Category: Cha Review of Books and Films
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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 Life Ceremony. Sayaka Murata (author), Ginny Tapley Takemori (translator), Life Ceremony, Granta Books, 2022. 266 pgs. Whenever I encounter the name Sayaka Murata,…
![[REVIEW] “Tender Aberrations: Reading Sayaka Murata’s πΏπππ πΆππππππ𦔠by Tyran Grillo](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/sayaka-murata-author-ginny-tapley-takemori-translator.png?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βAdaptation and the Illusion of Home: Manjushree Thapaβs Seasons of Flightβ by Abhinav Tulachan Manjushree Thapa, Seasons of Flight, Penguin India, 2011. 226 pgs. βThe flap of a butterflyβs wings…
![[REVIEW] βAdaptation and the Illusion of Home: Manjushree Thapaβs ππππ πππ ππ πΉπππβπ‘β by Abhinav Tulachan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/manjushree-thapa-seasons-of-flight-1.jpg?w=881)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Social Room. Andrew Barker, Social Room: Modern Shakespearean Sonnets (Book Three, Sonnets 204β305), Mycroft Publishers, 2025. 186 pgs. βSo choose your enemies, Iβve chosen…
![[REVIEW] “Between Heckle & Hush: The Public & Private Voices of a Poet” by Michael Ingham](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/andrew-barker-cha-an-asian-literary-journal.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Social Room. Andrew Barker, Social Room: Modern Shakespearean Sonnets (Book Three, Sonnets 204β305), Mycroft Publishers, 2025. 186 pgs. Named after the bar where the…
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Also read “Feature: Lu Xun” in Cha. Lu Xun (author), Eileen J. Cheng (translator), Theodore Huters (editor), Wild Grass & Morning Blossoms Gathered at Dusk, Harvard University Press,…
![[REVIEW] “One of the Greatest Writers, Full Stop: Lu Xun’s ππππ πΊπππ π & πππππππ π΅πππ π πππ πΊππ‘βππππ ππ‘ π·π’π π” by Robert Postings](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/wild-grass-and-morning-blossoms-gathered-at-dusk-harvard-university-press-2022.-272-pgs.jpg?w=955)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Derek Currie, When βJesusβ Came to Hong Kong: The Remarkable Story of the First European Football Star in Asia, Blacksmith Books, 2023. 404 pgs. This is my second…
![[REVIEW] βJesusβ Pub Tales: Derek Currieβs πβππ βπ½ππ π’π β πΆπππ π‘π π»πππ πΎπππβ by Mario Rustan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/when-jesus-came-to-hong-kong.jpg?w=962)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Stephanie Foo, What My Bones Know, Ballantine Books, 2022. 352 pgs. Addressing trauma is never an easy undertakingβespecially when it is the survivor herself who must confront it. Stephanie…
![[REVIEW] βThe Invisible Pain of Abuse and its Diagnosis: Stephanie Fooβs πβππ‘ ππ¦ π΅ππππ πΎπππ€β by Fathima M](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/stephanie-foo-what-my-bones-know-1.jpg?w=987)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS R.T. Samuel, Rakesh K. and Rashmi R.D. (editors), The Blaft Book of Anti-Caste SF, Blaft Publications, 2025. 428 pgs. It is a curious irony that speculative fictionβso often described…
![[REVIEW] βThe Fierce Imagination of π΄ππ‘π-πΆππ π‘π πππππ’πππ‘ππ£π πΉπππ‘πππβ by Ananya Singh](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/r.t.-samuel-rakesh-k.-and-rashmi-r.d.-editors-the-blaft-book-of-anti-caste-sf--1.jpg?w=938)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Order in the City: Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’sIf I Do Not Reply” by Luca Griseri ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ If I Do Not Reply. Tammy Lai-Ming Ho, If I Do Not…
![[REVIEW] “Order in the City: Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’s πΌπ πΌ π·π πππ‘ π
πππ𦔠by Luca Griseri](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/if-i-do-not-reply_tammy-ho-1.jpg?w=907)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on The Milk Tea Alliance. Jeffrey Wasserstrom, The Milk Tea Alliance: Inside Asiaβs Struggle against Autocracy and Beijing, Columbia Global Reports, 2025. 104 pgs. The…
![[REVIEW] “Boba, Grass Jelly, Light Ice, Democracy: On Jeffrey Wasserstrom’s πβπ ππππ πππ π΄πππππππ” by Nick Zeller](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/the-milk-tea-alliance-inside-asias-struggle-against-autocracy-and-beijing.jpg?w=1000)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ The Milk Tea Alliance. Jeffrey Wasserstrom, The Milk Tea Alliance: Inside Asiaβs Struggle against Autocracy and Beijing, Columbia Global Reports, 2025. 104 pgs. Jeffrey…
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Weike Wang, Joan Is Okay, Penguin Random House, 2022. 224 pgs. Joan is Okay, the sophomore novel by Weike Wang, opens with the line: βWhen I think about…
![[REVIEW] βThe Telos of Toil: Reading Weike Wang’s π½πππ ππ ππππ¦ Through Labour and Identityβ by Tiffany Troy](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/weike-wang-joan-is-okay.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Gilda Cordero-Fernando, The Last Full Moon: Lessons on My Life, University of the Philippines Press and GCF Books, 2005. 250 pgs. “I don’t want to be boring ever.”βChappell…
![[REVIEW] βGrandmothered! A Filipina Gen Z’s Critique of Gilda Cordero-Fernando’s πβπ πΏππ π‘ πΉπ’ππ ππππβ by Janelle Tanguin](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/gilda-cordero-fernando-the-last-full-moon-lessons-of-my-life.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on In the Mood for Love. Wong Kar-wai (director), In the Mood for Love, 2000. 98 min. Some films are simply like thatβfrom the moment you…
![[REVIEW] “πΌπ π‘βπ ππππ πππ πΏππ£π at 25: Wong Kar-wai’s Cinematic Language of Longing” by G.A. Gowtham](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/in-the-mood-for-love-wong-kar-wai-2020-4k-red-ds-os-195-_blur.webp?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Alex John Catanese, Buddha in the Marketplace: The Commodification of Buddhist Objects in Tibet, University of Virginia Press, 2019. 334 pgs. The phenomenon of religious commodification across diverse…
![[REVIEW] “Commodifying the Sacred: Alex John Catanese’s π΅π’ππβπ ππ π‘βπ ππππππ‘πππππ” by Palden GyalΒ](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/buddha-copy.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Mandira Chakraborty, Firefly Games, Sambhavna Prakashan, 2025. 217 pgs. The world we inhabit today is a curious interplay between misinformation and an overwhelming excess of informationβone click or…
![[REVIEW] βMandira Chakrabortyβs πΉππππππ¦ πΊππππ : Stories of Light and Shadowβ by Sayan Aich](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mandira-chakraborty-firefly-games.jpg?w=1000)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Nobuhiro Doi (director), Hanamizuki, 2010. 128 min. Water plays a significant role in the work of many filmmakers. One might, for instance, recall the rainwater and silvery puddles…
![[REVIEW] “The Measure of Love in Nobuhiro Doi’s π»ππππππ§π’ππ” by Anders KΓΈlle](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/hanamizuki-e3838fe3838ae3839fe382bae382ad.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Anru Lee, Haunted Modernities: Gender, Memory and Placemaking in Post-industrial Taiwan, University of Hawaiβi Press, 2023. 246 pgs. Anru Lee first learned of the 25 Maiden Ladiesβ Tomb…
![[REVIEW] βFrom Spirits to Statues: Commemorating Women Workers in Anru Leeβs π»ππ’ππ‘ππ ππππππππ‘πππ β by Elsa Mathews](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/haunted-modernities-gender-memory-and-placemaking-in-postindustrial-taiwan.jpg?w=994)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Han Kang (author), e. yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris (translators), We do Not Part, Hogarth, 2025. 272 pgs. Kyungha struggles to sleep or eat, suffers from persistent…
![[REVIEW] βThe Persistance of Memory: Han Kangβs ππ π·π πππ‘ ππππ‘β by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/https-www.penguinrandomhouse.combooks718535we-do-not-part-by-han-kang-translated-by-e-yaewon-and-paige-aniyah-morris.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Robin Visser, Questioning Borders: Ecoliteratures of China and Taiwan, Columbia University Press, 2023. 352 pgs. In recent years, the escalating global urgency surrounding ecological crises has prompted renewed…
![[REVIEW] βRelational Ecologies and the Displacement of Borders: Reading Visser’s Sinophone Environmental Imaginaryβ by Sonalika Chaturvedi](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/questioning-borders-ecoliteratures-of-china-and-taiwan-columbia-university-press.jpg?w=1000)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Pillion & Box Hill. Adam Mars-Jones, Box Hill, Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2020. 128 pgs. At only 120 pages, British novelist Adam Mars-Jonesβs 2020 novella Box…
![[REVIEW] βAdam Mars-Jonesβs π΅ππ₯ π»πππ: A Bold Celebration of Queer Love and Desireβ by Hongwei Bao](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/box-hill.jpg?w=779)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Nicholas de Villiers, Cruisy, Sleepy, Melancholy: Sexual Disorientation in the Films of Tsai Ming-liang, The University of Minnesota Press, 2022. 216 pgs. As one of the most celebrated Chinese-language…
![[REVIEW] “Feeling QueerβNicholas de Villiersβs πΆππ’ππ π¦, ππππππ¦, ππππππβπππ¦: πππ₯π’ππ π·ππ ππππππ‘ππ‘πππ ππ π‘βπ πΉππππ ππ ππ ππ ππππ-πππππ” by Haley Agcaoili B.](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/cruisy-sleepy-melancholy-sexual-disorientation-in-the-films-of-tsai-ming-liang.jpg?w=971)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Mike Sakas (director), City of Shells: Our Forgotten Oyster Reefs, 2025. 66 min. As Robin Wall Kimmerer reminds us, we cannot restore our relationships with nature without also engaging…
![[REVIEW] βRe-story-ation of the Hong Kong Oyster: πΆππ‘π¦ ππ πβππππ β by Tim Pit Hok Yau](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/mike-sakas-director-city-of-shells-2025.png?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βNarrative Reclamation: Nguyα» n Phan QuαΊΏ Mai’s The Mountains Singβ by Zalman S. Davis Nguyα» n Phan QuαΊΏ Mai, The Mountains Sing, Algonquin Books, 2021. 368 pgs. Nguyα» n Phan QuαΊΏ Maiβs The…
![[REVIEW] βNarrative Reclamation: Nguyα»
n Phan QuαΊΏ Mai’s πβπ πππ’ππ‘ππππ ππππβ by Zalman S. Davis](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/the-mountains-sing-hardcover-e28093-march-17-2020-by-nguyen-phan-que-mai.jpg?w=996)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Anna Qu, Made in China: A Memoir of Love and Labor, Catapult, 2021. 224 pgs. Made in China is a sensitive, thoughtful exploration of the inextricable ties between labour,…
![[REVIEW] βNegotiating Love and Labour in Anna Quβs ππππ ππ πΆβπππβ by Fion Tse](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/made-in-china-anna-qu.jpg?w=993)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Shuchi Talati (director), Girls Will Be Girls, 2024. 118 min. Female sexuality has long remained one of the most stringently policed and anxiously mediated territories. The erotic interiority of…
![[REVIEW] βShuchi Talatiβs πΊππππ ππππ π΅π πΊππππ : A Stirring, Sublime Portrait of Becomingβ by Ananya Singh](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/girls-will-be-girls-2.webp?w=780)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Chen Qiufan (author), Ken Liu (translator), Waste Tide, Tor Books, 2019. 352 pgs. They call us “the waste people.” Waste is dirty, inferior, lowly, useless, but omnipresent. They produce…
![[REVIEW] βA Harrowing Future of Waste in Chen Qiufanβs πππ π‘π ππππβ by Loritta Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/chen-qiufan-author-ken-liu-translator-waste-tide.jpg?w=798)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βSamrat Upadhyay’s Mad Country: To Adapt and Thrive in the Chaosβ by Abhinav Tulachan Samrat Upadhyay, Mad Country, Soho Press, 2017. 304 pgs. Abhinav Tulachan’s copy of Mad Country Following…
![[REVIEW] βSamrat Upadhyay’s πππ πΆππ’ππ‘ππ¦: To Adapt and Thrive in the Chaosβ by Abhinav Tulachan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/samrat-upadhyay-mad-country-1.jpg?w=1000)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Asako Yuzuki (author), Polly Barton (translator), Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder, Fourth Estate, 2024. 464 pgs. Butter is inspired by the true story of a…
![[REVIEW] βAsako Yuzukiβs π΅π’π‘π‘ππ: Tasting the Essential Selfβ by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/butter-a-novel-of-food-and-murder-1.jpg?w=985)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Rob Noble, Octopus: The Pioneering Story of the Worldβs First Contactless Payment Card, Blacksmith Books, 2023, 396 pgs. As a resident of a city bereft of a…
![[REVIEW] βThe Almost Everything CardβRob Nobleβs πππ‘πππ’π : πβπ ππππππππππ ππ‘πππ¦ ππ π‘βπ πππππβπ πΉπππ π‘ πΆπππ‘πππ‘πππ π πππ¦ππππ‘ πΆπππβ by Mario Rustan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/octopus-the-pioneering-story-of-the-worlds-first-contactless-payment-card-1.jpg?w=896)
Cha 