Category: Cha Review of Books and Films
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Artist and author Fiona Hawthorne grew up in Hong Kong and much of her work is informed by her childhood, including two new books out this year: Drawing on the Inside: Kowloon…
![[REVIEW] “Fiona Hawthorne and Kowloon Walled City” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/fiona-hawthorne.png?w=1024)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Tahi Saihate (author) and Kalau Almony (translator), Astral Season, Beastly Season, Honford Star, 2021. 144 pgs. Tahi Saihate’s Astral Season, Beastly Season, translated from the Japanese by Kalau Almony, is an odd, beautiful,…
![[REVIEW] βRoughness of Thought: A Review of Tahi Saihate’s π΄π π‘πππ ππππ ππ, π΅πππ π‘ππ¦ ππππ ππβ by Maks Sipowicz](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/astral-season-beastly-season-tahi-saihate-translated-by-kalau-almony.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Peng Hsiao-yen (editor), The Assassin: Hou Hsiao-hsienβs World of Tang China, Hong Kong University Press, 2019. 252 ppgs. Published in 2019 by the Hong Kong University Press, The Assassin: Hou…
![[REVIEW] “A Historically Cosmopolitan, Mixed Culture: π»ππ’ π»π πππ-π»π πππβπ πππππ ππ ππππ πΆβπππβ by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/the-assassin.jpeg?w=1024)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ on Liu Yichang.ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ on John Minford. John Minford (general editor), Hong Kong Literature Series, The Chinese University Press, 2020. If the library was on fire…
![[REVIEW] “We Shall Have to Learn How to Live with Ghosts: A Review of John Minford’s π»πππ πΎπππ πΏππ‘ππππ‘π’ππ ππππππ ” by Douglas Kerr](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hong-kong-literature-series-1.png?w=1024)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Nicholas Wong, Besiege Me, Noemi Press, 2021. 88 pgs. Besiege Me (Noemi Press, 2021) is a new poetry collection by the award-winning Anglophone Hong Kong poet Nicholas Wong. The title is apt…
![[REVIEW] βThe Desire to Be Free and the Desire to Be Good: Nicholas Wongβs π΅ππ ππππ ππβ by Liam Blackford](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/besiege-me_nicholas-wong-1.jpeg?w=1024)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Duo Duo (author), Lucas Klein (translator), Words as Grain: New and Selected Poems. Yale University Press, 2021. 246 pgs. What follows can only be read as an impressionistic fleeting encounter between a…
![[REVIEW] “Myriad Powers of Words: Duo Duo’s πππππ ππ πΊππππ” by Liang Luo](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/words-as-grain_lucas-klein_duo-duo.png?w=1024)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} β Ho Chee Lick and Anne Lee Tzu Pheng, Common Life: Drawings and Poems, Ethos Books, 2018. 191 pgs.β Elaine Woo, Put Your Hand in Mine, Signature Editions, 2019. 91 pgs. Each time I…
![[REVIEW] “In Search of the Extraordinary in the Ordinary: A Review of Ho Chee Lick and Anne Lee Tzu Pheng’s πΆπππππ πΏπππ and Elaine Woo’s ππ’π‘ πππ’π π»πππ ππ ππππ” by Stephanie Studzinski](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/common-life_put-your-hand-in-mine-1.png?w=1024)
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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Simon Wickhamsmith (translator),Β Suncranes and Other Stories: Modern Mongolian Short Fiction, Columbia University Press, 2021. 296 pgs. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to disrupt international travel, entry into Mongolia remains…
![[REVIEW] “A Glimpse into Mongolia: ππ’πππππππ πππ ππ‘βππ ππ‘πππππ ” by Sarah KΓΆksal](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/suncranes-and-other-stories_cha-review.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Xuan Juliana Wang, Home Remedies, Penguin Random House, 2019. 240 pgs. Watching Olympic diving is agonisingly tense, even as I sit at my laptop in London to watch, 9,500km…
![[REVIEW] “Building Their Own Universes: A Review of Xuan Juliana Wang’s π»πππ π
πππππππ ” by Suyin Haynes](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/home-remedies_xuan-juliana-wang-copy.jpg?w=1024)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Grace Chia, The Arches of Gerrard Street, Penguin Random House SEA, 2021. 268 pgs. Itβs clear from the prologue alone that Grace Chia has prepared a complex and diverse diasporic world for…
![[REVIEW] “The Heterogeneity of the Vast Chinese Community: Grace Chia’s πβπ π΄ππβππ ππ πΊππππππ ππ‘ππππ‘” by Queenie Au](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/the-arches-of-gerrard-street.png?w=1024)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Jia Zhangke (director), Ash Is Purest White (Chinese name: ζ±ζΉε ε₯³ Jianhu ErnΓΌ), 2018. 136 min. Note: This review contains spoilers. One of the most influential Chinese independent film directors today, Jia Zhangke turns to the…
![[REVIEW] “Not Her Story: Jia Zhangkeβs π΄π β πΌπ ππ’πππ π‘ πβππ‘π” by Michael Tsang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ash-is-purest-white.jpeg?w=1024)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Tsering DΓΆndrup (author), Christopher Peacock (translator), The Handsome Monk and Other Stories, Columbia University Press, 2019. 216 pgs. Tsering DΓΆndrupβs The Handsome Monk and Other Stories shows that literatures from less visible…
![[REVIEW] “Noir Fables of Tibet: Tsering DΓΆndrupβs πβπ π»ππππ πππ ππππ πππ ππ‘βππ ππ‘πππππ ” by Michael Tsang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/the-handsome-monk-and-other-stories_asian-cha.png?w=1024)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books andΒ Films.} Kang Kyeong-ae (author), Anton Hur (translator), The Underground Village, Honford Star, 2018. 288 pgs. The Underground Village is a collection of short stories by one of colonial Koreaβs pioneer female authors, Kang Kyeong-ae, translated…
![[REVIEW] βLamentable Conditions and the Decrepit Body: A Review of Kang Kyeong-aeβs πβπ πππππππππ’ππ πππππππβ by Suhasini Patni](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/the-underground-village-kang-kyeong-ae-1.png?w=718)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} The Bauhinia Project, Hong Kong Without Us: A Peopleβs Poetry, University of Georgia Press, 2021. 120 pgs. Unusual times call for unusual ways of self-expression. At a time when civil freedoms in Hong…
![[REVIEW] “Poetry Blossoms Everywhere: A Review of π»πππ πΎπππ πππ‘βππ’π‘ ππ ” by Michael Tsang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/hong-kong-without-us.png?w=1024)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Sakinu Ahronglong (author), Darryl Sterk (translator), Hunter School, Honford Star, 2020. 184 pgs. Sakinu Ahronglongβs Hunter School, in a brilliant English translation by Darryl Sterk, is an engaging exploration of indigenous selfhood.…
![[REVIEW] “An Unapologetic, Proud Celebration of Paiwan Identity: Sakinu Ahronglong’s π»π’ππ‘ππ ππβπππ” by Serena De Marchi](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/hunter-school_sakinu-ahronglong-1.png?w=1024)
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{Written by Tim Murphy, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βCanonical Stories, Replacement Texts: A Review of The Japanese Discovery of Chinese…
![[REVIEW] βCanonical Stories, Replacement Texts: A Review of πβπ π½ππππππ π π·ππ πππ£πππ¦ ππ πΆβππππ π πΉπππ‘πππβ by Tim Murphy](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/william-c.-hedberg-the-japanese-discovery-of-chinese-fiction.jpeg?w=870)
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{Written by Ari Santiago, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Tahi Saihate (author) and Kalau Almony (translator), Astral Season, Beastly Season, Honford Star, 2021. 144 pgs. Contemporary young adult fiction has a…
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} YΕ« Miri (author), Morgan Giles (translator), Tokyo Ueno Station, Tilted Axis Press, 2021. 197 pgs. Though hosting the Olympic Games has often been seen as an attempt by governments to boost the…
![[REVIEW] “The Plight of the Homeless in Japan: A Review of YΕ« Miri’s ππππ¦π ππππ ππ‘ππ‘πππ” by James Au Kin-Pong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/tokyouenostation-2.jpg?w=762)
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Click HERE to read Michael O’Sullivan’s reflection on writing Lockdown Lovers, written exclusively for Cha, and an excerpt from the novel. πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Lockdown Lovers. Michael O’Sullivan, Lockdown…
![[REVIEW] βBefore We Know How It Will End: A Review of Michael OβSullivanβs πΏππππππ€π πΏππ£πππ β by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/lockdown-lovers_michael-osullivan.png?w=1024)
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{Written by Frances An, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Yeng Pway Ngon (author), Jeremy Tiang (translator), Costume, Balestier Press, 2020. 269 pgs. βLike so many of his characters, he [Yeng Pway Ngon] was…
![[REVIEW] βCantonese Opera as Collective Imagination: A Review of Yeng Pway Ngonβs πΆππ π‘π’ππβ by Frances An](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/yeng-pway-ngon_costume_jeremy-tiang.png?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Layered Spaces: A Review of Chi Ta-wei’sΒ The Membranes” by Serena De Marchi Chi Ta-wei (author), Ari Larissa Heinrich (translator),Β The Membranes, Columbia University Press, 2021. 168 pgs. Chi Ta-weiβs classic of…
![[REVIEW] “Layered Spaces: A Review of Chi Ta-wei’sΒ πβπ πππππππππ ” by Serena De Marchi](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/layered-spaces-a-review-of-chi-ta-weis-the-membranes-1.png?w=1024)
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{Written by Wong Yang, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Daryl Lim Wei Jie, A Book of Changes, Math Paper Press, 2016. 65 pgs. Few collections coming out of Singapore literatureβs βnew waveβ of…
![[REVIEW] “No Absolutes: A Review of Daryl Lim Wei Jie’s π΄ π΅πππ ππ πΆβπππππ ” by Wong Yang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/bookofchanges_front_078e160a-9c71-4861-a841-247fdebb0332.jpg?w=1024)
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{Written by Susan Blumberg-Kason, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Stephen Griffiths, The Kowloon English Club, Blacksmith Books, 2021. 292 pgs. Hong Kong in 1996 was a special time. The Handover was a…
![[REVIEW] “The Centre of the Universe: A Review of Stephen Griffiths’s The Kowloon English Club” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/kowloon-english-club-800px.jpeg?w=672)
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{Written by Jennifer Anne Eagleton, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Aftershock. Holmes Chan (editor), Aftershock: Essays from Hong Kong, Small Tune Press, 2020. 93 pgs. Aftershocks are small…
![[REVIEW] “Hong Kong’s Unstable Fault Lines: A Review of π΄ππ‘πππ βπππ” by Jennifer Anne Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/aftershock_edited-by-holmes-chan.png?w=1024)
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{Written by Frances An, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Rosemary Roberts and Li Li (editors), The Making and Remaking of Chinaβs Red Classics: Politics, Aesthetics, and Mass Culture, Hong Kong University…
![[REVIEW] “Amid Corrupt Cultural Landscapes: A Review of The Making and Remaking of Chinaβs Red Classics” by Frances An](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/the-making-and-remaking-of-chinas-red-classics-politics-aesthetics-and-mass-culture.png?w=1024)
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{Written by Quenntis Ashby, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Jason Erik Lundberg, A Fickle and Restless Weapon, Epigram Books, 2020. 456 pgs. Jason Erik Lundbergβs debut novel is a fascinating and…
![[REVIEW] “Identity is a Constant Negotiation and Struggle for a Self-Worth Fighting For: A Review of Jason Erik Lundbergβs A Fickle and Restless Weapon” by Quenntis Ashby](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/a-fickle-and-restless-weapon.png?w=1024)
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{Written by Karen Ma, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Heather Diamond, Rabbit in the Moon, Camphor Press, 2021. 302 pgs. Editors’ note: Rabbit in the Moon is scheduled for publication on…
![[REVIEW] “A Bittersweet Reminder: Reviewing Rabbit in the Moon” by Karen Ma](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/rabbit-in-the-moon-cover_heather-diamond-1.jpeg?w=994)
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{Written by Cherrie Kwok, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Aftershock. Holmes Chan (editor), Aftershock: Essays from Hong Kong, Small Tune Press, 2020. 93 pgs. The cover of Aftershock:…
![[REVIEW] “Traces that Haunt the Scene: A Review of π΄ππ‘πππ βπππ” by Cherrie Kwok](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/aftershock_holmes-chan.png?w=1024)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} The Bauhinia Project, Hong Kong Without Us: A Peopleβs Poetry, University of Georgia Press, 2021. 120 pgs. Figures take shape insofar as we can recognise, in passing discourse, something that has been read,…
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{Written by Susan Blumberg-Kason, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Malcolm Merry, The Unruly New Territories: Small Houses, Ancestral Estates, Illegal Structures, and Other Customary Land Practices of Rural Hong Kong, Hong Kong…
![[REVIEW] “Truculent Attitude and Independent Spirit: A Review of Malcolm Merry’s The Unruly New Territories” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/the-unruly-new-territories-small-houses-ancestral-estates-illegal-structures-and-other-customary-land-practices-of-rural-hong-kong-1.jpeg?w=666)
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