Category: Cha Review of Books and Films
-
π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Liu Liangcheng (author), Jeremy Tiang (translator), Bearing Word, Balestier Press, 2023. 340 pgs. Liu Liangchengβs Bearing Word is a story about a polyglot translator, a donkey who can see…
![[REVIEW] “Everything Comes Alive, Every Creature Has Agency: Liu Liangcheng’s π΅ππππππ ππππ” by Serena De Marchi](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/bearing-word-1.jpg?w=657)
-
π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Douglas Robinson, Gulliverβs Voyage to Phantomimia: A Transcreation, Zeta Books, 2020. 356 pgs. I imagine, that in the Great Deluge, 2 sworn Enemies, having clumb up onto the same…
![[REVIEW] ββWhat is He Doing Playing Fantastickall Fictive Games with Realitie?β Or, βA Pandemonium of Embracesβ: Luxuriating in Douglas Robinsonβs Transcreation of Volter Kilpiβs Unfinished πΊπ’ππππ£ππβπ πππ¦πππ π‘π πβπππ‘ππππππβ by Jason S Polley](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/gullivers-voyage-to-phantomimia-a-transcreation-1.png?w=1024)
-
πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ The Seven Moons. Shehan Karunatilaka, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, Penguin India, 2022. This review is cross-published with Polity. A murdered journalist “awakens” in…
![[REVIEW] “Impunity, Violence, and the Politics of Representation: Shehan Karunatilaka’s πβπ πππ£ππ πππππ ππ πππππ π΄ππππππ” by Harshana Rambukwella](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/the-seven-moons-of-maali-almeida_shehan-karunatilaka.png?w=1024)
-
π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Malcolm Mejin, The Diary of a Rich Kid: Lost in Space, Penguin Random House SEA, 2023. 208 pgs. Malcolm Mejinβs The Diary of a Rich Kid: Lost in Space…
![[REVIEW] βPlay Pretend: Malcolm Mejinβs πβπ π·ππππ¦ ππ π π
ππβ πΎππβ by Frances An](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/diary-of-a-rich-kid-lost-in-space-1.jpg?w=407)
-
θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “We Fight for Causes When the Odds Are Stacked Against Us: Togani (The Crucible)” by Jack Greenberg Gong Ji-young (author), Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton (translators),Β Togani, University of Hawai’i Press, 2023.…
![[REVIEW] “We Fight for Causes When the Odds Are Stacked Against Us: ππππππ (The Crucible)” by Jack Greenberg](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/togani-gong-ji-young-1.jpg?w=1024)
-
π Return to First Impressionsπ Return to Cha Review of Books and Films Soon Ai Ling (author) and Yeo Wei Wei (translator), Diasporic, Balestier Press, 2023. Soon Ai Lingβs short stories weave cultural trajectories from Guangdong, Hong Kong, the UK,…
![[REVIEW] “New Languages and New Lives: Soon Ai Ling’s π·πππ πππππ” by Astrid MΓΈller-Olsen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/diasporic-1.jpg?w=495)
-
π Return to First Impressionsπ Return to Cha Review of Books and Films ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ The Sorrows of Others. Ada Zhang, The Sorrows of Others, A Public Space, 2023. 160 pgs. Previously on Cha, Susan Blumberg-Kason reviewed Ada Zhangβs…
![[REVIEW] “A Fractured Chinese American Diaspora in Ada Zhangβs πβπ ππππππ€π ππ ππ‘βπππ ” by Frances An](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/the-sorrows-of-others-ada-zhang.jpg?w=700)
-
π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Owlish. Dorothy Tse (author), Natascha Bruce (translator), Owlish, Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2023. 224 pgs. Iβve always sensed that Hong Kong has a unique way of combining the…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Making Sense of Time: Dorothy Tse and ππ€πππ β” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/dorothy-tse-cha-an-asian-literary-journal.jpg?w=1024)
-
π Return to First Impressionsπ Return to Cha Review of Books and Films Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on The Sorrows of Others. Ada Zhang, The Sorrows of Others, A Public Space, 2023. 160 pgs. Empathy. Itβs a simple word and one…
![[REVIEW] βEmpathy is Key: Ada Zhangβs πβπ ππππππ€π ππ ππ‘βπππ ” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/the-sorrows-of-others-1.jpg?w=700)
-
π Return to First Impressionsπ Return to Cha Review of Books and Films BαΊ£o Ninh (author), Quan Manh Ha and Cab Tran (translators and editors), HΓ Nα»i at Midnight: Stories, with a foreword by Nguyα» n VΔn ThuαΊ₯n, Texas Tech University…
![[REVIEW] βA Paradigm Shift: BαΊ£o Ninhβs HΓ Nα»i at Midnight” by Mia Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/hanoi-at-midnight-1.png?w=967)
-
π Return to First Impressionsπ Return to Cha Review of Books and Films Tim Tim Cheng, Tapping at Glass, Verve Poetry Press, 2023. 44 pgs. History, of course, repeats itself. What was termed βThe Lost Generationβ by Gertrude Stein, to…
![[REVIEW] “Permutations of Loss: The Poetics of Tim Tim Cheng” by Sam Cheuk](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/cheng-tim-tim_tapping-at-glass.png?w=1024)
-
θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Outstanding Translations of a Singular Poet: Yam Gong’s Moving a Stone” by Mary King Bradley and Matthew Cheng Yam Gong (author), James Shea and Dorothy Tse (translators), Moving a Stone,…
![[REVIEW] “Outstanding Translations of a Singular Poet: Yam Gong’s πππ£πππ π ππ‘πππ” by Mary King Bradley and Matthew Cheng](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/moving-a-stone-copy.jpg?w=896)
-
π Return to First Impressionsπ Return to Cha Review of Books and Films Shirley Geok-lin Lim, In Praise of Limes, Sungold Editions, 2022. 106 pgs. In this review of Shirley Geok-lin Limβs In Praise of Limes, I attempt a process which…
![[REVIEW] “Limβs Limes Call To Mind⦔ by Dean A. F. Gui](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/praise-of-limes.png?w=1024)
-
π Return to First Impressionsπ Return to Cha Review of Books and Films Rin Ishigaki (author), Janine Beichman (translator), and Paul Rossiter (editor), This Overflowing Light: Selected Poems, with an introduction by Janine Beichman, Isobar Press, 2022. 118 pgs. When…
![[REVIEW] βRin Ishigakiβs Poetry as Resilienceβ by Nadine Willems](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/the-overflowing-light-1.jpg?w=653)
-
π Return to First Impressionsπ Return to Cha Review of Books and Films Gish Jen, Thank You, Mr. Nixon: Stories, Alfred A Knopf, 2022. 272 pgs. βA beautiful country full of beautiful coats, what could that be but evil?β ponders…
![[REVIEW] βLaughter of the Displaced: A Review of Gish Jenβs πβπππ πππ’, ππ. πππ₯ππβ by Emma H. Zhang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/thank-you-mr-nixon-gish-jen.png?w=1024)
-
{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Ping Zhu and Hui Faye Xiao (editors), Feminisms with Chinese Characteristics, Syracuse University Press, 2021. 408 pgs. In Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, on the shore where the Fu and Nan rivers…
![[REVIEW] βWhat Does It Mean to Be a Feminist in China? Reviewing πΉππππππ ππ Β π€ππ‘β πΆβππππ π πΆβπππππ‘ππππ π‘πππ β by X. H. Collins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/feminists_chinese-characteristics.png?w=1024)
-
πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Strange Beasts. Yan Ge (author) and Jeremy Tiang (translator), Strange Beasts of China, Tilted Axis Press, 2020. 314 pgs. My previous Cha review of a Chinese…
![[REVIEW] βππ‘πππππ π΅πππ π‘π ππ πΆβπππ: Harnessing πβπππ’ππ and Magic Realism to Satirise Otheringβ by Cyril Camus](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/strangebeastsofchinav3ccorrected_v3c-copy.jpg?w=668)
-
{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films} Philip Bowring. The Making of the Modern Philippines: Pieces of a Jigsaw State, Bloomsbury, 2022. 272 pgs. The thing with a jigsaw puzzle is it is a mental pursuit of completion; that somebody shuffles…
![[REVIEW] βSifting Through The Rubble: Reading Philip Bowringβs πβπ ππππππ ππ ππππππ πβπππππππππ β by Jose Santos P. Ardivilla](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/the-making-of-the-modern-philippines-1.jpeg?w=568)
-
{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films} Against the backdrop of ongoing wars and climate crisis, I found myself reading Daryl Lim Wei Jieβs Anything but Human, Gwee Li Suiβs This Floating World, and Heng Siok Tianβs Grandmaβs Attic,…
![[REVIEW] βToying With Lost Time: A Review of Three Poetry Collections from Landmark Booksβ by Cheng Tim Tim](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/landmark-books.png?w=1024)
-
{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Karen Ma. Chinaβs Millennial Digital Generation: Conversations with Balinghou (Post-1980s) Indie Filmmakers, Long River Press, 2022. 260 pgs. On 2 January 1997, I boarded a plane in Shanghai heading to Chicago. The…
![[REVIEW] “Giving a Voice to Those With None: Karen Ma’s πΆβπππ’π ππππππππππ π·ππππ‘ππ πΊππππππ‘πππ” by X. H. Collins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/chinas-millennial-digital-generation-conversations-with-balinghou-post-1980s-indie-filmmakers-1.png?w=1024)
-
{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Wesley Leon Aroozoo. The Punkhawala and the Prostitute, Epigram, 2021. 352 pgs. A finalist of Epigram Books Fiction Prize 2021, Wesley Leon Aroozooβs The Punkhawala and the Prostitute tells the tale of…
![[REVIEW] “Quintessential Singlit? Wesley Leon Aroozoo’s πβπ ππ’ππβππ€πππ πππ π‘βπ ππππ π‘ππ‘π’π‘πβ by Michael Tsang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/wesley-leon-aroozoos-the-punkhawala-and-the-prostitute.png?w=1024)
-
{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Nabina Das (translator), Alam Khorshed (curator), Arise out of the Lock: 50 Bangladeshi Women Poets in English, Balestier Press, 2022. 176 pgs. Arise Out of the Lock is a poetry collection by…
![[REVIEW] βπ΄πππ π ππ’π‘ ππ π‘βπ πΏπππ: On Resistance, Connection, and Enchantmentβ by Sharyn Phu](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/arise-out-of-the-lock.png?w=1024)
-
{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Maghiel van Crevel and Lucas Klein, eds., Chinese Poetry and Translation: Rights and Wrongs, Amsterdam University Press, 2019. 356 pgs. In a previous article about how late 20th/early 21st-century British and American…
![[REVIEW] “πΆβππππ π ππππ‘ππ¦ πππ πππππ πππ‘πππ: A Multi-Angled Overview of What Happens When Worlds Collideβ by Cyril Camus](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/chinese-poetry-and-translation-lucas-klein-.png?w=1024)
-
{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Perhat Tursun (author), Darren Byler and Anonymous (translators), The Backstreets: A Novel from Xinjiang, Columbia University Press, 2022. 168 pgs. A man leaves an office in ΓrΓΌmqi, and starts walking. The sun…
![[REVIEW] “A Psychoanalytical Auto-fictional Biography of a City: Perhat Tursun’s πβπ π΅ππππ π‘ππππ‘π ” by Serena De Marchi](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/the-backstreets-perhat-tursun.png?w=1024)
-
πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Indelible City. Louisa Lim, Indelible City: Dispossession and Defiance in Hong Kong, Text Publishing Melbourne Australia, 2022. 306 pgs. Louisa Limβs 2022 book Indelible City:…
![[REVIEW] “Beyond Birth, Blood, and Soil: Reading Louisa Limβs πΌππππππππ πΆππ‘𦔠by Emma Zhang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/indelible-city-louisa-lim-1.jpg?w=1024)
-
{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Monika Gaenssbauer and Nicholas Olczak (editors). Of Forests and Humans: Hong Kong Contemporary Short Fiction. Edition Cathay, vol. 74, Bochum, Projekt Verlag, 2019. 126 pgs. In Of Forests and Humans, Monika Gaenssbauer…
![[REVIEW] βStories Grow in Hong Kong: A Review of ππ πΉππππ π‘π πππ π»π’ππππ β by Astrid MΓΈller-Olsen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/of-forests-and-humans-1.jpg?w=519)
-
{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Phoebe Tsang, Setting Fire to Water. Thistledown Press, 2022. 220 pgs. Phoebe Tsangβs short story collection Setting Fire to Water is a delightful debut that transforms seemingly prosaic lives and events into…
![[REVIEW] “Dream-like Reality: Phoebe Tsang’s πππ‘π‘πππ πΉπππ π‘π πππ‘ππ” by Aerith Au](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/fire-to-water_phoebe-tsang.png?w=1024)
-
Duo Duo (author), Lucas Klein (translator and editor), Words as Grain (Yale University Press, 2021. 280 pgs.Β A farmer went out to sow his seed.Β As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and…
![[REVIEW] βA Parable of the Eccentric Sower: Duo Duoβs πππππ ππ πΊππππβ by Joanna Krenz](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/duo-duo_words-as-grain_lucas-klein.png?w=1024)
-
{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Annika A. Culver and Norman Smith (editors), Manchukuo Perspectives: Transnational Approach to Literary Production, Hong Kong University Press, 2020. Miserable human mouths are born on each ink drop. The paper gets crowded…
![[REVIEW] “The Buried Past Revealed: Reading ππππβπ’ππ’π ππππ ππππ‘ππ£ππ β by Yu MΓΌller](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/manchukuo-perspectives-transnational-approach-to-literary-production-hong-kong-university-press.png?w=1024)
-
{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} {This review is cross-posted on Agora.} Donald Keene and Shiba RyΕtarΕ (authors), Tony Gonzalez (translator), Edo Japan Encounters the World: Conversations Between Donald Keene and Shiba Ryotaro, Japan Library, 2018. 137 pgs.…
![[REVIEW] βAn Intellectual Exchange: A Review of πΈππ π½ππππ πΈππππ’ππ‘πππ π‘βπ πππππβ by James Kin Pong Au](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/edo-japan-encounters-the-world-conversations-between-donald-keene-and-shiba-ryotaro.png?w=1024)
Cha 