Category: 2023 Entries
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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 Nightmare Japan. β Jinhee Choi and Mitsuyo Wada-Marciano (editors), Horror to the Extreme: Changing Boundaries in Asian Cinema, Hong Kong University Press, 2009. 284 pgs.β Jay…
![[REVIEW] βThe Golden Age of Asian Horror Film: An Examination of π»πππππ π‘π π‘βπ πΈπ₯π‘ππππ and πππβπ‘ππππ π½ππππβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/horror.png?w=1024)
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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 How Kyoto Breaks Your Heart. Florentyna Leow, How Kyoto Breaks Your Heart, The Emma Press, 2023. 152 pgs. One of my most striking encounters with loneliness…
![[REVIEW] “Loneliness is Universal: Florentyna Leow’s π»ππ€ πΎπ¦ππ‘π π΅πππππ πππ’π π»ππππ‘” by Keziah Cho](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/how-kyoto-breaks-your-heart-1.jpg?w=1024)
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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 Bloom. Xi Chuan (author), Lucas Klein (translator), Bloom & Other Poems, New Directions. 2022. 204 pgs. Back in 1973, Harold Bloom imagined a literary landscape…
![[REVIEW] “A Genuine Fake? Xi Chuan’s π΅ππππ & ππ‘βππ πππππ ” by David Harrison Horton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/bloom-other-poems_lucas-klein_xi-chuan-1.png?w=972)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Tang Wai-ki (director), Karen Chan Ka-yan and Sing Ip (translators and actors), Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, We Draman, San Po Kong, 2023. One thing about Hong Kong is…
![[REVIEW] “πΏπππππ πΏπππππ πΏπππππ πΏπππππ πΏπππππ Translated into Hongkongersβ Language: The Pain of Being Muted and a Slight Hope of Expressing Feelingβ by Dawna Fung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/tang-wai-ki-director-lemons-lemons-lemons-lemons-lemons-1.jpeg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Lucy Hamilton, The Widening of Tolo Highway: A Hong Kong Story of Paranoia and Protest, Penguin Random House SEA, 2022. 236 pgs. When, one-third into a novel, you still…
![[REVIEW] βHong Kong as Method: Lucy Hamiltonβs πβπ ππππππππ ππ ππππ π»ππβπ€ππ¦β by Michael Tsang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/the-widening-of-the-tolo-highway-1.jpg?w=426)
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Preface: Γ la recherche du temps perdu by Leo Ou-Fan Lee Translated from the Chineseby Heidi Huang A memoir, as the word itself implies, is a personal walk down oneβs memory lane βin search of the lost timeβ against oblivion.…
![[EXCLUSIVE] Preface to ππ¦ ππ€πππ‘πππ‘β πΆπππ‘π’ππ¦: π΄ ππππππ ππ πΏππ ππ’-πΉππ πΏππ](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/leo-ou-fan-lee_cha.jpg?w=1024)
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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 The Impossible City. Karen Cheung, The Impossible City: A Hong Kong Memoir, Penguin Random House, 2022. 352 pgs. Karen Cheungβs memoir, The Impossible City, opens by…
![[REVIEW] βThe Possible Map of πβπ πΌππππ π ππππ πΆππ‘π¦: A Review of Karen Cheung’s Hong Kong Memoirβ by Michelle Suen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/the-impossible-city_karen-cheung-1.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Mu Xin (author), Toming Jun Liu (translator), An Empty Room: Stories, New Directions, 2011. 192 pgs. Translated into English by Toming Jun Liu, An Empty Room by Mu Xin…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βLike the Meanderings of a River: Mu Xinβs π΄π πΈπππ‘π¦ π
πππβ by Yimin Huang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/an-empty-room-mu-xin-1.png?w=1024)
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“4AM, Fort Lee”, photo by Matt Turner In the Fall of 2022, there was a gas leak in the building I lived in in Brooklyn. ConEd Power came by to take a look, and by the time they left we…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “City Without Death: Poems” by Matt Turner](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/fort-lee_matt-turner_cha.png?w=1024)
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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ The Impossible City. Karen Cheung, The Impossible City: A Hong Kong Memoir, Penguin Random House, 2022. 352 pgs. When I was younger, my friends would…
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Gary Bettinson, The Sensuous Cinema of Wong Kar-wai: Film Poetics and the Aesthetic of Disturbance, 2014. 176 pgs. In the summer of 1994, I left a cinema in Tsim…
![[REVIEW] βGetting to the Heart of Wong Kar-wai: Gary Bettinsonβs πβπ ππππ π’ππ’π πΆπππππ ππ ππππ πΎππ-π€ππβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/29477id_021_0005_29477id_215.webp?w=800)
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Translated from the Chinese original, also available below, by the author. Drawing by the author. The English translation is edited with help from David Morgan. βWatching the sea, all my worries vanish! I really love the sea.β He says this…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “A Sailor on the Ferry” by Jasmine Tong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/jasmine-tong_cha-1.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Tang Shu-wing (director), Bhagavad Gita, West Kowloon Cultural District, 2023. One of the most thought-provoking stage performances of the summer of 2023 is Tang Shu-wingβs Bhagavad Gita. Shown in…
![[REVIEW]βDetachment in the Cycle of Kali Yuga: A Review of Tang Shu-wingβs π΅βππππ£ππ πΊππ‘πβ by Emma Zhang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/bhagavad-gita-1.jpg?w=1024)
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Click HERE to read an essay by Agnes Chew and an excerpt from Eternal Summer of Homeland. πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Agnes Chew, Eternal Summer of My Homeland, Epigram Books, 2023. 184 pgs.…
![[REVIEW] βStragglers in Singapore: Agnes Chewβs πΈπ‘πππππ ππ’ππππ ππ ππ¦ π»πππππππβ by Frances An](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/eternal-summer-of-my-homeland.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Making Space.ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Where Else. β Nicolette Wong (editor), Making Space: A Collection of Writing and Art, Cart Noodles Press, 2023. 163 pgs.β…
![[REVIEW] βI Will Always Return: Reading ππππππ πππππ and πβπππ πΈππ πβ by Vaughan Rapatahana](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/where-else-making-space.png?w=1024)
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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 Nightmare Japan. Jay McRoy, Nightmare Japan: Contemporary Japanese Horror Cinema, Brill, 2008. 232 pgs. Something has been happening with Asian horror, and it took a…
![[REVIEW] βEnfleshing Horror: Jay McRoyβs πππβπ‘ππππ π½ππππβ by Junnan Chen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/nightmare-japan-1.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Tomoko Hidaka, Salaryman Masculinity: Continuity and Change in Hegemonic Masculinity in Japan, Brill, 2010. 224 pgs. βSalarymanβ is a word thatβs uniquely Japanese, even if the concept is not.…
![[REVIEW] βThe Paradigm to Emulate is the Salarymenβ by Mario Rustan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/group-of-salarymen.webp?w=1000)
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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 Owlish. Dorothy Tse (author), Natascha Bruce (translator), Owlish, Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2023. 224 pgs. The β-ishβ in Owlish by Dorothy Tse suggests a suffixed impreciseness, a mutating…
![[REVIEW] βThe Shadow of Hong Kong in Dorothy Tse’s ππ€πππ ββ by Michelle Suen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/dorothy-tse-cha-an-asian-literary-journal.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS β Michihito Fujii (director), The Journalist, 2019. 113 min.β Michihito Fujii (director), A Family, 2021. 136 min.β Michihito Fujii (director), Village, 2023. 120 min. In these days of ever fewer choices…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Michihito Fujii on Netflix” by Paul French](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/michihito-fujii-1.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Don Mee Choi, DMZ Colony, Wave Books, 2020. 152 pgs. Reading Don Mee Choiβs DMZ Colony is an experience that plunges into a theatre of words, a theatre of…
![[REVIEW] βOblong Oblong: Mirror Words in Transit in Don Mee Choiβs π·ππ πΆππππ𦔠by Pareys Liu Yiyi](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/dmz_colony_cover_for_web-copy.jpg?w=498)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Richard Gordon and Carma Hinton (directors), The Gate of Heavenly Peace, 1995. 180 min. i. There was one rule in our house when I was a child back when…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βOn a Yellow Sticker: πβπ πΊππ‘π ππ π»πππ£ππππ¦ πππππβ by J. Chen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/gate-of-heavenly-peace.jpeg?w=366)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Lisa See, Lady Tanβs Circle of Women, Scribner, 2023. 368 pgs. A thousand years in the past, a thousand years in the futureβno matter where you live or how…
![[REVIEW] βVibrant Setting of Ancient China: Lisa Seeβs πΏπππ¦ πππβπ πΆπππππ ππ πππππβ by Emma Pei Yin](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/lisa-see_lady-tans-circle-of-women-copy.jpg?w=664)
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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 Identity, Home and Writing Elsewhere. Jennifer Wong, Identity, Home and Writing Elsewhere in Contemporary Chinese Diaspora Poetry, Bloomsbury, 2023. When Jennifer…
![[REVIEW] βPoetry of the Nomads: Jennifer Wongβs πΌππππ‘ππ‘π¦, π»πππ πππ ππππ‘πππ πΈππ ππ€βπππ ππ πΆπππ‘ππππππππ¦ πΆβππππ π π·πππ ππππ ππππ‘ππ¦β by Emma Zhang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/jennifer-wong-cha-identity-home-and-writing-elsewhere.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Azar Nafisi, Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, Penguin Random House, 2003. 356 pgs. There was a time when I was desperate for a reaffirmation of literatureβs…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βWhere Are the Other Voices We Want to Hear? Reading π
ππππππ πΏππππ‘π ππ ππβπππβ by Garfield Chow](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/reading-lolita-in-tehran-1.jpeg?w=675)
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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 Owlish. Dorothy Tse (author), Natascha Bruce (translator), Owlish, Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2023. 224 pgs. Defying our expectations of time and space, Dorothy…
Cha 