Category: Cha Review of Books and Films
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS π RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on People from My Neighbourhood. Hiromi Kawakami (author), Ted Goossen (translator), People from My Neighbourhood, Granta Books, 2021. 96 pgs. The interconnected stories in Hiromi…
![[REVIEW] βExtraordinarily ordinary?: Hiromi Kawakamiβs ππππππ ππππ ππ¦ ππππβπππ’πβπππβ by Marsha McDonald](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/people-from-my-neighbourhood.jpg?w=1005)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS πRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Fly Me to the Moon. Sasha Chuk (director), Fly Me to the Moon δ½ι‘δΊΊι·δΉ , 2023. 112 min. A story fraught with the problems and pain…
![[REVIEW] βWhile Weβre Still Connected: Sasha Chukβs πΉππ¦ ππ π‘π π‘βπ ππππβ by Kammy Lee](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/fly-me-to-the-moon.jpg?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “To Experience A World That No Longer Exists: Chβoe MyΕngik’s Patterns of the Heart” by Jack Greenberg Chβoe MyΕngik (author), Janet Poole (translator), Patterns of the Heart and Other Stories,…
![[REVIEW] “To Experience A World That No Longer Exists: Chβoe MyΕngik’s πππ‘π‘ππππ ππ π‘βπ π»ππππ‘” by Jack Greenberg](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/patterns-of-the-heart-1.jpg?w=966)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILM Wang Anyi (author), Todd Foley (translator), I Love Bill and Other Stories, Foreword by Xudong Zhang, Cornell University Press, 2023. 260 pgs. Since reading the original in 2001, I…
![[REVIEW] “Chinaβs Most Important Woman Writer of The Last Half-century: A Review of Wang Anyi’s πΌ πΏππ£π π΅πππ πππ ππ‘βππ ππ‘πππππ ” by Sabina Knight](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/copy-of-copy-of-copy-of-chris-song.png?w=940)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Banality That Starts It All: Dorothy Tse’s Owlish” by Luca Griseri Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Owlish. Dorothy Tse (author), Natascha Bruce (translator), Owlish, Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2023. 224 pgs. Many reviewers…
![[REVIEW] “The Banality That Starts It All: Dorothy Tse’s ππ€πππ β” by Luca Griseri](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 FILM Leung Wing-Fai and Andy Willis (editors), East Asian Film Stars, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. 236 pages. Youβre a Cantonese researcher rummaging through the library and cannot believe your eyes. Thereβs…
![[REVIEW] “Stardom Before Netflix: A Review of πΈππ π‘ π΄π πππ πΉπππ ππ‘πππ ” by Mario Rustan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/east-asian-film-stars.jpg?w=946)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “No Better Place to Start: FuchsiaΒ Dunlop’s Invitation to a Banquet” by Kyle Muntz Fuchsia Dunlop, Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food, Particular Books, 2023, 480 pgs. China…
![[REVIEW] “No Better Place to Start: FuchsiaΒ Dunlop’s πΌππ£ππ‘ππ‘πππ π‘π π π΅ππππ’ππ‘” by Kyle Muntz](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/invitation-to-a-banquet-chinese-food.jpg?w=961)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Read βReading Jin Yong in Translation, Part IIβ HERE. Jin Yong, aka Louis Cha Leung-yung (1924β2018). β Jin Yong (author), Shelly Bryant, Gigi Chang, and Anna Holmwood (translators) Legends of the…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Kung Fu Is a Store of Infinite Fun: Reading Jin Yong in Translation, Part I” by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/legends-of-the-condor-heroes--2.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Leta Hong Fincher, Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China (10th Anniversary Edition), Bloomsbury, 2023. 280 pgs. In Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China Leta Hong…
![[REVIEW] “A Great Cry for Help: Leta Hong Fincher’s πΏπππ‘ππ£ππ πππππ” by Marika Trimigno](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/leta-hong-fincher-leftover-women-the-resurgence-of-gender-inequality-in-china-1.jpg?w=568)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Losers of Chinaβs Sexual Revolution: Tsering Yangkyiβs The Flowers of Lhasa” by Kevin McGeary Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on The Flowers of Lhasa. Tsering Yangkyi (author), Christopher Peacock (translator), The…
![[REVIEW] “The Losers of Chinaβs Sexual Revolution: Tsering Yangkyiβs πβπ πΉπππ€πππ ππ πΏβππ π” by Kevin McGeary](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/flowers-of-lhasa_tsering-yangkyi.jpg?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 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…
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βWhen Cosmopolitanism Traverses Across the Screen Beyond SubtitlesβFelicia Chan’s Cosmopolitan Cinema: Cross-Cultural Encounters in East Asian Film” by Kathy Nguyen Felicia Chan, Cosmopolitan Cinema: Cross-Cultural Encounters in East Asian Film,…
![[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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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “On Behalf of Those Who Weren’t Able to Survive: Kyung-Sook Shin’s Violets” by Beth Adams ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Violets. Kyung-Sook Shin (author), Anton Hur (translator), Violets, The Feminist Press,…
![[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 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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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 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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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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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 Shibani Mahtani and Timothy McLaughlin, Among the Braves: Hope, Struggle, and Exile in the Battle for hong Kong and the Future of Global Democracy, Hachette Books, 2023. 336 pgs.…
![[REVIEW] “The Story Isn’t Over Yet: Shibani Mahtani and Timothy McLaughlin’s π΄ππππ π‘βπ π΅πππ£ππ ” by James M Zimmerman](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/shibani-mahtani-and-timothy-mclaughlin.png?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Tragedies of Inequality: Bong Joon-hoβs Parasite and Jordan Peeleβs Us” by Jonathan Chan Bong Joon-Ho (director), Parasite, 2019. 132 min.Jordan Peele (director), Us, 2019, 116 min. The sociologist Teo You Yenn…
![[ESSAY] “Tragedies of Inequality: Bong Joon-hoβs πππππ ππ‘π and Jordan PeeleβsΒ ππ ” by Jonathan Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/us.png?w=749)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Tony Rayns, In the Mood for Love, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015. 96 pgs. βI didnβt think youβd fall in love with me,β says Mrs Chan. βI didnβt either,β says Mr…
![[REVIEW] “Feelings Can Creep Up Just Like That: Wong Kar-wai’s πΌπ π‘βπ ππππ πππ πΏππ£π” by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/screenshot-2023-12-28-at-13.07.29.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Shen Yang (author), Nicky Harman (translator), More Than One Child: Memoirs of an Illegal Daughter, Balestier Press, 2021. 280 pgs. βI broke the law simply by being bornββShen Yang…
![[REVIEW] “Not Just A Memoir: Shen Yangβs ππππ πβππ πππ πΆβπππ” by Lorenzo Donelli](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/more-than-one-child-1.jpg?w=969)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “On the Lighter Side: Nektaria Anastasiadou’s A Recipe for Daphne” by Beth Adams Nektaria Anastasiadou, A Recipe for Daphne, Hoopoe Fiction, 2021. 326 pgs. βA monstrous confusion of civilization and…
![[ESSAY] “On the Lighter Side: Nektaria Anastasiadou’s π΄ π
πππππ πππ π·ππβππ” by Beth Adams](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2021-02-12-dsc_0074-copy.jpg?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Writing from the Margins: Mahasweta Devi’s Truth/Untruth” by Jack Greenberg Mahasweta Devi (author), Anjum Katyal (translator), Truth/Untruth, Seagull Books, 2023. 144 pgs. Earlier this year, Seagull Books published the late…
![[REVIEW] “Writing from the Margins: Mahasweta Devi’s πππ’π‘β/πππ‘ππ’π‘β” by Jack Greenberg](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/truthuntruth-copy.jpeg?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 Bright Fear. Mary Jean Chan, Bright Fear, Faber & Faber, 2023. 72 pgs. I first encountered Mary Jean Chanβs work in the bookstore I used to…
![[REVIEW] βVibrant Being in Mary Jean Chanβs π΅πππβπ‘ πΉπππ” by Kika W. L. Van Robay](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/bright-fear-mary-jean-chan.png?w=891)
Cha 