Category: 2024 Entries
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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 People from My Neighbourhood. Hiromi Kawakami (author), Ted Goossen (translator), People from My Neighbourhood, Granta Books, 2021. 96 pgs. βWhy did you come here?β I…
![[REVIEW] “How Bizarre To Be Human Amongst Other Humans: Hiromi Kawakami’s ππππππ ππππ ππ¦ ππππβπππ’πβπππ” by Kailee Haong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/people-from-my-neighbourhood.jpg?w=1005)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Felicia Chan, Cosmopolitan Cinema: Cross-Cultural Encounters in East Asian Film, Bloomsbury, 2017. 224 pgs. Cosmopolitanism envisions an alluring and egalitarian promise: a world founded on, inclusively open to, and…
![[REVIEW] βWhen Cosmopolitanism Traverses Across the Screen Beyond SubtitlesβFelicia Chan’s πΆππ πππππππ‘ππ πΆπππππ: πΆπππ π -πΆπ’ππ‘π’πππ πΈππππ’ππ‘πππ ππ πΈππ π‘ π΄π πππ πΉπππβ by Kathy Nguyen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/east-asian-cinema.jpg?w=980)
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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 Table for One. Yun Ko-eun (author), Lizzie Buehler (translator),Β Table for One: Stories, Columbia University Press, 2024. 280 pgs. This series of short stories by Yun…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Slightly Off-kilter Worlds: Yun Ko-eun’s πππππ πππ πππ” by JENNIFER EAGLETON](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/yun-ko-eun_table-for-one.png?w=1024)
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Chris Song’s Note: Liu Yichangβs εδ»₯ι¬― (1918β2018) short story βLunar New Yearβs Eveβ ι€ε€ imagines the last day of Cao Xueqin ζΉιͺθΉ (1710β1765), author of The Dream of the Red Chamber η΄ ζ¨ε€’, who is believed to have died on Lunar New Yearβs…
![[TRANSLATION] “Lunar New Yearβs Eve” by Liu Yichang, Translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/liu-yichang-copy.jpg?w=1024)
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βChina is already a great power, and whether the next three decades will be a cold or a hot war, nothing can stop her now. By the year 2001 she will be a powerful industrial socialist State.ββHan Suyin, China in…
![[EXCLUSIVE] βHan versus Kahn: 1970β by Angus Stewart](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/han-suyin-and-herman-kahn.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 Violets. Kyung-Sook Shin (author), Anton Hur (translator), Violets, The Feminist Press, 2022. 218 pgs. Kyung-Sook Shin burst onto the Korean literary scene in 1985, after…
![[REVIEW] “On Behalf of Those Who Weren’t Able to Survive: Kyung-Sook Shin’s ππππππ‘π ” by Beth Adams](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/violets_anton-hur.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kit Fan, Diamond Hill, Diamond Books, 2021. 352 pgs. Kit Fanβs Diamond Hill, published in May 2021, centres on Hong Kongβs Diamond Hill squatter settlement, one of the last…
![[REVIEW] βKit Fanβs π·ππππππ π»πππ: A Revelation of 1980s Hong Kongβ by Lynn Yin Lam Chui](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/81lvo74xxsl._sl1500_.jpg?w=972)
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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 Touring the Land of the Dead. Maki Kashimada (author), Haydn Trowell (translator), Touring the Land of the Dead (and Ninety-Nine Kisses), Europa Editions, 2021. 144…
![[REVIEW] βEnigmatic Prose: Maki Kashimadaβs πππ’ππππ π‘βπ πΏπππ ππ π‘βπ π·πππβ by Jane McBride](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/touring-the-land-of-the-dead-and-ninety-nine-kiss-1.jpg?w=890)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ 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 βridiculous heatwave in the summer of 2018β, Bae Myung-hoon…
![[REVIEW] “A Novel of Space-time: Bae Myung-hoon’s πΏππ’ππβ πππππ‘βπππ!” by Lucy Hamilton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/launch-something.jpg?w=977)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ocean Vuong, Time Is a Mother, Penguin Random House, 2022. 112 pgs. Building a foundation on the aftershocks of his motherβs death, this collection of Ocean Vuong further explores,…
![[REVIEW] βIβve Plagiarised My Life to Give You the Best of Me: Ocean Vuongβs ππππ πΌπ π πππ‘βππ” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/time-is-a-mother-1.jpg?w=932)
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I blame my inability to speak Cantonese on waitresses in Chinese restaurants. My wife would say itβs all on me. To be fair, I should have kept it up. I should have practised more. You are getting better every day,…
![[EXCLUSIVE] βOn Learning to Speak Cantoneseβ by Jeff Beyl](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/cantonese.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ 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] βHumans in All States of Emotion: Liang Wern Fookβs πβπ π½ππ¦ ππ π πΏπππ‘ π»πππβ 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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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ 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 πΉππ π΅” 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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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jun Ichikawa (director), Tony Takitani, 2004. 75 min. Tony Takitani is a film about loneliness and its unwavering cloudinessβthe way it makes you want to lie down in a…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Human Loneliness: Jun Ichikawa’s ππππ¦ πππππ‘πππ” by Yimin Huang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/takitani.jpg?w=345)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Tania De Rozario, Dinner on Monster Island: Essays, HarperCollins, 2024. 192 pgs. Tania De Rozarioβs Dinner on Monster Island is a lyrical and multi-faceted speech act. The fourteen essays…
![[REVIEW] βDespite Loss, Magic Persists: Tania De Rozario’s π·πππππ ππ ππππ π‘ππ πΌπ ππππ” by Lydia Kwa](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/dinner-on-monster-island.jpg?w=995)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILM Eddie Tay, Hong Kong as Creative Practice, Palgrave, 2022. 110 pgs. The Palgrave Macmillan series that Eddie Tayβs Hong Kong as Creative Practice is part of is a platform…
![[REVIEW] βOne Senses a Quiet Revolution: Eddie Tayβs π»πππ πΎπππ ππ πΆππππ‘ππ£π πππππ‘πππβ by Marsha McDonald](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/hong-kong-as-creative-practice.webp?w=827)
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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMΒ Ken Provencher and Mike Dillon (editors), Exploiting East Asian Cinemas: Genre, Circulation, Reception, Bloomsbury, 2018. 234 pgs. In the early 2000s, unless you lived in a city in the…
![[REVIEW] βExtreme AsiaβA Review of πΈπ₯πππππ‘πππ πΈππ π‘ π΄π πππ πΆππππππ : πΊππππ, πΆππππ’πππ‘πππ, π
πππππ‘πππ” by Mario Rustan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/exploiting-east-asian-cinemas-genre-circulation.jpg?w=568)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Satyajit Ray (director), Branches of the Tree, 1990. 130 min. Made and released in 1990, Satyajit Rayβs Branches of the Tree arrives as an artefact of a bygone sensibility,…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βAn Artifact of a Bygone Sensibility: Satyajit Rayβs π΅ππππβππ ππ π‘βπ ππππβ by Toshi Tomori](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/mv5bndfmztg0mdetytrhzc00mjvilthlywytmdm2mta1ownkzjuxxkeyxkfqcgdeqxvynjm3mdiwnjc40._v1_.jpg?w=1024)
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Also read Akin Jeje’s tribute to Reid Mitchell. I wrote two sonnets for Reid Mitchell (1955-2023); one a couple of years before he died and one, at Reidβs own instigation, some fifteen years ago. Reid had told me a story…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Two Sonnets for Reid Mitchell” by Andrew Barker](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/reid-michell-impression.jpeg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Meena Kandasamy, When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife, Atlantic Books, 2018. 272 pgs. Meena Kandasamyβs When I Hit You, Or Portrait…
![[REVIEW] βPersonal Yet Communal Narrative of Meena Kandasamyβs πβππ πΌ π»ππ‘ πππ’: ππ, π΄ ππππ‘ππππ‘ ππ π‘βπ ππππ‘ππ ππ π πππ’ππ ππππβ by Bervinder Kaur](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/when-i-hit-you.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ChloΓ« F. Starr, Red-light Novels of the late Qing, Brill Publishing, 2007. 293 pgs. This book should be recognised as a significant academic achievement. It is the result of…
![[REVIEW] βA Niche Book on a Niche Subject: ChloΓ« F. Starrβs π
ππ-πππβπ‘ πππ£πππ ππ π‘βπ πππ‘π ππππβ by Paul Bevan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/red-light.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Hayao Miyazaki (director), The Boy and the Heron, 2023. 125 min. This review contains spoilers. For me, whatβs perhaps most interesting about The Boy and the Heron is that…
![[REVIEW] “Defying Explanation: Hayao Miyazaki’s πβπ π΅ππ¦ πππ π‘βπ π»ππππ” by e rathke](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2f7d7a1e-94d3-48eb-be56-12bcb518f235.sized-1000x1000-1.jpeg?w=1000)
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Chris Songβs Note: Chan Hay-chingβs ι³ζ¦ι short story βBoda’s Bordersβ ε―Άιηιε’ was originally written in Chinese and was first published in Hong Kong Literature Bimonthly εεΈζθ, No. 105 (April 2020). It was later included in her collection Rocky, a Stray Dog…
![[TRANSLATION] “Boda’s Borders” by Chan Hay-ching, translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/chan-hay-ching-and-chris-song.png?w=934)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Tanizaki JunβichirΕ (author), Anthony H. Chambers & Paul McCarthy (translators), Longing and Other Stories, Columbia University Press, 2022. 145 pgs. Tanizaki JunβichirΕβs Longing and Other Stories, translated by Anthony…
![[REVIEW] βClash of Ideas: Tanizaki JunβichirΕ’s πΏππππππ πππ ππ‘βππ ππ‘πππππ ” BY JAMES KIN-PONG AU](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/longing-and-other-stories_cha.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ 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 Lynchβs Booker Prize-winning novel, I felt…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “To Flee or Not to Flee: Paul Lynch’s ππππβππ‘ ππππ” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/prophet-song.jpg?w=978)
Cha 