Category: Cha Review of Books and Films
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Editor’s note: Emma Zhang reflects on her shifting identity as a language teacher in an age when machine translation threatens the role of English as a bridge to the world. Seeking cultural understanding, she visits TalibΓ©, an exhibition by Mauritanian…
![[EXCLUSIVE] βππππππΜ: The Forgotten Faces of Globalisationβ by Emma Zhang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/e07c3432-3e50-439d-b428-1c00cf25c682.jpg?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βThe Dynasty that Dreamt in Red: Diamond Shumshere Ranaβs The Wake of the White Tiger” by Abhinav Tulachan Diamond Shumshere Rana, The Wake of the White Tiger. 1984. 235 pgs.…
![[REVIEW] βThe Dynasty that Dreamt in Red: Diamond Shumshere Ranaβs πβπ ππππ ππ πβπ πβππ‘π πππππβ by Abhinav Tulachan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/diamond-shumshere-rana-the-wake-of-the-white-tiger.jpg?w=347)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Sho Miyake (director), Two Seasons, Two Strangers (Tabi to Hibi), 2025. 89 min. A woman sits at her desk, a pencil poised above a blank page. She has been…
![[REVIEW] βWinter of The Soul: On Sho Miyakeβs ππ€π ππππ πππ , ππ€π ππ‘πππππππ β by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/still2_two-seasons-two-strangers_locarno.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Elizabeth Ai (editor), New Wave: Rebellion and Reinvention in the Vietnamese Diaspora, Angel City Press, 2024. 192 pgs. Elizabeth Aiβs edited volume New Wave: Rebellion and Reinvention in the…
![[REVIEW] βArchival RhythmsβYouth, Identity, and Cultural Resistance in the Vietnamese Diaspora: Elizabeth Ai’s πππ€ πππ£πβ by Nguyα»
n Minh TiαΊΏn](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/acp_11.11.24-54-copy.jpg?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βThe Power of Multilingual Inquiry: Mapping Intra-Asian Relations Beyond BinariesβSatoru Hashimotoβs Afterlives of Lettersβ by Jennifer Junwa Lau Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon Afterlives. Satoru Hashimoto, Afterlives…
![[REVIEW] βThe Power of Multilingual Inquiry: Mapping Intra-Asian Relations Beyond BinariesβSatoru Hashimotoβs π΄ππ‘πππππ£ππ ππ πΏππ‘π‘πππ β by Jennifer Junwa Lau](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/afterlives-of-letters-the-transnational-origins-of-modern-literature-in-china-japan-and-korea.jpg?w=1000)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Editor’s note: Gauri Yadav’s review essay explores Sumana Royβs How I Became a Tree as an ecofeminist, genre-defying work that reimagines autobiography through plant life. Blending personal narrative,…
![[EXCLUSIVE] βSumana Royβs π»ππ€ πΌ π΅πππππ π ππππ: Autobiography as Ecofeminist Manifestoβ by Gauri Yadav](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/sumana-roy-how-i-became-a-tree-.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS John Hsu (director), Dead Talents Society ι¬ΌζδΉι, 2024. 105 min. Put aside the spine-chilling horror of Nosferatu: what if the realm of the dead had its own celebrity influencers,…
![[REVIEW] βGazing at Ghosts: John Hsuβs π·πππ ππππππ‘π ππππππ‘π¦β by Keziah Cho](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/john-hsu-director-dead-talents-society--1.jpg?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βFiction as Control: Yiyun Liβs Exacting The Book of Gooseβ by Zalman S.Β Davis ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Yiyun Li.Β Yiyun Li, The Book of Goose, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022.…
![[REVIEW] βFiction as Control: Yiyun Liβs Exacting πβπ π΅πππ ππ πΊπππ πβ by Zalman S. Davis](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/yiyun-li-the-book-of-goose-farrar-straus-and-giroux.jpg?w=978)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jeremy Atherton Lin, Deep House: The Gayest Love Story Ever Told, Allen Lane, 2025. Deep House, a memoir by Jeremy Atherton Lin, may or may not be βthe gayest…
![[REVIEW] βOn Queerness, Migration and Same-Sex MarriageβA Review of Jeremy Atherton Linβs π·πππ π»ππ’π π: πβπ πΊππ¦ππ π‘ πΏππ£π ππ‘πππ¦ πΈπ£ππ ππππβ by Hongwei Bao](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/deep-house-by-jeremy-atherton-lin--1.jpg?w=987)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] βAs If Present; As If Absent: Fang Fangβs Wuhanβ by Angus Stewart Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Fang Fang. Editor’s note: In this eloquent and incisive…
![[ESSAY] βAs If Present; As If Absent: Fang Fangβs Wuhanβ by Angus Stewart](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/fang-fang.jpg?w=976)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Weike Wang, Rental House, Riverhead Books, 2024. 224 pgs. Reading Rental House is, for a Chinese person, a singularly curiousβalmost epiphanicβexperience. Years ago, slightly tipsy at a reception in…
![[REVIEW] βItβs My House, and I Live Here: Weike Wangβs π
πππ‘ππ π»ππ’π πβ by Peixuan Xie](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/rental-house.jpg?w=994)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Winifred Dongyi Wang, Dissection of the Moon, Accent Edition, 2025. 232 pgs. Dissection of the Moon is a hybrid workβa knotted thing. It unspools the lines drawn across gender,…
![[REVIEW] βKnotted Threads: Memory, Language, and Violence in Winifred Dongyi Wangβs π·ππ π πππ‘πππ ππ π‘βπ ππππβ by Heather Y. Kim](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/https-accentaccent.comforthcoming-dissection-of-the-moon.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 Cha on Vigil.Β Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Vigil: The Struggle for Hong Kong, Brixton Ink, 2025. 176 pgs. Jeffrey Wasserstromβs Vigil: Hong Kong on the Brink was…
![[REVIEW] βHong Kong Remembered and Rewritten: Jeffrey Wasserstromβs πππππβ by Wayne Wong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/vigil.jpg?w=977)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ming-sho Ho, Challenging Beijingβs Mandate of Heaven: Taiwanβs Sunflower Movement and Hong Kongβs Umbrella Movement, Temple University Press, 2018. 270 pgs. Ming-sho Hoβs Challenging Beijingβs Mandate of Heaven compares…
![[REVIEW] βRadicals, Realists, and RevolutionsβA Tale of Two Movements: Ming-sho Hoβs πΆβπππππππππ π΅ππππππβπ ππππππ‘π ππ π»πππ£ππβ by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/this-is-just-the-begining.jpg?w=720)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ee Ling Quah, Fire Dragon Feminism: Asian Migrant Womenβs Tales of Migration, Coloniality and Racial Capitalism, Bloomsbury, 2025. 216 pgs. βAn exchange of glances, light nods and eye contacts…
![[REVIEW] βDecorative Roles and Dehumanising Gazes: Reflections on Ee Ling Quahβs πΉπππ π·πππππ πΉππππππ πβ by Loritta Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/fire-dragon-feminism-asian-migrant-womens-tales-of-migration-coloniality-and-racial-capitalism.jpg?w=978)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Alvin Pang, All That is Left of the Sea: Selected Poems, Red River Press, 2025. 148 pgs. Emotions and poetry often operate by falling into sync with one another.…
![[REVIEW] βA Bubble of the Sea Holds the Cosmos and Its Caricature: Alvin Pangβs π΄ππ πβππ‘ ππ πΏπππ‘ ππ π‘βπ πππβ by Kabir Deb](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/alvin-pang-all-that-is-left-of-the-sea-selected-poems-1.jpg?w=792)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kyung-Ran JoΒ (author),Β Chi-Young KimΒ (translator), Blowfish, Astra House, 2025. 304 pgs. Blowfish is a taut, deceptively quiet novel, structured as a contrapuntal meditation on grief, disconnection, and stillness. The stillness seethes…
![[REVIEW] “To Stay, To See, To Not Flee: Kyung-Ran Jo’s π΅πππ€πππ β” by Ananya Singh](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/blowfish-a-novel-hardcover-e28093-july-15-2025-by-kyung-ran-jo-author-chi-young-kim-translator-1.jpg?w=979)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Worst Kind of Dystopia: Hon Lai Chu’s Mending Bodies” by Luca Griseri ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaonΒ Mending Bodies. Hon Lai Chu (author), Jacqueline Leung (translator), Mending Bodies, Two Lines…
![[REVIEW] “The Worst Kind of Dystopia: Hon Lai Chu’s πππππππ π΅πππππ ” by Luca Griseri](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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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βThe Partyβs Interests Come First: Joseph Torigianβs The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi JinpingβΒ by Susan Blumberg-Kason Joseph Torigian, The Party’s Interests Come First: The Life of Xi…
![[REVIEW] βThe Partyβs Interests Come First: Joseph Torigianβs πβπ πΏπππ ππ ππ πβππππ₯π’π, πΉππ‘βππ ππ ππ π½ππππππβΒ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/xi-jinping.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kimβ―Wonβseok (director), When Life Gives You Tangerines, 2025. 16βepisode Netflix original series, split into four volumes. Falling under the category of K-drama, When Life Gives You Tangerines is Netflixβs…
![[REVIEW] βThe Sweetness of Resilience: Unraveling Netflixβs πβππ πΏπππ πΊππ£ππ πππ’ ππππππππππ β by Dinisha Nayak](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/aaaabfesqbulveyjma9rfwntp2u9hy-6mavdb4lcblrsvdvhzrh8w6dh4ity37vmdt1pnjzdsmaz2jrr6noncmrimqhvgyu6cdsxalvb.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jeet Thayil (author), The Elsewhereans: A Documentary Novel, Fourth Estate, 2025. 219 pgs. With time and the evolution of human civilisation, the significance of stories has become increasingly apparent.…
![[REVIEW] βWhen Time Flies With Us, We Live Many Lives: Jeet Thayilβs πβπ πΈππ ππ€βππππππ β by Kabir Deb](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/jeet-thayils-the-elsewhereans-1.jpg?w=1002)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Niloufar-Lily Soltani, Zulaikha, Inanna Publications, 2023. 332 pgs. If there is a single word that can encapsulate the novel Zulaikha, it is beautyβa beauty that transcends the physical…
![[REVIEW] βBeauty and Strength in Niloufar-Lily Soltaniβs ππ’ππππβπβ by Fathima M](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/in-niloufar-lily-soltanis-zulaikha.jpg?w=1000)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βBetween Rupture and Continuity: Charting Anachronistic Literary Modernity in Satoru Hashimotoβs Afterlives of Lettersβ by Charlie Ng Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Afterlives. Satoru Hashimoto, Afterlives…
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Meena Kandasamy, Exquisite Cadavers, Simon & Schuster India, 2025. 112 pgs. Borrowed from the French term cadavre exquisβa technique devised by the Surrealists to produce collective, chance-based creationsβthe title…
![[REVIEW] βFragments Toward a Whole: Meena Kandasamyβs πΈπ₯ππ’ππ ππ‘π πΆππππ£πππ β by Ananya Singh](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/meena-kandasamy.jpg?w=568)
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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 Vigil. Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Vigil: The Struggle for Hong Kong, Brixton Ink, 2025. 176 pgs. The ability to document pivotal historical events with scholarly…
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Quan Manh Ha and Paul Christiansen (translators). Light Out and Modern Vietnamese Stories, 1930β1954. Northern Illinois University Press, an imprint of Cornell University Press, 2024. 228 pgs. Light Out…
![[REVIEW] βWriting Against Empire: πΏππβπ‘ ππ’π‘ and Survival in Colonial Vietnamβ by Josie Miller](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/light-out.jpg?w=1000)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Faiqa Mansab, The Sufi Storyteller, Neem Tree Press, 2025. 320 pgs. Faiqa Mansabβs The Sufi Storyteller emerges not merely as a compelling narrative in its own right, but…
![[REVIEW] βIn the Realm of Story: Faiqa Mansabβs πβπ ππ’ππ ππ‘πππ¦π‘πππππ and the Reclaiming of South Asian Mythic Narrativeβ by Namrata](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/https-neemtreepress.combookthe-sufi-storyteller-1.jpg?w=977)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ryan Dunch and Ashley Esarey (editors), Taiwan in Dynamic Transition: Nation Building and Democratization, University of Washington Press, 2020. 256 pgs. Taiwan has long been a focal point in the study…
![[REVIEW] βTaiwanβs Political Evolution and the Study of Comparative Politics as seen in ππππ€ππ ππ π·π¦πππππ πππππ ππ‘πππβ by Eric D. de Roulet](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/taiwan-in-dynamic-transition-nation-building-and-democratization-1.jpg?w=1000)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ming-sho Ho, Be Water: Collective Improvisation in Hong Kongβs Anti-Extradition Protests, Temple University Press, 2025. 258 pgs. The Hong Kong protests of 2019, which erupted in opposition to the…
![[REVIEW] “Improvising Revolution: Hong Kongβs Protests Through the Lens of Ming-sho Ho” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/the-flowers-of-democracy-are-everywhere.jpg?w=1024)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Mending Bodies. Hon Lai Chu (author), Jacqueline Leung (translator), Mending Bodies, Two Lines Press, 2025. 240 pgs. For those who haven’t read the original Chinese…
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