyal (translator), Truth/Untruth, Seagull Books, 2023. 144 pgs. Earlier this year, Seagull Books published the late…
![[REVIEW] “Writing from the Margins: Mahasweta Devi’s 𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ/𝑈𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ” by Jack Greenberg](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/truthuntruth-copy.jpeg?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 Bright Fear. Mary Jean Chan, Bright Fear, Faber & Faber, 2023. 72 pgs. I first encountered Mary Jean Chan’s work in the bookstore I used to…
![[REVIEW] “Vibrant Being in Mary Jean Chan’s 𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝐹𝑒𝑎𝑟” by Kika W. L. Van Robay](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/bright-fear-mary-jean-chan.png?w=891)
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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 Owlish. Dorothy Tse (author), Natascha Bruce (translator), Owlish, Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2023. 224 pgs. Dorothy Tse’s Owlish, translated from the Chinese by Natascha Bruce, is a novel…
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Mimi Okabe, Manga, Murder, and Mystery: The Boy Detectives of Japan’s Lost Generation, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023. 216 pgs. Has any national psyche (if such a thing even exists) ever…
![[REVIEW] “Walking on Thin Ice—Mimi Okabe’s 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑎, 𝑀𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑀𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑦: 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑜𝑦 𝐷𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐽𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑛’𝑠 𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛” by Liam Beale](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/screenshot-2023-11-29-at-13.52.52.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Susan Blumberg-Kason, Bernardine’s Shanghai Salon: The Story of The Doyenne of Old China, Post Hill Press, 2023. 275 pgs. “Acknowledgements are also due to… Bernardine Szold Fritz… who, sometimes…
![[REVIEW] “The Extraordinary Story of Bernardine Szold Fritz—A Review of Susan Blumberg-Kason’s 𝐵𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑒’𝑠 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔ℎ𝑎𝑖 𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛: 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑂𝑙𝑑 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎” by X. H. Collins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/the-extraordinary-story-of-bernardine-szold-fritze28094a-review-of-susan-blumberg-kasons-bernardines-shanghai-salon-the-story-of-the-doyenne-of-old-china.jpg?w=768)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Bittersweet Love for a Tempestuous City: Chan Kwan Ee Tom’s Listen” by Akin Jeje Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Listen. Chan Kwan Ee Tom, Listen, Atmosphere Press, 2023. Inspired…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Bittersweet Love for a Tempestuous City: Chan Kwan Ee Tom’s 𝐿𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛” by Akin Jeje](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/listen_chan-kwan-ee-tom.jpg?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Absence that Haunts the City—A Review of Making Space: A Collection of Writing and Art” by Luca Griseri Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon Making Space. Nicolette Wong (editor), Making Space: A…
![[REVIEW] “The Absence that Haunts the City—A Review of𝑀𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒: 𝐴 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑊𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐴𝑟𝑡” by Luca Griseri](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/making-space_cha.png?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “To Write Properly: Hwang Bo-reum’s Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop” by Jack Greenberg Hwang Bo-reum (author), Shanna Tan (translator), Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023. 320 pgs. Welcome…
![[REVIEW] “To Write Properly: Hwang Bo-reum’s 𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑦𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑚-𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑝” by Jack Greenberg](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/hwang-bo-reum-author-shanna-tan-translator-welcome-to-the-hyunam-dong-bookshop.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Hangping Xu and Yunte Huang (special issue editors), Translatability and Transmediality: Chinese Poetry in/and the World, V20: N1 of Prism: Theory and Modern Chinese Literature. Duke University Press, March 2023. 252…
![[REVIEW] “Worlds of Translation, Translated Worlds: 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑚 Special Issue 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦” by Astrid Møller-Olsen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/prisme28094march-2023.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 Where Else. Jennifer Wong, Jason Eng Hun Lee, and Tim Tim Cheng (editors), Where Else: An International Hong Kong Poetry Anthology, Verve Poetry Press, 2023. 219…
![[REVIEW] “Neighbourhood at Heart—𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐸𝑙𝑠𝑒: 𝐴𝑛 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑃𝑜𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝐴𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦” by Flora Mak](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/where-else_an-international-anthology-of-hong-kong-writing.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kit Fan, The Ink Cloud Reader, Carcanet, 2023. 96 pgs. In his third poetry collection The Ink Cloud Reader, the UK-based Hong Kong poet Kit Fan invites readers to join…
![[REVIEW] “The Muffling Liminality of One’s Midlife Condition: Kit Fan’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑛𝑘 𝐶𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑑 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟” by Flora Mak](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/the-ink-cloud-reader-1.jpg?w=959)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS R.F. Kuang, Yellowface, William Morrow, 2023. 336 pgs. The title of the novel and its bright yellow cover suggests that the subject matter might having something to do with…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Can An Author Write About Anything? Reading R.F. Kuang’s 𝑌𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/yellowface_wide-a73252995366ad95b7c30c94329e78559d919765-s1400-c100.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Basil Pao (photographer), Carnival of Dreams, with an introduction by Pico Iyer, Hong Kong University Press, 2023. 208 pgs. Huge cubes float in the air, painted with different images on…
![[REVIEW] “Digital X-Acto: Basil Pao’s photography book 𝐶𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝐷𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑠” by Junnan Chen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/carnival-of-dreams_basil-pao-1.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 Bright Fear. Mary Jean Chan, Bright Fear, Faber & Faber, 2023. 72 pgs. Mary Jean Chan was born and raised in Hong Kong. They now…
![[REVIEW] “The Thing Itself, Not the Myth: Mary Jean Chan’s 𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝐹𝑒𝑎𝑟” by Lydia Kwa](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/bright-fear-cha-an-asian-literary-journal.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 Where Else. Jennifer Wong, Jason Eng Hun Lee, and Tim Tim Cheng (editors), Where Else: An International Hong Kong Poetry Anthology, Verve Poetry Press, 2023.…
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Click HERE to read Frances An’s Review of Eternal Summer of Homeland. Writing—like learning a new language, like moving across continents—is an adventure fraught with vulnerability. I began to write my first fiction collection, Eternal Summer of My Homeland, shortly…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “On Writing, Language, and the Longing for Home” BY Agnes Chew](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/agnes-chew-1.jpg?w=1024)
Cha 