Category: Cha Review of Books and Films
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โThe GPA of Youth: On Boredom, Brilliance and the Cost of Conformity in Chetan Bhagatโs Five Point Someoneโ by Abhinav Tulachan Chetan Bhagat, Five Point Someone, Rupa Publications India, 2004.…
![[REVIEW] โThe GPA of Youth: On Boredom, Brilliance and the Cost of Conformity in Chetan Bhagatโs ๐น๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ by Abhinav Tulachan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/five-point-someone-chetan-bhagat.png?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Off-Kilter Worlds and Authoritarian Futures in Ysabelle Cheung’s Patchwork Dolls” by Jennifer Eagleton Ysabelle Cheung, Patchwork Dolls, Blair, 2026. 200 pgs. Ysabelle Cheungโs stories are clearly connected to contemporary society,…
![[REVIEW] “Off-Kilter Worlds and Authoritarian Futures in Ysabelle Cheung’s ๐๐๐ก๐โ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐ ” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/patchwork-dolls.webp?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Filmic Silence and the Speaking Body in the Novel” by Thammika Songkaeo Click HERE to read all entrieson Stamford Hospital. Eva Trobisch (director), All Good, 2018. 93 min. In 2020,…
![[ESSAY] “Filmic Silence and the Speaking Body in the Novel” by Thammika Songkaeo](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/stamford-hospital-all-is-good.png?w=846)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Editor’s note: In Hongwei Bao’s new essay, Pillion (2025), directed by Harry Lighton and adapted from Adam Mars-Jonesโs 2020 novella Box Hill, becomes a lens for exploring queer biker cinema, kink…
![[ESSAY] “Geared Up for Pillion” by Hongwei Bao](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/pillion-film-poster.jpg?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] โAesthetic Experiences: A Study of Anri Yasudaโs Beauty Mattersโ by Luca Griseri Anri Yasuda, Beauty Matters: Modern Japanese Literature and the Question of Aesthetics, 1890โ1930, Columbia University Press, 2024. 304…
![[ESSAY] โAesthetic Experiences: A Study of Anri Yasudaโs ๐ต๐๐๐ข๐ก๐ฆ ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐๐ โ by Luca Griseri](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/https-__m.media-amazon.com_images_i_819sezp2oml._sl1500_.jpg.jpg?w=1000)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] โFrom Star to Performer-Worker: Rethinking Anna May Wong Through Labourโ by Anna Nguyen Yiman Wang, To Be An Actress: Labor and Performance in Anna May Wongโs Cross-Media World, University of…
![[ESSAY] โFrom Star to Performer-Worker: Rethinking Anna May Wong Through Labourโ by Anna Nguyen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/yiman-wang-to-be-an-actress-labor-and-performance-in-anna-may-wongs-cross-media-world-university-of-california-press.jpg?w=1000)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Observation as Inheritance: iTim Fitts’s The Peopleโs Island” by Jack Greenberg Tim Fitts, The Peopleโs Island, Spuyten Duyvil, 2025. 175 pgs. The Peopleโs Island presents itself as a coming of…
![[REVIEW] “Observation as Inheritance: Tim Fitts’s ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐๐” by Jack Greenberg](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/tim-fitts-the-peoples-island-spuyten-duyvil.jpg?w=1000)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โTibet as an Imagined Nation: Myth, Reclamation, and Literary Politics in Koushik Goswamiโs Reimagining Tibetโ by Jyotirmoy Sil Koushik Goswami, Reimagining Tibet: Politics of Literary Representation, Routledge, 2023. 228 pgs.…
![[REVIEW] โTibet as an Imagined Nation: Myth, Reclamation, and Literary Politics in Koushik Goswamiโs Reimagining Tibetโ by Jyotirmoy Sil](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/tibet.jpg?w=664)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โEveryday Movement: Gigi L. Leungโs Love Letter to Hong Kongโ by Susan Blumberg-Kason Clickย HERE to readย all entries inย Chaย onย Everyday Movement. Gigi L. Leung (author), Jennifer Feeley (translator), Everyday Movement, Riverhead…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โ๐ธ๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ก: Gigi L. Leungโs Love Letter to Hong Kongโ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/everyday-movement-by-gigi-l.-leung-translated-by-jennifer-feeley-.jpg?w=993)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] โNot A Utopian Land: Rereading the Evenki Culture in Chi Zijianโs novel The Last Quarter of the Moon and Gu Taoโs documentary film The Last Moose of Aoluguyaโ by Yiwen…
![[ESSAY] โNot Your Utopian Land: Rereading the Evenki Culture in Chi Zijianโs novel ๐โ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ก ๐๐ข๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ and Gu Taoโs documentary film ๐โ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐ข๐๐ข๐ฆ๐โ by Yiwen Liu](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/not-a-utopian-land_yiwen-liu.png?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โAn Oceanic Taiwan: Niki J. P. Alsford and Ti-Han Changโs Reorienting Taiwanโ by Lu Feng Niki J. P. Alsford and Ti-Han Chang (editors), Reorienting Taiwan: Ocean, Selfhood, and the Pacific,…
![[REVIEW] โAn Oceanic Taiwan: Niki J. P. Alsford and Ti-Han Changโs ๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐๐โ by Lu Feng](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/reorientating-taiwan-ocean-selfhood-and-the-pacific.jpg?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โYou Are My Friend: On Ocean Vuongโs The Emperor of Gladnessโ by Nirris Nagendrarajah Ocean Vuong, The Emperor of Gladness, Penguin, 2025. 416 pgs. For Ocean Vuong, the critically acclaimed…
![[REVIEW] โYou Are My Friend: On Ocean Vuongโs ๐โ๐ ๐ธ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ โ by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/ocean-vuong-the-emperor-of-gladness.jpg?w=992)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โBetween Adaptation and Escapism: Navigating Entrapment in Ling Maโs Severanceโ by Hilda Wong Ling Ma, Severance, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018. 304 pgs. In an era defined by burnout and quiet…
![[REVIEW] โBetween Adaptation and Escapism: Navigating Entrapment in Ling Maโs ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐โ by Hilda Wong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/ling-ma-severance2.jpg?w=970)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [Essay] “1000XRESIST and Immunity in the Chinese Diaspora” by Nick Admussen Sunset Visitor (developer), 1000xResist, Fellow Traveller Games. 2024. 1000xRESIST is a 2024 narrative video game created by the Canadian studio…
![[ESSAY] “1000๐๐
๐ธ๐๐ผ๐๐ and Immunity in the Chinese Diaspora” by Nick Admussen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/https-www.fellowtraveller.games1000xresist.jpg?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โAnchors of Memory: Unhomely and Resilience in Jia Zhangkeโs Still Lifeโ by Hilda Wong Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon Jia Zhangke Jia Zhangke (director). Still Life, 2006.…
![[REVIEW] โAnchors of Memory: Unhomely and Resilience in Jia Zhangkeโs ๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐โ by Hilda Wong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/jia-zhangkes-still-life.jpg?w=714)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โRealism and Memory in Chinese Film: Cecรญlia Mello’s The Cinema of Jia Zhangkeโ by Tim Murphy Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon Jia Zhangke Cecรญlia Mello. The Cinema…
![[ESSAY] โRealism and Memory in Chinese Film: Cecรญlia Mello’s ๐โ๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐๐ ๐โ๐๐๐๐๐โ by Tim Murphy](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cecilia-mello.-the-cinema-of-jia-zhangke-realism-and-memory-in-chinese-film-bloomsbury-academic.jpg?w=1000)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Twinkle Khanna’s The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad: Making Dignity a Habitโ by Abhinav Tulachan Twinkle Khanna, The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad, Juggernaut Books, 2016. 233 pgs. It is remarkable how…
![[REVIEW] “Twinkle Khanna’s ๐โ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐: Making Dignity a Habitโ by Abhinav Tulachan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/the-legend-of-lakshmi-prasad.webp?w=1016)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โThe Personal โIโ and Conflicted Identities: Paritosh Senโs A Tree in My Villageโ by Dustin Pickering Paritosh Sen, A Tree in My Village, CLASSIX, 2025. 79 pgs. Many contemporary texts…
![[REVIEW] โThe Personal โIโ and Conflicted Identities: Paritosh Senโs ๐ด ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ by Dustin Pickering](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/paritosh-sen.jpg?w=765)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “James Sheaโs Last Day of My Face and the Practice of Not Knowing” by Jennifer Eagleton Clickย HERE to readย all entries inย Chaย onย Last Day of My Face. James Shea, The Last Day of…
![[REVIEW] “James Sheaโs ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ก ๐ท๐๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐น๐๐๐ and the Practice of Not Knowing” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/https-uipress.uiowa_.edubookslast-day-my-face.jpg?w=970)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] โThe Female Researcher and Patriarchal Figures in Hon Lai Chuโs Mending Bodiesโ by Grace En-Yi Ting Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Mending Bodies. Hon Lai Chu (author), Jacqueline Leung (translator), Mending…
![[ESSAY] โThe Female Researcher and Patriarchal Figures in Hon Lai Chuโs ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐๐ โ by Grace En-Yi Ting](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/hon-lai-chu-author-jacqueline-leung-translator-mending-bodies-two-lines-press-2025.-240-pgs.jpg?w=938)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โMariko Nagaiโs Imaginary Death: The Genre-Bending Architecture of Wartime Testimonyโ by James Auย Kin-Pong Mariko Nagai, Imaginary Death, Punctum Books, 2025. 297 pgs. It is difficult to determine the genre to…
![[REVIEW] โMariko Nagaiโs ๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐ท๐๐๐กโ: The Genre-Bending Architecture of Wartime Testimonyโ by James Au Kin-Pong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/imaginary-death-mariko-nagai.png?w=600)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โWhen News Breaks: Carol Linโs Memoir of Love and Warโ by Susan Blumberg-Kason Carol Lin, When News Breaks, Third Rail Press, 2025. 284 pgs. Carol Lin came of age in…
![[REVIEW] โ๐โ๐๐ ๐๐๐ค๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐๐ : Carol Linโs Memoir of Love and Warโ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/when.png?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โSTEP OUT Studiosโ The Next Movement Blasts Out Futuristic Sounds From the Dancersโ Feetโ by by Dawnaย Fung Wong Chun-ho (director), Zoe Chan & Cal Tang (artistic directors & choreographers), hirsk…
![[REVIEW] โSTEP OUT Studiosโ ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ก ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ก Blasts Out Futuristic Sounds From the Dancersโ Feetโ by by Dawna Fung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/the-next-movement2.jpg?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Kokuho: Lee Sang-ilโs Mesmerizing Portrait of Kabuki Mastery” by Jennifer Eagleton Lee Sang-il (director), Kokuho, 2025. 174 min. What makes Lee Sang-ilโs Kokuho special are the tight closeups of onnagata…
![[REVIEW] “๐พ๐๐๐ขโ๐: Lee Sang-ilโs Mesmerizing Portrait of Kabuki Mastery” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/httpsgkids.comfilmskokuho.png?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โThe Endearing Sisterhood in Yoko Ogawaโs Mina’s Matchboxโ by Fathima M Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Mina’s Matchbox. Yลko Ogawa (author), Stephen B. Snyder (translator), Minaโs Matchbox, Pantheon Books, 2024. 288…
![[REVIEW] โThe Endearing Sisterhood in Yoko Ogawaโs ๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐โ๐๐๐ฅโ by Fathima M](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/819ycgclrml._sl1500_.jpg?w=940)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โConsequences of Cosmopolitan Dreams in Nawapol Thamrongrattanaritโs Human Resource” by Lorence Lozano Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit (director), Human Resource, 2025. Three years after his last film, Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit returns with a new…
![[REVIEW] โConsequences of Cosmopolitan Dreams in Nawapol Thamrongrattanaritโs ๐ป๐ข๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐” by Lorence Lozano](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/nawapol-thamrongrattanarit-director-human-resource.png?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Editor’s note: Ai-Ting Chung’s essay โToxic Humidifiers and Atmospheric Thinking in Air Murderโ examines Air Murder (2022), directed by Jo Yong-sun, as an ecocinema work grounded in real-life tragedy: South Koreaโs…
![[ESSAY] โToxic Humidifiers andย Atmospheric Thinking in ๐ด๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐โ by Ai-Ting Chung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/air-murder-korea.jpg?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โImpossible (Between) Girls: Lilly Huโs One Girl Infiniteโ by Hongwei Bao Lilly Hu (director), One Girl Infinite ไธๅฏ่ฝๅฅณๅญฉ, 2025. 102 min. The Chinese title of Lilly Huโs (also known in…
![[REVIEW] โImpossible (Between) Girls: Lilly Huโs ๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐โ by Hongwei Bao](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/one-girl-infinite-e4b88de58fafe883bde5a5b3e5ada9-2025.jpeg?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โWhoโs Afraid of Not Conjoined Bodies?: Hon Lai Chuโs Mending Bodiesโ by Tin Yuet Tam Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Mending Bodies. Hon Lai Chu (author), Jacqueline Leung (translator), Mending Bodies,…
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Hisham Matar,ย The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land In Between,ย Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2016, 256 pgs.ย You walk into a memoir anticipating something deeply personal. You expect to encounter…
![[REVIEW] โA Memory of Absence: Hisham Matarโs ๐โ๐ ๐
๐๐ก๐ข๐๐โ by Varsha Nair](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/hisham-matar-the-return-fathers-sons-and-the-land-in-between-2.jpg?w=660)
Cha 