Category: 2024 Entries
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Nicole Tarulevicz, Eating Her Curries and Kway: A Cultural History of Food in Singapore, University of Illinois Press, 2014. 224 pgs. Anyone who has been to Singapore or Malaysia,…
![[REVIEW] โThe ๐๐๐๐๐ RepublicโNicole Taruleviczโs ๐ธ๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐ ๐ถ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐พ๐ค๐๐ฆ: ๐ด ๐ถ๐ข๐๐ก๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐น๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ by Mario Rustan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/eating-her-curries-and-kway-a-cultural-history-of-food-in-singapore-university-of-illinois-press-1.jpg?w=500)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Thomas William Whyke and Melissa Shani Brown (authors), Queering Gender, Sexuality, and Becoming-Human in Qing Dynasty Zhiguai: Querying the Strange Tales, Palgrave Macmillan, 2023. 246 pgs. The title of this…
![[REVIEW] โBetween Queering and Querying: Thomas William Whykeย and Melissa Shani Brownโs ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ, ๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐๐๐๐-๐ป๐ข๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ท๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ฆ ๐โ๐๐๐ข๐๐โ by Jonathan Ferguson](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/queering-gender-sexuality-and-becoming-human-in-qing-dynasty-zhiguai-querying-the-strange-tales-1.jpg?w=827)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS San Lin Tun, Yangon Days: A Collection of Urban Short Stories, Penguin Random House SEA, 2024. 240 pgs. If the Yangon you used to think of as so full…
![[REVIEW] โOur Yangon: San Lin Tunโs ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ท๐๐ฆ๐ โ by Peixuan Xie](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/yangon-days-a-collection-of-urban-short-stories.jpg?w=977)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yao-Chang Chen (author), Pao-Fang Hsu, Ian Maxwell, and Tung-Jung Chen (translators), Puppet Flower: A Novel of 1867 Formosa. Columbia University Press, 2023, 298 pgs. The American servicemen are in…
![[REVIEW] โSend in the Marines: Yao-Chang Chenโs ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ก ๐น๐๐๐ค๐๐โby Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/puppet-flower-a-novel-of-1867-formosa.jpg?w=972)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kangyu Garam (director), Lucky, Apartment, 2024. 96 min. This review may contain spoilers. What would hate look and feel like if it took on a sensory form? South Korean…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โA Queer Shape of Smell: Kangyu Garam’s ๐ฟ๐ข๐๐๐ฆ, ๐ด๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ก” by Soo Ryon Yoon](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/lucky-apartment.jpg?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Mao Suit. Antonia Finnane, How to Make a Mao Suit: Clothing the People of Communist China, 1949โ1976, Cambridge University Press, 2023. 386 pgs. I have used…
![[REVIEW] “Impeccably Written: Antonia Finnane’sย ๐ป๐๐ค ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ก” by Paul Bevan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/how-to-make-a-mao-suit-clothing-the-people-of-communist-china.jpg?w=1000)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS David L. Eng and Shinhee Han, Racial Melancholia, Racial Dissociation: On the Social and Psychic Lives of Asian Americans, Duke University Press, 2018. 232 pgs. Asian Americans are…
![[REVIEW] “A Groundbreaking Conversation: David L. Eng and Shinhee Han’s ๐
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐โ๐๐๐๐, ๐
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ท๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐” by Elaine Chiew](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/racial-melancholia-racial-dissociation-on-the-social-and-psychic-lives-of-asian-americans.jpg?w=1000)
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๐ย RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ย RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ta Duy Anh (author), Quan Manh Ha and Charles Waugh (translators), The Termite Queen, Penguin Random House SEA, 2023. 256 pgs. Ta Duy Anhโs novels, replete as they are…
![[REVIEW] “A Daring and Unsettling Portrait: Ta Duy Anh’s ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐” by Mia Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/the-termite-queen-copy.jpeg?w=625)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โThe Criticโs Notebook: On Dennis Limโs Tale of Cinemaโ 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] โThe Criticโs Notebook: On Dennis Limโs ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐โ by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/dennis-lim-tale-of-cinema-copy.jpeg?w=500)
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๐ย RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ย RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Angela Hui, Takeaway: Stories from a Childhood Behind the Counter,ย Orion Books, 2023. 352 pgs. Evocative and painstakingly honest, Angela Huiโs memoir Takeaway centres on the everyday lives of Chinese…
![[REVIEW] “Acknowledging the Everyday Spaces of Working-class Chinese Migrants: Angela Hui’s ๐๐๐๐๐๐ค๐๐ฆ” by Jennifer Wong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/takeaway-stories-from-a-childhood-behind-the-counter.jpg?w=978)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Tale of A Material City: Lau Yee-wa’s Tongueless” by Luca Griseri Clickย HERE to readย all entries inย Chaย onย Tongueless. Lau Yee-Wa (author), Jennifer Feeley (translator), Tongueless, The Feminist Press, 2024. 280 pgs. The…
![[REVIEW] “The Tale of A Material City: Lau Yee-wa’s ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ ๐ ” by Luca Griseriย](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/tongueless_cha.jpg?w=938)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Shunryu Suzuki Roshi (author), Trudy Dixon & Richard Baker (editors), Zen Mind, Beginnerโs Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice, Weatherhill, 1970. 144 pgs. โWe must exist…
![[REVIEW] โA โHere and Now’ Mantra: Shunryu Suzuki Roshi’s ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐โ by Maria Dorillo](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/zen-mind-beginners-mind.jpg?w=955)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Clickย HERE to readย all entries inย Chaย onย Bluebeard’s First Wife. Ha Seong-nan (author), Janet Hong (translator), Bluebeardโs First Wife, Open Letter Books, 2020. 230 pgs. The following words resonate throughout the eleven…
![[REVIEW] โOutside Cones of Light was Total Darkness: Ha Seong-nanโs ๐ต๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐น๐๐๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐๐โ by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ha-seong-nanauthor-janet-hong-translator-bluebeards-first-wife.jpg?w=971)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Clickย HERE to readย all entries inย Chaย onย Tapestry of the Mind. Aneeta Sundararaj, Tapestry of the Mind and Other Stories, Penguin Random House SEA, 2024. 272 pgs. Aneeta Sundararajโs Tapestry of the…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โPerhaps Misguided: Aneeta Sundararajโs ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐โ by Grace Najmulskiย](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/tapestry-of-the-mind-and-other-stories-aneeta-sundararaj.jpg?w=977)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Pang Laikwan, One and All: The Logic of Chinese Sovereignty, Stanford University Press, 2024. 276 pgs. As I finish writing this review, we are a few days away from…
![[REVIEW] โQuest for Genuineness: Pang Laikwanโs ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐โ by Kaiqing Su](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/one-and-all_pang-laikwan.jpg?w=1000)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Grace Loh Prasad, The Translatorโs Daughter, The Ohio State University Press, 2024. 272 pgs. Grief occurs in many forms. Thereโs the mourning of a loved one who has passed…
![[REVIEW] โStunning Memoir: Grace Loh Prasadโs ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐โ๐ ๐ท๐๐ข๐โ๐ก๐๐โ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/the-translators-daughter.jpg?w=880)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Wei Shujun (director), Only the River Flows, 2023. 101 mins. Wei Shujunโs Only the River Flows, an adaptation of Yu Huaโs novella Mistakes by the River set in 1995,…
![[REVIEW] โSuch an Indelible Period Texture: Wei Shujunโs ๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐กโ๐ ๐
๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐น๐๐๐ค๐ โ by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/only-the-river-flows-banner.jpg?w=512)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Qian Guo, Food Cultures of China: Recipes, Cultures and Issues, Bloomsbury, 2023. 272 pgs. The first thing that struck me about Qian Guoโs encyclopaedic undertaking in this book, was…
![[REVIEW] โAn Encyclopaedic Undertaking: Qian Guoโs ๐น๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐ข๐๐ก๐ข๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ถโ๐๐๐โ by Ceri Hwi-Li Holloway](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/food-cultures-of-china.jpg?w=994)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ralph Jennings, 50 Useful Tips on China, from a Guy Who ALMOST Got It, Earnshaw Books, 2024. 260 pgs. Ralph Jennings is a seasoned journalist who has spent the…
![[REVIEW] โResonating with Anyone Who Travels Internationally: Ralph Jenningsโs 50 ๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ถโ๐๐๐โ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/50-useful-tips-on-china-from-a-guy-who-almost-got-it.jpg?w=971)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Read Madeleine Slavick’s “The Yellow Chair” HERE. Madeleine Slavick, Town, The Cuba Press, 2024. 132 pgs. Imagine a poet and a photographer collaborating. What will they create? Town is such…
![[REVIEW] โWhere Ripples Intersect: Madeleine Slavickโs Photopoetry Collection ๐๐๐ค๐โ by Aqua Kaiyun Zheng](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/town_madeleine-slavick.jpg?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Clickย HERE to readย all entries inย Chaย onย Cho Nam-joo. Cho Nam-joo (author), Jamie Chang (translator), Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, Liveright, 2021. 176 pgs. Everyone who has read Cho Nam-jooโs debut novel Kim…
![[REVIEW] โThe Limited Life of a Woman: Cho Nam-jooโs ๐พ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐๐ฆ๐๐ข๐๐, ๐ต๐๐๐ 1982โ by Dorina Tataran](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/kim-jiyoung-born-1982.jpg?w=923)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Clickย HERE to readย all entries inย Chaย onย Mao Suit. Antonia Finnane, How to Make a Mao Suit: Clothing the People of Communist China, 1949โ1976, Cambridge University Press, 2023. 386 pgs. Here is…
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ 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 Barkerโs ๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐ก๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐๐” 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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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Osamu Dazai (author), Sam Bett (translator), The Flowers of Buffoonery, New Directions, 2023. 63 pgs. The Flowers of Buffoonery (ใ้ๅใฎ่ฏใ/ Dลke no Hana), an early work by Osamu Dazai…
![[REVIEW] โConstructing a Performative Self: Osamu Dazai’s ๐โ๐ ๐น๐๐๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ต๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆโ by James Kin Pong Au](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/the-flowers-of-buffoonery.jpg?w=778)
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โWhat would you think about moving here?โ We were on a bus heading to Hong Kong International Airport on Lantau Island. It was dark outside. We were going to catch an early-morning flight back home to Seattle. The motion of…
![[EXCLUSIVE] โThe Chinese Girlโ by Jeff Beyl](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/screenshot-2024-07-03-at-06.31.04.png?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yasunari Kawabata (author), Haydn Trowell (translator), The Rainbow, Penguin, 2023. 400 pgs. Yasunari Kawabataโs The Rainbow, recently translated into English for the first time, evokes in me a strong…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โCarrying On: Yasunari Kawabataโs ๐โ๐ ๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐คโ by Gabrielle Tse](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/the-rainbow-kawabata-yasunari.jpg?w=933)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Salman Rushdie, Knife: Meditations After An Attempted Murder, Penguin Random House, 2024. 224 pgs. “Life is not what one lived, but what one remembers, and how one remembers it…
![[REVIEW] โAn Achingly Poignant Personal Trauma Narrative: Salman Rushdieโs ๐พ๐๐๐๐โ by Sudeep Ghosh](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/knife-salman-rushdie.jpg?w=1000)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on The Perils of Interpreting. Henrietta Harrison, The Perils of Interpreting: The Extraordinary Lives of Two Translators between Qing China and the British Empire, Princeton University Press,…
![[REVIEW] “Deception and Distrust: Henrietta Harrisonโs ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐” by James Thompson](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/the-perils-of-interpreting-the-extraordinary-lives-of-two-translators-between-qing-china-and-the-british-empire.png?w=1023)
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Chris Songโs note: In โA Night Flightโ, the passengers endure days of eerie silence and mounting despair, with many succumbing to death and some choosing to leap into the night. The story draws a haunting parallel to the Flight MH370…
![[TRANSLATION] โA Night Flightโ by Liu Waitong, translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/liu-waitong_cha.png?w=1024)
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[REVIEW] โReading Natsume Sลseki as a Historian of Twentieth-Century East Asiaโ by Emily Matson
๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Natsume Sลseki. Natsume Sลseki (author), Matt Treyvaud (translator), Ten Nights Dreaming and The Catโs Grave, Dover Publications, 2015. 96 pgs. It was the twilight of…
![[REVIEW] โReading Natsume Sลseki as a Historian of Twentieth-Century East Asiaโ by Emily Matson](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/natsume-soseki.png?w=1024)
Cha 