Category: First Impressions
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βSusan Barkerβs Old Soul: A Globetrotting Horror with an Asian Sense of Eternityβ by Kevin McGeary Susan Barker, Old Soul, Penguin, 2025. 352 pgs. In 2014, Susan Barker published…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βSusan Barkerβs πππ πππ’π: A Globetrotting Horror with an Asian Sense of Eternityβ by Kevin McGeary](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/old-soul-susan-barker.jpg?w=975)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yuta Takahashi (author), Cat Anderson (translator), The Chibineko Kitchen, John Murray, 2024. 192 pgs. The Japanese iyashikeiβor healingβgenre has resonated deeply with readers worldwide, offering solace and comfort through…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Dining with the Departed: Yuta Takahashiβs πβπ πΆβπππππππ πΎππ‘πβππ” by Aditi Yadav](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/the-chibineko-kitchen-john-murray-1.jpg?w=651)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Petersen Vargas (Director), Un/Happy for You, 2024. 110 min. If there is one recent romantic drama that has left an everlasting mark on me, it is Un/Happy for You,…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Love and Loss in Petersen Vargas’s ππ/π»ππππ¦ πππ πππ’” by Jhon Steven C. Espenido](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/petersen-vargas-director-unhappy-for-you-1.png?w=841)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Chie Hayakawa (director), Plan 75, 2022. 112 min. Perhaps storytelling is an indispensable part of being human? Perhaps we all need to tell ourselvesβand each otherβcertain stories to get…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Stories We Live By: Narrative, Meaning, and Existential Emptiness in Chie Hayakawa’s ππππ 75” by Anders KΓΈlle](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/chie-hayakawa-plan-75.png?w=1024)
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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS in.light.of.livingβSik.Faan (author), jck (illustrator), and daanngaazai (calligrapher), Pattern, Language, SettingβA Glossary of City Spaces in Hong Kong, Enlighten & Fish, 2021. 240 pgs. Pattern, Language, SettingβA Glossary of City…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Importance of Nomenclature in πππ‘π‘πππ, πΏππππ’πππ, πππ‘π‘πππβπ΄ πΊπππ π πππ¦ ππ πΆππ‘π¦ ππππππ ππ π»πππ πΎπππ” By Vanessa Winghei Yeung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/in.light_.of_.livinge28094sik.faan-author-jck-illustrator-and-daanngaazai-calligrapher-pattern-language-setting-e28093-a-glossary-of-city-spaces-in-hong-kong.jpeg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS π RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS KΕki Mitani (director), Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald, 1997. 103 min. KΕki Mitani has a particular knack for satirising the Japanese inclination to avoid confrontation. As the screenwriter…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βJapanese Comedy Cinema at Its Finest: KΕki Mitaniβs πππππππ π΅πππ, ππ. πππ·πππππβ by Jeremiah Dutch](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/mv5bodhimtlimzmtodk0my00ogjklwjjmwytythlyta3mzllzjq1xkeyxkfqcgc40._v1_.jpg?w=853)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Art of Waking Up Words: Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’s If I Do Not Reply” by Anders KΓΈlle ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ If I Do Not Reply. Tammy Lai-Ming Ho,…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Art of Waking Up Words: Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’s πΌπ πΌ π·π πππ‘ π
πππ𦔠by Anders KΓΈlle](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/if-i-do-not-reply_tammy-ho.jpg?w=907)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Marcus Fedder, My Shanghai Neighbours, Black Spring Press, 2023. 130 pgs. Having spent four years living in a Shanghai lane between 2012 and 2016 (when I left China), I…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βResurrecting Longtang Memories: Marcus Fedderβs ππ¦ πβπππβππ ππππβπππ’ππ β by S.C. Gordon](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/my-shanghai-neighbours-1.jpg?w=985)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Umi Ishihara (director), Gravity and Radiance, 2021. 30 min. Images featured in this piece courtesy of the director. Gravity and Radiance, a 2021 experimental documentary by the London-based Japanese…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Transcendence and RedemptionβUmi Ishiharaβs πΊπππ£ππ‘π¦ πππ π
πππππππ” by Marsha McDonald](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/gravity-and-radiance-3.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Rory B. Quintos (director), Anak, 2000. 135 min. Where would we be without our mothers? Watching Anak, one is immediately drawn into its poignant narrative, centred on the life…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Cost of Love and Sacrifice in Rory B. Quintosβs π΄πππ” by Jhon Steven C. Espenido](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/the-child.webp?w=800)
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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 In the Mood for Love. Wong Kar-wai (director), In the Mood for Love, 2000. 98 min. I have been haunted by the same film for twenty-five…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Ghosts of Wong Kar-wai: On πΌπ π‘βπ ππππ πππ πΏππ£π” by Anders KΓΈlle](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 IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jiaming Tang, Cinema Love, John Murray, 2024. 304 pgs. Cinema Love is the impressive debut novel by Chinese-American writer Jiaming Tang. The bookβs blurb and the opening chapters may…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βGut-punching Melodrama: Jiaming Tangβs πΆπππππ πΏππ£πβ by Hongwei Bao](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/jiaming-tang-cinema-love-john-murray.jpg?w=975)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Mina’s Matchbox. YΕko Ogawa (author), Stephen B. Snyder (translator), Minaβs Matchbox, Pantheon Books, 2024. 288 pages. In YΕko Ogawaβs previous novel, The Memory Police, set…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βMemory-keeping: YΕko Ogawaβs ππππβπ πππ‘πβπππ₯β by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/819ycgclrml._sl1500_.jpg?w=940)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Wong Siu-pong (director), Obedience, 2024. 71 min. Although Wong Siu-pongβs latest observational documentary, Obedience, does not actively stir emotions in its audiences, it is laden with unspoken weight. Featuring…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βA Placeβs Sorrowful Tomorrow: Wong Siu-pongβs πππππππππβ by Vanessa Winghei Yeung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/obedience_wong.jpg?w=1024)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jose Lorenzo βPepeβ Diokno, Isang Himala, 2024. 145 min. Isang Himala (A Miracle), directed by Jose Lorenzo βPepeβ Diokno, is an adaptation on three levelsβof the screenplay by National…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βThe Miracle of Adaptation in Pepe Dioknoβs πΌπ πππ π»πππππβ by Richell Isaiah Flores](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/jose-lorenzo-pepe-diokno-isang-himala-2024_2-2.jpg?w=1024)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Stuart Heisler (director), Tokyo Joe, 1949. 89 min. Of all the gin joints in all the world, Humphrey Bogart had to walk into yet another one. Swap North Africa…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βPlay it againβ¦ Ito?: Stuart Heislerβs ππππ¦π π½ππβ by Jeremiah Dutch](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/tokyo-joe-old-japan-hollywood-movie-humphrey-bogart-film-shibuya-tokyo-japanese-history-9.webp?w=1024)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Izumi KyΕka (author), Charles ShirΕ Inouye (translator and author of introduction and afterword), Japanese Gothic Tales, University of Hawaiβi Press, 1996. 202 pgs. Japan Gothic Tales comprises four short…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS]βThe Haunting World of Random Encounters in Izumi KyΕkaβs π½ππππππ π πΊππ‘βππ πππππ β by Vanessa Winghei Yeung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/japanese-gothic-tales-1.png?w=1024)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kogonada (director), Columbus, 2017. 100 min. Thereβs a profound sense of openness in Kogonadaβs Columbus (2017). The film invites us to step into its scenes, transforming them into spaces…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βBeyond the Physicality of Places: Kogonadaβs πΆπππ’πππ’π β by V Clark](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/columbus-1.jpg?w=736)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS John Wells (director), August: Osage County, 2013. 116 min. As Christmas draws near in the West, the East prepares for the arrival of Lunar New Year. To those unfamiliar…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Hereβs To Family Drama, In All Its Universalityβπ΄π’ππ’π π‘: ππ πππ πΆππ’ππ‘𦔠by Hai-Mo Hu](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1.august-osagecountyensemblecastpic.jpg?w=1024)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yan Lianke (author), Carlos Rojas (translator), Sound and Silence: My Experience with China and Literature, Duke University Press, 2024. 192 pgs. In late April 2024, Literary Hub released an…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Yan Lianke: The Reader Comes First” by A. B. Freeman](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/feb5978a-5dfd-11ea-be3e-43af5536d789_image_hires_104029.jpeg?w=1024)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entriesΒ in Cha on The Life of Tu Fu. Eliot Weinberger, The Life of Tu Fu, New Directions, 2024. 64 pgs. A flying goose dropping out of…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Fictional Autobiography: Eliot Weinberger’s πβπ πΏπππ ππ ππ’ πΉπ’” by Juan JosΓ© Morales](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/screenshot-2024-11-29-at-17.39.54.png?w=1024)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Sanaka Hiiragi (author), Jesse Kirkwood (translator), The Lantern of Lost Memories, Picador, 2024. 224 pgs. What if, when you die, someone greets you with drinks and snacks, briefing you…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βBetween the Living and the Dead: Sanaka Hiiragiβs πβπ πΏπππ‘πππ ππ πΏππ π‘ ππππππππ β by Aditi Yadav](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/sanaka-hiiragi.png?w=1024)
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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 All We Imagine as Light. Payal Kapadia (director), All We Imagine as Light, 2024. 118 min. Payal Kapadiaβs debut feature All We Imagine as Light is…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Poetic, Nocturnal Film: Payal Kapadia’s π΄ππ ππ πΌππππππ ππ πΏππβπ‘” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/all-we-imagine-as-light.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Han Kang (author), Deborah Smith (translator), The White Book, Portobello Books, 2016. 128 pgs. As Han Kong wrote out her list of white things at the beginning of the…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Meditation on Whiteness: Han Kang’s πβπ πβππ‘π π΅πππ” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/the-white-book-first-published-may-25-2016.jpg?w=977)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ryu Murakami (author), Ralph McCarthy (translator), In the Miso Soup, Kodansha International, 2003. 180 pgs. Picture a dismembered corpse of a sixteen-year-old girl dumped at a trash collection site…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Floating Around in Ryu Murakami’s πΌπ π‘βπ πππ π πππ’π” by Anna Moon](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/in-the-miso-soup.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jenny Xie, Holding Pattern, Riverhead Books, 2023. 288 pgs. Jenny Xieβs novel Holding Pattern follows 28-year-old Kathleen Cheng as she returns home to Oakland, California, where she is roped…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βThe Science of Intimacy: Jenny Xieβs π»ππππππ πππ‘π‘πππβ by Anna Chung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/holding-pattern-riverhead-books-1.jpg?w=993)
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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Zhang Yimou (director), Raise the Red Lantern, 1991. 125 min. Raise the Red Lantern, directed by Zhang Yimou and based on Su Tongβs novella Wives and Concubines (1987), begins…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βThe Absence of Female Desire and Patriarchal Oppression: Zhang Yimouβs π
πππ π π‘βπ π
ππ πΏπππ‘πππβ by Fathima M](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/raise-the-red-lantern_cha_banner.jpeg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kamila Shamsie, Home Fire, Riverhead Books, 2017. 288 pgs. In almost every literary discussion I have had with fellow readers, whenever South Asian literature has been mentioned, Kamila Shamsieβs…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βThe Politics of Love: Kamila Shamsieβs π»πππ πΉπππβ by Fathima M](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/home-fire-a-novel-by-kamila-shamsie.jpg?w=993)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kangyu Garam (director), Lucky, Apartment, 2024. 96 min. This review may contain spoilers. What would hate look and feel like if it took on a sensory form? South Korean…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βA Queer Shape of Smell: Kangyu Garam’s πΏπ’πππ¦, π΄ππππ‘ππππ‘” by Soo Ryon Yoon](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/lucky-apartment.jpg?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 ChaΒ onΒ Tapestry of the Mind. Aneeta Sundararaj, Tapestry of the Mind and Other Stories, Penguin Random House SEA, 2024. 272 pgs. Aneeta Sundararajβs Tapestry of the…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βPerhaps Misguided: Aneeta Sundararajβs πππππ π‘ππ¦ ππ π‘βπ ππππβ by Grace NajmulskiΒ](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/tapestry-of-the-mind-and-other-stories-aneeta-sundararaj.jpg?w=977)
Cha 