Category: reviews of translations
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Pot Noodles and Power: Junko Takase’s May You Have Delicious Meals” by Anna Nguyen Junko Takase (author), Morgan Giles (translator). May You Have Delicious Meals, Penguin Random House, 2025. 133…
![[REVIEW] “Pot Noodles and Power: Junko Takase’s πππ¦ πππ’ π»ππ£π π·πππππππ’π πππππ ” by Anna Nguyen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/the-politics-of-the-packed-lunch-junko-takases-may-you-have-delicious-meals.jpg?w=977)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Every Puddle a Reflection: On Dorothy Tse’s City Like Water” by Jennifer Eagleton ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaonΒ City Like Water. Dorothy Tse (author), Natascha Bruce (translator). City Like Water, Graywolf…
![[REVIEW] “Every Puddle a Reflection: On Dorothy Tse’s πΆππ‘π¦ πΏπππ πππ‘ππ” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/city-like-water-dorothy-tse-cha-an-asian-literary-journal.jpg?w=1000)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βNo Useless Poems: Tsering Woeserβs Greater Tibetβ by Angus Stewart Tsering Woeser (author), edited and translated by Fiona Sze-LorrainΒ with Dechen Pemba. Ocean, as Much as Rain: Stories, Lyrical Prose, and…
![[REVIEW] βNo Useless Poems: Tsering Woeserβs Greater Tibetβ by Angus Stewart](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ocean-as-much-as-rain-stories-lyrical-prose-and-poems-from-tibet.jpg?w=1000)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βFamily, Failure, and Historical Memory in Sagisawa Megumuβs The Running Boy and Other Storiesβ by James Kin Pong Au Sagisawa Megumu (author), Tyran Grillo (translator). The Running Boy and Other…
![[REVIEW] βFamily, Failure, and Historical Memory in Sagisawa Megumuβs πβπ π
π’πππππ π΅ππ¦ πππ ππ‘βππ ππ‘πππππ β by James Au Kin-Pong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/cornellpress.cornell.edubook9781501749896the-running-boy-and-other-stories.jpg?w=880)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] βThrough the Time Tunnel and Written on Water: Eileen Chang Across Exile and Memoryβ by Jeff Tompkins β Eileen Chang (author), Karen S. KingsburyΒ andΒ Jie Zhang (translators). Time Tunnel, New York…
![[ESSAY] βThrough the ππππ ππ’ππππ and ππππ‘π‘ππ ππ πππ‘ππ: Eileen Chang Across Exile and Memoryβ by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/eileen-chang-cha-an-asian-literary-journal-jeff-tompkins.png?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Terao Tetsuya’s Spent Bullets: Alienation and Intimacy in Silicon Valleyβs Taiwanese Diaspora” by Jennifer Eagleton Terao Tetsuya (author), Kevin Wang (translator). Spent Bullets, HarperCollins, 2025. 208 pgs. Set in…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Terao Tetsuya’s πππππ‘ π΅π’ππππ‘π : Alienation and Intimacy in Silicon Valleyβs Taiwanese Diaspora” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/spent-bullets-hardcover-e28093-october-14-2025-by-terao-tetsuya-author-kevin-wang.jpg?w=987)
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[REVIEW] “Collecting the Dead, Preserving the Lives: On Vinu P and Niyas Kareem’s The Corpse Collector” by Kabir Deb Vinu P and Niyas Kareem (authors), Ministhy S. (translator). The Corpse Collector: A True Story. Juggernaut Books, 2023. 237 pgs. Death,…
![[REVIEW] “Collecting the Dead, Preserving the Lives: On Vinu P and Niyas Kareem’s πβπ πΆππππ π πΆππππππ‘ππ” by Kabir Deb](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/the-corpse-collector-a-true-story-niyas-kareem-author-vinu-p-author-ministhy-s.-translator.jpg?w=686)
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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 [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βBearing Witness in Gigi L. Leungβs Everyday Movementβ by Rebekah Chan ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Everyday Movement. Gigi L. Leung (author), Jennifer Feeley (translator), Everyday Movement, Riverhead Books. 2026.…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Bearing Witness in Gigi L. Leungβs πΈπ£πππ¦πππ¦ πππ£πππππ‘” by Rebekah Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/everyday-movement-by-gigi-l.-leung-translated-by-jennifer-feeley-.jpg?w=993)
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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 [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Between Moonlight and Market Prices: Reading Yam Gong” by Jonathan Han Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon Moving a Stone. Yam Gong (author), James Shea and Dorothy Tse (translators), Moving a…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Between Moonlight and Market Prices: Reading Yam Gong” by Jonathan Han](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/moving-a-stone.webp?w=900)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Metamorphosis and Memory in Dorothy Tse’s City Like Water” by Jonathan Han Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon City Like Water. Dorothy Tse (author), Natascha Bruce (translator). City Like Water, Graywolf…
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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] “Building Shenzhen from the Ground Up: Sheng Keyi’s Northern Girls” by Todd Foley Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Northern Girls. Sheng Keyi (author), Shelly Bryant (translator), Northern Girls:…
![[LEEDS | REVIEW] “Building Shenzhen from the Ground Up: Sheng Keyi’s ππππ‘βπππ πΊππππ ” by Todd Foley](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/https-www.penguin.sgbooknorthern-girls.jpg?w=974)
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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 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)
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θΆ FIθΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Gigi L. Leungβs Everyday Movement and the Human Texture of Protest” by Jennifer Eagleton Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Everyday Movement. Gigi L. Leung (author), Jennifer Feeley (translator), Everyday Movement,…
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βEveryday Movement: Gigi L. Leungβs Love Letter to Hong Kongβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Everyday Movement. Gigi L. Leung (author), Jennifer Feeley (translator), Everyday Movement, Riverhead…
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βThe Endearing Sisterhood in Yoko Ogawaβs Mina’s Matchboxβ by Fathima M Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Mina’s Matchbox. YΕko Ogawa (author), Stephen B. Snyder (translator), Minaβs Matchbox, Pantheon Books, 2024. 288…
![[REVIEW] βThe Endearing Sisterhood in Yoko Ogawaβs ππππβπ πππ‘πβπππ₯β by Fathima M](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/819ycgclrml._sl1500_.jpg?w=940)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βWhoβs Afraid of Not Conjoined Bodies?: Hon Lai Chuβs Mending Bodiesβ by Tin Yuet Tam Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Mending Bodies. Hon Lai Chu (author), Jacqueline Leung (translator), Mending Bodies,…
![[REVIEW] βWhoβs Afraid of Not Conjoined Bodies?: Hon Lai Chuβs πππππππ π΅πππππ β by Tin Yuet Tam](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 [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βIn Their Words, We Find Ourselves: Reading Lin Yi-Hanβs Fang Si-Chi’s First Love Paradiseβ by Hana Kim Yi-Han Lin (author), Jenna Tang (translator), Fang Si-Chiβs First Love Paradise, HarperVia, 2024. 272 pgs.…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βIn Their Words, We Find Ourselves: Reading Lin Yi-Hanβs πΉπππ ππ-πΆβπβπ πΉπππ π‘ πΏππ£π πππππππ πβ by Hana Kim](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/fang-si-chis-first-love-paradise.png?w=600)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “From Silence to Sound: Kaori Laiβs Microhistorical Poetics of the White Terror” by Serena De Marchi Kaori Lai (author), Sylvia Li-chun Lin and Howard Goldblatt (translators), Portraits in White, Columbia…
![[REVIEW] “From Silence to Sound: Kaori Laiβs Microhistorical Poetics of the White Terror” by Serena De Marchi](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/portraits-in-white-by-kaori-lai.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN 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] βFinding Meaning in the Very Act of QuestioningβπΏπππππππ : πΆπππ‘ππππππππ¦ πΉπππ‘πππ ππ¦ ππππ‘πππππ π πππππ ππππ‘πππ β 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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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Uno Chiyo (author), Rebecca Copeland (translator), The Story of a Single Woman, Pushkin Press, 2025. 106 pgs. Everything in Uno Chiyoβs The Story of a Single Woman, translated from…
![[REVIEW]Β βThe Trembling of Memory: Self and Society in Uno Chiyoβs πβπ ππ‘πππ¦ ππ π ππππππ πππππβ by Wani Nazir](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/uno-chiyo-author-rebecca-copeland-translator-the-story-of-a-single-woman-pushkin-press-1.jpg?w=977)
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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ThuαΊn (author), Nguyα» n An LΓ½ (translator), Elevator in SΓ i GΓ²n, New Directions, 2024. 192 pgs. Nobel laureate Patrick Modiano once wrote that βit is not the future which counts,…
![[REVIEW] “Truth, Lies, and the Mask We Choose: On ThuαΊnβs πΈπππ£ππ‘ππ ππ πππ πΊππ” by Michael Londra](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/f09f9381-return-to-first-impressions-f09f9381-return-to-cha-review-of-books-and-films.jpg?w=881)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] βThings Fall Apart: Kong Shangrenβs The Peach Blossom Fanβ by Jeff Tompkins Kong Shangren (author), Wai-yee Li (translator). The Peach Blossom Fan, Oxford University Press, 2024. 816 pgs. Wai-yee Li…
![[ESSAY] βThings Fall Apart: Kong Shangrenβs πβπ ππππβ π΅πππ π ππ πΉππβ by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/the-peach-blossom-fan.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 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 πππ‘πππ πππβπ‘ πππ π·π𦔠by Dorina Tataran](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/untold-night-and-day-1.jpg?w=977)
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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 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)
Cha 