Category: 2024 Entries
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TIFF 2024 β Introductionβ 8. Band of Outsiders: On Neo Sora’s Happyendβ 7. The Soul of an Artist: On Hong Sang-sooβs By The Streamβ 6. The Two Maidens: On TrΖ°Ζ‘ng Minh QuΓ½βs Viet and Namβ 5. The Master and Her…
![[TIFF 2024] βThe Master and Her Muse: On Jia Zhang-keβs πΆππ’πβπ‘ ππ¦ π‘βπ πππππ β by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/caught-by-the-tides.jpg?w=560)
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TIFF 2024 β Introductionβ 8. Band of Outsiders: On Neo Sora’s Happyendβ 7. The Soul of an Artist: On Hong Sang-sooβs By The Streamβ 6. The Two Maidens: On TrΖ°Ζ‘ng Minh QuΓ½βs Viet and Namβ 5. The Master and Her…
![[TIFF 2024] “Self-Studies: On Sook-Yin Leeβs πππ¦πππ πππ πΌπ‘” by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/paying-for-it-sook-yin-lee.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Carlo Ledesma (director), Outside, 2024. 142 min. This review contains spoilers. Outside (2024), written and directed by Carlo Ledesma, is the newest entry in the ever-growing list of zombie…
![[REVIEW] βImaging the Contemporary Filipino Zombie in Carlo Ledesmaβs ππ’π‘π πππβ by Nick Garcia](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/carlo-ledesma-director-outside.webp?w=1024)
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Chris Song’s note: Haixin ζ΅·θΎ (1930β2011) was one of Hong Kongβs most prolific realist fiction writers. His deep curiosity about various professions and the lives of ordinary people in Hong Kong, combined with his broad taste in literature, allowed him…
![[TRANSLATION] “Spirits of Cicadas” by Haixin, translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/haixin-e6b5b7e8be9b_chris-song.png?w=1024)
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OVERSEAS BRIDE β Mother Tongue Overseasβ Overseas Bride Of all the stories in Ways to Love in a Crowded City, βOverseas Brideβ has received the most attention from both speakers and non-speakers of Cantonese. In particular, people seem to like to hear…
![[OVERSEAS BRIDE] “Mother Tongue Overseas” by Wong Yi](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/wong-yi-writing-for-cha-an-asian-literary-journal.png?w=1024)
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OVERSEAS BRIDE β Mother Tongue Overseasβ Overseas Bride Jennifer Feeley’s note: Written in 2020 and compiled into Wong Yiβs 2021 short story collection Ways to Love in a Crowded City, βOverseas Brideβ delves into the emotional and cultural complexities of emigration, particularly…
![[OVERSEAS BRIDE] “Overseas Bride” by Wong Yi, translated by Jennifer Feeley](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/wong-yi_jennifer-feeley_cha-an-asian-literary-journal.png?w=1024)
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On my way to the prison, I heard a teaser on the radio about bananas. Something to the effect that bananas were in trouble. I didnβt hear the actual story, but Iβve been thinking of bananas ever since. For several…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Memories of Bananas” by Daniel Hudon](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bananas2.jpg?w=837)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Han Kang (author), Deborah Smith (translator), The White Book, Portobello Books, 2016. 128 pgs. As Han Kong wrote out her list of white things at the beginning of the…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Meditation on Whiteness: Han Kang’s πβπ πβππ‘π π΅πππ” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/the-white-book-first-published-may-25-2016.jpg?w=977)
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TIFF 2024 β Introductionβ 8. Band of Outsiders: On Neo Sora’s Happyendβ 7. The Soul of an Artist: On Hong Sang-sooβs By The Streamβ 6. The Two Maidens: On TrΖ°Ζ‘ng Minh QuΓ½βs Viet and Namβ 5. The Master and Her…
![[TIFF 2024] “The Inheritance: On π΄ππ πβπππ π΅π ππππ and πππππππ π ππ πβππππ ” by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/tiff2024-asian-cha.png?w=1024)
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TIFF 2024 β Introductionβ 8. Band of Outsiders: On Neo Sora’s Happyendβ 7. The Soul of an Artist: On Hong Sang-sooβs By The Streamβ 6. The Two Maidens: On TrΖ°Ζ‘ng Minh QuΓ½βs Viet and Namβ 5. The Master and Her…
![[TIFF 2024] “πππ π ππ πππ¦ππ: On Lou Ye’s π΄π πππππππ βππ πΉπππ” by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/an-unfinished-film_poster.jpg?w=705)
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TIFF 2024 β Introductionβ 8. Band of Outsiders: On Neo Sora’s Happyendβ 7. The Soul of an Artist: On Hong Sang-sooβs By The Streamβ 6. The Two Maidens: On TrΖ°Ζ‘ng Minh QuΓ½βs Viet and Namβ 5. The Master and Her…
![[TIFF 2024] “Introduction: TIFF 2024” by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/tiff.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ryu Murakami (author), Ralph McCarthy (translator), In the Miso Soup, Kodansha International, 2003. 180 pgs. Picture a dismembered corpse of a sixteen-year-old girl dumped at a trash collection site…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Floating Around in Ryu Murakami’s πΌπ π‘βπ πππ π πππ’π” by Anna Moon](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/in-the-miso-soup.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Teinosuke Kinugasa (director), A Page of Madness, 1926. 70 min. Itβs almost Halloween as I write this and it seems fitting to think about what it is that makes…
![[REVIEW] βπ΄ ππππ ππ ππππππ π and the Cinema of the Uncannyβ by Jeremiah Dutch](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/a-page-of-madness-film.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Aruni Kashyap, The Way You Want to Be Loved, Gaudy Boy, 2024. 256 pgs. In the first story of Aruni Kashyapβs short story collection, the narrator, a writer of…
![[REVIEW] “The Ways to Belonging in Stories: Aruni Kashyapβs πβπ πππ¦ πππ’ ππππ‘ π‘π π΅π πΏππ£ππβ by Faith Ho](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/the-way-you-want-to-be-loved.jpg?w=971)
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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 All We Imagine as Light. Payal Kapadia (director), All We Imagine as Light, 2024. 118 min. Payal Kapadiaβs debut film, A Night of Knowing Nothing…
![[REVIEW] “Elegy on Love and Migration: Payal Kapadia’s π΄ππ ππ πΌππππππ ππ πΏππβπ‘” by Namah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/all-we-imagine-as-light.png?w=1024)
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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kelly H. Chong, Love Across Borders: Asian Americans, Race, and the Politics of Intermarriage and Family-Making, Routledge, 2021, 246 pgs. As a single Asian man, I was once oversensitive…
![[REVIEW] “Itβs Only Love: Kelly H. Chongβs πΏππ£π π΄ππππ π π΅ππππππ ” by Mario Rustan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/love-across-borders-asian-americans-race-and-the-politics-of-intermarriage-and-family-making.jpg?w=1000)
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Chris Songβs note: LΓΌ Lun’s “Piano Day” tells the story of May, a Garbo-like beauty who uses her piano sessions to extract tributes from men, ensnaring both T and P in a web of emotional temptation and entanglement. Like LΓΌ Lun’s…
![[TRANSLATION] βPiano Dayβ by LΓΌ Lun, translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/lu-lun-e4beb6e580ab_cha-an-asian-literary-journal.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 Half Sound, Half Philosophy. Jing Wang, Half Sound, Half Philosophy: Aesthetics, Politics of China’s Sound Art, Bloomsbury Academic, 2021. 232 pgs. Half Sound, Half Philosophy:…
![[REVIEW] “The World of Sound as Art in China: Jing Wang’s π»πππ πππ’ππ, π»πππ πβππππ ππβ𦔠by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/half-sound-half-philosophy.png?w=938)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Daryl Lim Wei Jie, Hamid Roslan, Melizarani T. Selva, and William Tham (editors), The Second Link: An Anthology of Malaysian and Singaporean Writing, Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2023. 320 pgs.…
![[REVIEW] “Reunion Dinner: πβπ ππππππ πΏπππ Serves Up A Careful Feast” by Theophilus Kwek](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/the-second-link-an-anthology-of-malaysian-and-singaporean-writing.png?w=892)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Tim Tim Cheng, The Tattoo Collector, Nine Arches Press, 2024. 72 pp. In case you hadnβt known that the British ruled Hong Kong until 1997 or needed sudden clarification…
![[REVIEW] βBlue Fires Burning in Tim Tim Chengβs πβπ πππ‘π‘ππ πΆππππππ‘ππβ by Michelle Suen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/cheng-tim-tim-the-tattoo-collector.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 Bluebeard’s First Wife. Ha Seong-nan (author), Janet Hong (translator), Bluebeardβs First Wife, Open Letter Books, 2020. 230 pgs. Ha Seong-nan is a rather prolific South Korean…
![[REVIEW] “Fairy Tale, Dissected: Ha Seong-nan’s π΅ππ’ππππππβπ πΉπππ π‘ ππππ” by Maria Cohut](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ha-seong-nanauthor-janet-hong-translator-bluebeards-first-wife.jpg?w=971)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Erin Suzuki, Ocean Passages: Navigating Pacific Islander and Asian American Literatures, Temple University Press, 2021. 269 pgs. When the territories between land seem easier to define, the territories that…
![[REVIEW] “Connecting in a Sea of Islands: Erin Suzuki’s πππππ πππ π ππππ ” by Tin Yuet Tam](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/erin-suzuki-ocean-passages-navigating-pacific-islander-and-asian-american-literatures.jpg?w=1000)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Emi Yagi (author), David BoydΒ andΒ Lucy NorthΒ (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] βReimagining the Void: Emi Yagi’s π·ππππ¦ ππ π ππππ” 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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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ The Woman in the Purple Skirt. Natsuko Imamura (author), Lucy North (translator),Β The Woman in the Purple Skirt, Penguin Random House, 2021. 224 pgs. In Natsuko…
![[REVIEW] βLingering Suspense: Natsuko Imamura’s πβπ πππππ ππ π‘βπ ππ’ππππ πππππ‘β BY James Kin Pong Au](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/the-woman-in-the-purple-skirt.jpg?w=925)
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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 Tapestry of the Mind. Aneeta Sundararaj, Tapestry of the Mind and Other Stories, Penguin Random House SEA, 2024. 272 pgs. Aneeta Sundararajβs Tapestry of the…
![[REVIEW] βA Powerful and Stimulating Collection: Aneeta Sundararaj’s πππππ π‘ππ¦ ππ π‘βπ ππππ” by Namrata](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/tapestry-of-the-mind-and-other-stories-aneeta-sundararaj.jpg?w=977)
Cha 