Category: First Impressions
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Of Mirth-merchants and Humour Literature: Ankit Raj Ojha’s The Bare Bones Book of Humour” by Pradip Mondal Ankit Raj Ojha (editor), The Bare Bones Book of Humour, Bare Bones…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Of Mirth-merchants and Humour Literature: Ankit Raj Ojha’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝐵𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝐻𝑢𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑟” by Pradip Mondal](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/https-__barebonespublishing.in_product_the-bare-bones-book-of-humour_.png?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Lai Wen’s Tiananmen Square: A Coming-of-Age Dramedy Culminating in a Historic Massacre” by Kevin McGeary Lai Wen, Tiananmen Square: A Novel, Spiegel & Grau, 2024. 528 pgs. “In China,…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Lai Wen’s 𝑇𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑆𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑒: A Coming-of-Age Dramedy Culminating in a Historic Massacre” by Kevin McGeary](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/lai-wen-tiananmen-square-a-novel-spiegel-grau.jpg?w=667)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “What We Keep: Memory, Migration, and Survival in M Lin’s The Memory Museum” by Susan Blumberg-Kason M Lin, The Memory Museum, Graywolf Press. 2026. 272 pgs. Nostalgia is a…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “What We Keep: Memory, Migration, and Survival in M Lin’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑢𝑚” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/memory-museum-m-lin-cha-asian.jpg?w=1000)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “On Grief, Diaspora, and Grace Loh Prasad’s The Translator’s Daughter”by Rebekah Chan Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon Translator’s Daughter. Grace Loh Prasad, The Translator’s Daughter, The Ohio State University Press,…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “On Grief, Diaspora, and Grace Loh Prasad’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟’𝑠 𝐷𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟” by Rebekah Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/the-translators-daughter.jpg?w=880)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Circumnavigation Without Glory: Lav Diaz’s Magellan and the Violence of Discovery” by Oliver Farry Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Magellan. Lav Diaz (director), Magellan, 2025. 165 min. Lav Diaz’s Magellan…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Circumnavigation Without Glory: Lav Diaz’s 𝑀𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑛 and the Violence of Discovery” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/review-22history-as-painting-lav-diazs-magellan22-by-alicia-izharuddin.png?w=795)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Shining Through: The Loboc Children’s Choir in King Palisoc’s Song of the Fireflies” by Bryan Elijah Trajano King Palisoc (director), Song of the Fireflies, 2025. 110 min. Song of…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Shining Through: The Loboc Children’s Choir in King Palisoc’s 𝑆𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠” by Bryan Elijah Trajano](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/https-icff.catitle-itemsong-of-the-fireflies.webp?w=432)
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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Guan Hu’s 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝐷𝑜𝑔: Olympic Ambition Meets Provincial Reality” by Oliver Farry
茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Guan Hu’s Black Dog: Olympic Ambition Meets Provincial Reality” by Oliver Farry Guan Hu (director), Black Dog 狗阵, 2024. 110 min. Guan Hu’s canine drama delineates a quixotic episode…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Guan Hu’s 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝐷𝑜𝑔: Olympic Ambition Meets Provincial Reality” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/black-dog-e78b97e998b5.jpg?w=945)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Dreams Without Dreamers: Bi Gan’s Beautifully Perverse Resurrection” by Oliver Farry Bi Gan (director), Resurrection 狂野时代, 2025. 156 mins. Bi Gan’s third film is a splendid-looking enigma in the…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Dreams Without Dreamers: Bi Gan’s Beautifully Perverse 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/resurrection.png?w=960)
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茶 Click HERE for all First Impressions entries. Illustration by Ruby van der Hoeven We are constantly seeking submissions for 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, a section of Cha: An Asian Literary Journal devoted to compact reviews of books and films (500–800 words;…
![[CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS] First Impressions](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/first-impressions-banner.png?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “On the Verge with Claire Lee: Where Objects Become Literature” by Susan Blumberg-Kason Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon On the Verge. Claire Lee, On the Verge, Independently published, 2025. 120…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “𝑂𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑒 with Claire Lee: Where Objects Become Literature” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/on-the-verge_claire-lee.png?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “When Technology Becomes a Tool to Erase History: Prabda Yoon’s Transmissions of Unwanted Pasts” by Lorence Lozano Prabda Yoon (director), Transmissions of Unwanted Pasts, 2019. 24 min. Prabda Yoon…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “When Technology Becomes a Tool to Erase History: Prabda Yoon’s 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑈𝑛𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑃𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑠” by Lorence Lozano](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/f09d9187f09d919ff09d918ef09d919bf09d91a0f09d919af09d9196f09d91a0f09d91a0f09d9196f09d919cf09d919bf09d91a0-f09d919cf09d9193-f09d9188f09d919bf09d91a4f09d918ef09d919bf09d91a1f09d9192f09d919.webp?w=724)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Where Do We Belong? On Language, Migration, & Teresa Wong’s All Our Ordinary Stories” by Rebekah Chan Teresa Wong, All Our Ordinary Stories, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2024. 240 pgs.…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Where Do We Belong? On Language, Migration, and Teresa Wong’s 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑂𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠” by Rebekah Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/arsenal-pulp-press-our-ordinary-stories.jpg?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Etienne Périer’s Bridge to the Sun and Extremism Abroad” by Jeremiah Dutch Etenne Périer (director), Bridge to the Sun, 1961. 113 min. Living abroad and watching one’s homeland descend…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Etienne Périer’s 𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑢𝑛 and Extremism Abroad” by Jeremiah Dutch](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/bridge-to-the-sun-cha.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Quan Manh Ha and Quynh H. Vo (translators), Longings: Contemporary Fiction by Vietnamese Women Writers, Texas Tech University Press, 2024. 260 pgs. Vietnamese literature in English translation is…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Finding Meaning in the Very Act of Questioning—𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠: 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝐹𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝑉𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑊𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠” by Rebecca Maine](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/longings-contemporary-fiction-by-vietnamese-women-writers.jpg?w=907)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Life Outside the Bubble in James Albon’s Love Languages” by Vanessa Winghei Yeung James Albon (author and illustrator), Love Languages, Top Shelf Productions, 2025. 176 pgs. The book begins…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Life Outside the Bubble in James Albon’s 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠” by Vanessa Winghei Yeung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lovelangs_jalbon-2.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Hiro Arikawa (author), Allison Markin Powell (translator). The Passengers on the Hankyu Line, Penguin Random House, 2025. 256 pgs. It seems fitting that I began reading The Passengers on…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Train Ride of Life: Hiro Arikawa’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑦𝑢 𝐿𝑖𝑛𝑒” by Koay Xinyi](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/81pcgpwou4l._sl1500_.jpg?w=956)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Masayuki Suo (director), Shall We Dance? 1996, 136 min. At college, I once romanced a young lady by agreeing to take ballroom dancing lessons with her after her…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Forget the Remake, Masayuki Suo’s 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑊𝑒 𝐷𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒? is in Perfect Step with Japan” by Jeremiah Dutch](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/masayuki-sou-director-shall-we-dance-1996-136-min.-.jpg?w=686)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Akiko Ohku (director), Hold Me Back, 2020. 133 min. Akiko Ohku is best known for directing and co-writing Tremble All You Want and Hold Me Back, two films…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Feeling Seen: Akiko Ohku’s 𝐻𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑀𝑒 𝐵𝑎𝑐𝑘 and the Solitude of Modern Women” by Danica QP](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/hold-me-back-film-cha.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Lê Minh Hoàng (director), Saigon in the Rain, 2020. —Written on a rainless Saigon day Urban life has long provided cinema with a stage upon which to capture…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Lê Minh Hoàng’s 𝑆𝑎𝑖𝑔𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑎𝑖𝑛: A Resonance of Youth, Migration, and Urban Dreams” by Red Po](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/maxresdefault.jpg?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Reliving the Filipino 90s Nostalgia in Marla Ancheta’s One Hit Wonder” by Bryan Elijah Trajano Marla Ancheta (director), One Hit Wonder, 2025. 112 min. Before music was only a…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Reliving the Filipino 90s Nostalgia in Marla Ancheta’s 𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝐻𝑖𝑡 𝑊𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟” by Bryan Elijah Trajano](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/marla-ancheta-director-one-hit-wonder.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Untold. Bae Suah (author), Deborah Smith (translator), Untold Night and Day, Jonathan Cape, 2020. 155 pgs. It has been some…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Between Dream and Wakefulness: Reading Bae Suah’s 𝑈𝑛𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑁𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐷𝑎𝑦” by Dorina Tataran](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/untold-night-and-day-1.jpg?w=977)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Rajan Kurai Krishnan, Ravindran Sriramachandran, and V.M.S Subagunarajan, Rule of the Commoner: DMK and the Formations of the Political in Tamil Nadu, 1949–1967, Cambridge University Press, 2022. 280 pgs.…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Politics of the Plebs—𝑅𝑢𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑟: 𝐷𝑀𝐾 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑇𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙 𝑁𝑎𝑑𝑢” by Kathiravan Annamalai](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/rule-of-the-commoner.jpg?w=419)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Saad Omar Khan, Drinking the Ocean, Buckrider Books, 2025. 250 pgs. “We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have plunged into…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Love that Doesn’t Bind: Saad Omar Khan’s 𝐷𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑂𝑐𝑒𝑎𝑛” by Fathima M](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/saad-omar-khan-drinking-the-ocean.jpg?w=971)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Girish Karnad, This Life at Play: Memoirs, Fourth Estate, 2021. 320 pgs. Memoirs strip writers of their literary pedestals. They become characters in their own narratives—curious onlookers of…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Playwright’s Memoir: Girish Karnad’s 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑦” by Kathiravan Annamalai](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/girish-karnads-this-life-at-play.jpg?w=998)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on A Woman Burnt. Imayam (author), GJV Prasad (translator), A Woman Burnt, Simon and Schuster India, 2023. 336 pgs. “Every woman adores a Fascist, / The…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Portrait of a Burning Woman: Imayam’s 𝐴 𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝐵𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑡” by Swagatika Rath](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/a-woman-burnt-1.jpg?w=952)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kamila Kuc, Laima Leyton, Dara Waldron, Ecka Mordecai, and Jeremy Fernando (contributors), If loss were a currency: on Kamila Kuc´s I Was There. Delere Press, 2025. 114 pgs. According to…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Whereof One Cannot Speak, Thereof One Cannot Stay Silent—On 𝐼𝑓 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦: 𝑜𝑛 𝐾𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑎 𝐾𝑢𝑐’𝑠 𝐼 𝑊𝑎𝑠 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒” by Anders Kølle](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/kamila-kuc-laima-leyton-dara-waldron-ecka-mordecai-jeremy-fernando.jpg?w=971)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Hiroko Oyamada. Hiroko Oyamada (author), David Boyd (translator), The Hole, New Directions Publishing, 2020. 112 pgs. As a…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Unanswered Questions of Balance: Hiroko Oyamada’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑙𝑒” by Tyran Grillo](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/hiroko-oyamada_the-hole.jpg?w=778)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Dương Hướng (author), Quan Manh Ha and Charles Waugh (translators), No Man River, Penguin Random House SEA, 2025. 248 pgs. The recent publication of the English edition of Dương…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “No Human Being is Spared from Its Crimson Claws: Dương Hướng’s 𝑁𝑜 𝑀𝑎𝑛 𝑅𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟” by Rebecca Maine](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/no-man-river-duong-huong-1.jpg?w=938)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kim Ki-duk (director), The Isle, 2000. 90 min. Some films are like waves that gently lap against the shores of our memories; others, however, jolt us by revealing…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑠𝑙𝑒 at 25: Kim Ki Duk’s Blooming Poem on the Island of Solitude” by G.A. Gowtham](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/f_1_the_isle_01c5e5da4c.jpeg?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Legacy and Brilliance of Hong Kong Crime Novels: Charles Philipp Martin’s Rented Grave” by Susan Blumberg-Kason Charles Philipp Martin, Rented Grave: An Inspector Lok Novel, Level Best Books,…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Legacy and Brilliance of Hong Kong Crime Novels: Charles Philipp Martin’s 𝑅𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/rentedgrave-1.jpg?w=992)
Cha 