Category: Cha Review of Books and Films
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βA Messy Magnum Opus: Mai Jiaβs The Colonel and the Eunuchβ by Kevin McGeary Mai Jia (author), Dylan Levi King (translator). The Colonel and the Eunuch, Apollo, 2024. 400 pgs.…
![[REVIEW] βA Messy Magnum Opus: Mai Jiaβs πβπ πΆππππππ πππ π‘βπ πΈπ’ππ’πββ by Kevin McGeary](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/mai-jia-author-dylan-levi-king-translator.-the-colonel-and-the-eunuch.jpg?w=977)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Editor’s note: Qinxian Bonnie Ran’s essay examines Amitav Ghosh’s incorporation of Cantonese into English in River of Smoke. She argues that the novel’s multilingual Fanqui City creates a space where economic…
![[ESSAY] “Canton and Cantonese in Amitav Ghoshβs π
ππ£ππ ππ πππππ” by Qinxian Bonnie Ran](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/river-of-smoke_cha.jpg?w=990)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] βSleep, Baby, Oh Donβt You Sleep: Thailandβs Northeast in Apichatpong Weerasethakulβs Cemetery of Splendour and Thunska Pansittivorakulβs Isan Odysseyβ by Peixuan Xie β Apichatpong Weerasethakul (director), Cemetery of Splendour, 2015.…
![[ESSAY] βSleep, Baby, Oh Donβt You Sleep: Thailandβs Northeast in Apichatpong Weerasethakulβs πΆππππ‘πππ¦ ππ ππππππππ’π and Thunska Pansittivorakulβs πΌπ ππ πππ¦π π ππ¦β by Peixuan Xie](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/apichatpong-weerasethakuls-cemetery-of-splendour-and-thunska-pansittivorakuls-isan-odyssey.png?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] βWe Are What We Read: Reading Zheng Liuβs Cultural Mavericksβ by X. H. Collins Click HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Cultural Mavericks. Zheng Liu, Cultural Mavericks: The Business and Politics of…
![[ESSAY] βWe Are What We Read: Reading Zheng Liuβs πΆπ’ππ‘π’πππ πππ£ππππππ β by X. H. Collins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cultural-mavericks-the-business-and-politics-of-independent-bookselling-in-china.jpg?w=971)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Poetry as Archive: Creativity, Political Commitment, and the Everyday in Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’s If I Do Not Reply” by Hannah Steurer Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on If I Do Not Reply.…
![[ESSAY] “Poetry as Archive: Creativity, Political Commitment, and the Everyday in Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’s πΌπ πΌ π·π πππ‘ π
πππ𦔠by Hannah Steurer](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/if-i-do-not-reply_tammy-ho.jpg?w=907)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Ghostly Formations and Queer Futures: On Queer Southeast Asia” by Charlotte Marie Chadwick Shawna Tang and Hendri Yulius Wijaya (editors). Queer Southeast Asia, Routledge. 2022. 296 pgs. Queer Southeast Asia,…
![[ESSAY] “Ghostly Formations and Queer Futures: On ππ’πππ πππ’π‘βπππ π‘ π΄π ππ” by Charlotte Marie Chadwick](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/queer-southeast-asia-edited-by-shawna-tang-hendri-yulius-wijaya-copyright-2023.jpg?w=1000)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Editor’s note: Jason S Polley opens his review essay by recounting his fond and fervent championing of Kit Fanβs first novel, Diamond Hill (2021), whose Cantonese-inflected language enabled rare intergenerational and…
![[ESSAY] βπππ πΊππ Canton: Reading Kit Fanβs πΊπππππ¦π πΆβππππ‘ππ€πβ by Jason S Polley](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/goodbye-chinatown-kit-fan-cha.jpg?w=938)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βMordant Wit and Material Imagination in Huang Fan’s flower ashβ by Nicholas Y. H. Wong Huang Fan (author), Josh Stenberg (translator). flower ash, Flying Island Books, 2025. 120 pgs. I…
![[REVIEW] βMordant Wit and Material Imagination in Huang Fan’s ππππ€ππ ππ ββ by Nicholas Y. H. Wong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/huang-fan-author-josh-stenberg-translator.-flower-ash-flying-island-books.jpg?w=600)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Shelves, Stories, and Silence: Reading Zheng Liu’s Cultural Mavericks” by Laurence Westwood ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Cultural Mavericks. Zheng Liu, Cultural Mavericks: The Business and Politics of Independent Bookselling in…
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Editor’s note: Julien Pieronβs essay examines Sophie Houdartβs Ce territoire qui, comme une pulsationβ¦ (Γditions des mondes Γ faire, 2026), an ethnographic study of post-Fukushima life in TΕwa that portrays a world where catastrophe persists as an unclosed present. Through…
![[ESSAY] βLife in the Persistence of Fukushima: Sophie Houdartβs πΆπ π‘πππππ‘ππππ ππ’π, πππππ π’ππ ππ’ππ ππ‘πππβ¦β by Julien PieronΒ](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/maf_houdart_scan_01-resp2880.jpg?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “ReadingβMaking Notes on (There is Always Music)βGeoffrey William Brodaksilva’s The Philosophy of Aggressiveness” by Jeremy Fernando Geoffrey William. Brodaksilva. The Philosophy of Aggressiveness: The Necessity and Indeterminacy of Escape, Atropos…
![[ESSAY] “ReadingβMaking Notes on (There is Always Music)βGeoffrey William Brodaksilva’s πβπ πβππππ ππβπ¦ ππ π΄πππππ π ππ£ππππ π ” by Jeremy Fernando](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/the-philosophy-of-aggressiveness-geoffrey-w-brodaksilva-author.jpg?w=855)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “King of the Hong Kong Kids: Martin HΓΌrlimann’s Hong Kong” by Simon Patton Martin HΓΌrlimann. Hong Kong, Thames and Hudson, 1962. 139 pgs. From Martin HΓΌrlimann’s Hong Kong My sense…
![[REVIEW] “King of the Hong Kong Kids: Martin HΓΌrlimann’s π»πππ πΎπππ” by Simon Patton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/martin-hurlimann-reader-image.jpg?w=651)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Inheritance and Reinvention in Kit Fanβs Goodbye Chinatown” by Jennifer Eagleton Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon Goodbye Chinatown. Kit Fan, Goodbye Chinatown, World Editions, 2026. 268 pgs.…
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Editor’s note: Ryan Ho Kilpatrick reflects on Reorienting Taiwan: Ocean, Selfhood, and the Pacific, a volume that interrogates Taiwanβs asserted maritime identity. The contributors expose tensions between political rhetoric, historical experience,…
![[ESSAY] “Islands in Denial: π
πππππππ‘πππ ππππ€ππ Amid a Sea of Contradictions” by Ryan Ho Kilpatrick](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/reorientating-taiwan-ocean-selfhood-and-the-pacific.jpg?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] βThe Three Teachings in Action: Wayne Wongβs Martial Arts Ecologyβ by Mario Rustan Wayne Wong. Martial Arts Ecology: Aesthetics, Philosophy and Cinematic Mediation, Edinburgh University Press, 2026. 304 pgs. After…
![[ESSAY] βThe Three Teachings in Action: Wayne Wongβs ππππ‘πππ π΄ππ‘π πΈππππππ¦β by Mario Rustan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/wayne-wong.-martial-arts-ecology-aesthetics-philosophy-and-cinematic-mediation-edinburgh-university-press.jpg?w=750)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Gods, Ghosts, and the Lunar Year: Reading Joan Law and Barbara E. Ward’s Chinese Festivals” by Simon Patton Joan Mee Nar Law and Barbara E. Ward. Chinese Festivals: Hong Kong,…
![[REVIEW] “Gods, Ghosts, and the Lunar Year: Reading Joan Mee Nar Law and Barbara E. Ward’s πΆβππππ π πΉππ π‘ππ£πππ ” by Simon Patton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/41leivsiyil.jpg?w=500)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βWhen Goodbyes Are Not Permanent: Kit Fan’s Goodbye Chinatownβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon Goodbye Chinatown. Kit Fan, Goodbye Chinatown, World Editions, 2026. 268…
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βContradictions Amidst a Nation Aborted in Jun Robles Lanaβs Sisaβ by Lorence Lozano Jun Robles Lana (director), Sisa, 2025. 115 min. After its world premiere last year at the 29th…
![[REVIEW] βContradictions Amidst a Nation Aborted in Jun Robles Lanaβs πππ πβ by Lorence Lozano](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/sisa-directed-by-jun-lana.jpg?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βThe Shame Economy: Caste as Currency in Mulk Raj Anandβs Untouchableβ by Abhinav Tulachan Mulk Raj Anand, Untouchable, Wishart Books Ltd., 1935. 160 pgs. βIn a country where caste is…
![[REVIEW] βThe Shame Economy: Caste as Currency in Mulk Raj Anandβs πππ‘ππ’πβππππβ by Abhinav Tulachan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/untouchable-mulk-raj-anand-1.jpg?w=979)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Editor’s note: Beth Adams approaches Do You Like Brahms?, a Korean TV drama set within a prestigious Seoul music school, through her enduring interest in Asian television that explores artistic vocation,…
![[ESSAY] “Music, Ambition, and Quiet Longing in π·π πππ’ πΏπππ π΅ππβππ ?” by Beth Adams](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/do-you-like-brahms_.jpg?w=426)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βClaire Lee’s On The Verge: Silence, Urban & City Life, and Quiet Chaosβ by Tin Yuet Tam Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon On the Verge. Claire Lee, On the Verge, Independently…
![[REVIEW] βClaire Lee’s On The Verge: Silence, Urban & City Life, and Quiet Chaosβ by Tin Yuet Tam](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/on-the-verge_claire-lee.png?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Freedom from Time and Space: On James Sheaβs Last Day of My Face” by Jonathan Han Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Last Day of My Face. James Shea, The Last Day…
![[REVIEW] “Freedom from Time and Space: On James Sheaβs πΏππ π‘ π·ππ¦ ππ ππ¦ πΉπππ” by Jonathan Han](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/https-uipress.uiowa_.edubookslast-day-my-face.jpg?w=970)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βCultivating the Infinite: The Art and Spiritual Vision of Zhao Hai Tienβ by Jennifer Eagleton Zhao Hai Tien, Cultivation: The Art of Zhao Hai Tien, University of Hong Kong Press,…
![[REVIEW] βCultivating the Infinite: The Art and Spiritual Vision of Zhao Hai Tienβ by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/https-__www.haitienart.com_.webp?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Editor’s note: Aastha Upretyβs essay reads Jia Zhangke’s Still Life and Razan AlSalah’s A Stoneβs Throw as twin elegies of engineered upheaval, where dams and pipelines reorder earth and memory. Through…
![[ESSAY] βEnergies of Displacement: Transformation in Jia Zhangkeβs ππ‘πππ πΏπππ and Razan AlSalahβs π΄ ππ‘πππβπ πβπππ€βby Aastha Uprety](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/energies-of-displacement-transformation-in-jia-zhangkes-still-life-and-razan-alsalahs-a-stones-throw-by-aastha-uprety.png?w=935)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βKarbala and the Ethics of Resistance: Premchandβs Vision of Communal Harmonyβ by Fathima M Premchand (author), Haris Qadeer and Sami Rafiq (translators), Karbala, Sahitya Akademi, 2023. 232 pgs. The tragedy…
![[REVIEW] βπΎππππππ and the Ethics of Resistance: Premchandβs Vision of Communal Harmonyβ by Fathima M](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/02smpremchand-removebg-preview.png?w=494)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Editor’s note: Jonathan Chan reads She Follows No Progression (Wendyβs Subway, 2024), edited by Juwon Jun and Rachel Valinsky, as a collective meditation on Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, attending closely to…
![[ESSAY] βReading the Gap: Indeterminacy, Translation, and Legacy in πβπ πΉπππππ€π ππ πππππππ π πππβ by Jonathan Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/she-follows-no-progression-a-theresa-hak-kyung-cha-reader-edited-by-juwon-jun-and-rachel-valinsky.png?w=579)
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θΆ LEEDSθΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [LEEDS | REVIEW] “Primal Energy and Female Defiance in Sheng Keyi’s Northern Girls” by Cuilin Sang Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Northern Girls. Sheng Keyi (author), Shelly Bryant (translator), Northern Girls:…
![[LEEDS | REVIEW] “Primal Energy and Female Defiance in Sheng Keyi’s ππππ‘βπππ πΊππππ ” by Cuilin Sang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/northern-girls-cha.png?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Editor’s note: Laurehl Onyx B. Cabiles considers the films Big Fish and Little Fish in relation to his father and the Filipino seafood dish kinilaw, using cinema as a lens for…
![[ESSAY] βπ΅ππ πΉππ β, πΏππ‘π‘ππ πΉππ β, & The Fake Legend of Kinilawβ by Laurehl Onyx B. Cabiles](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/big-fish-little-fish.png?w=940)
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All entries on SUNDANCE 2026 [SUNDANCE 2026] βVisions of a Future Self: Kogonadaβs ziβ by Nirris Nagendrarajah Kogonada (director), zi, 2025. 199 min. In cinema, whenever I see a shot of the back of a characterβs head, I think of…
![[SUNDANCE 2026] βVisions of a Future Self: Kogonadaβs π§πβ by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/zi-film-cha-nirris.png?w=702)
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θΆ LEEDSθΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [LEEDS | REVIEW] “Memory, Fiction, and Subjective Reality in Ge Fei’s A Flock of Brown Birds” by Todd Foley Ge Fei (author), Poppy Toland (translator), Flock of Brown Birds, Penguin…
![[LEEDS | REVIEW] “Memory, Fiction, and Subjective Reality in Ge Fei’s πΉππππ ππ π΅πππ€π π΅ππππ ” by Todd Foley](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/poppy-toland.jpg?w=1024)
Cha 