Category: reviews of translations
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS For Gab Angeles, who lent me the book. Natsume Sōseki (author), Meredith McKinney (translator), Kokoro, Penguin Classics, 2010. 256 pgs. Kokoro is the final novel written by Natsume Sōseki.…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “The Virtue of Melancholy: Reading Natsume Sōseki’s 𝐾𝑜𝑘𝑜𝑟𝑜” by Ramzzi Fariñas](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/kokoro.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Can Xue (author), Karen Gernant and Chen Zeping (translators), I Live in the Slums, Yale University Press, 2020. 344 pgs. Can Xue’s I Live in the Slums is an…
![[REVIEW] “A Shifting, Unstable World: Can Xue’s 𝐼 𝐿𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑠” by Zalman S. Davis](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/i-live-in-the-slums-1.jpg?w=968)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Xiaofei Tian (editor), Reading Du Fu: Nine Views, Hong Kong University Press, 2020. 200 pgs. The idea for Reading Du Fu: Nine Views grew out of a two-day conference…
![[REVIEW] “Interrogative Reflections: Nine Views of Reading Du Fu” by Marsha McDonald](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/xiaofei-tian-editor-reading-du-fu-nine-views-1.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 Hiroko Oyamada. Hiroko Oyamada (author), David Boyd (translator), The Factory, New Directions, 2019. 128 pgs. Hiroko Oyamada’s The Factory weaves…
![[REVIEW] “A Senseless Menagerie: Hiroko Oyamada’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦” by Tyran Grillo](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/the-factory.png?w=562)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yuta Takahashi (author), Cat Anderson (translator), The Chibineko Kitchen, John Murray, 2024. 192 pgs. The Japanese iyashikei—or healing—genre has resonated deeply with readers worldwide, offering solace and comfort through…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Dining with the Departed: Yuta Takahashi’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑘𝑜 𝐾𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑛” by Aditi Yadav](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/the-chibineko-kitchen-john-murray-1.jpg?w=651)
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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 Absolutely on Music. Haruki Murakami (author), Jay Rubin (translator), Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa, Alfred A. Knopf, 2016. 352 pgs. When we look back…
![[REVIEW] “A Symphony of Words and Sound—Haruki Murakami’s 𝐴𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑐: 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑆𝑒𝑖𝑗𝑖 𝑂𝑧𝑎𝑤𝑎” by Antonia Yang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/absolutely-on-music-conversations-with-seiji-ozawa-alfred-a.-knopf-2016.jpg?w=751)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Before TSMC and Same-Sex Marriage: Qiu Miaojin’s Notes of a Crocodile” by Glen Loveland Qiu Miaojin (author), Bonnie Huie (translator), Notes of a Crocodile, NYRB Classics, 2017, 256 pgs. To…
![[REVIEW] “Before TSMC and Same-Sex Marriage: Qiu Miaojin’s 𝑁𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝐶𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑙𝑒” by Glen Loveland](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/qiu.crocodile.hires2-copy.jpg?w=990)
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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. We step into a new world—otherwise inaccessible—every…
![[REVIEW] “A Tale of Love and Abuse: Imayam’s 𝐴 𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝐵𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑡” by Fathima M](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 Bei Dao (author), Jeffrey Yang (translator), Sidetracks, New Directions, 2024. 176 pgs. The “sidetracks” of Bei Dao’s title can first be understood as a structural metaphor—two parallel…
![[REVIEW] “The Fugitive: Bei Dao’s 𝑆𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑠” by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/sidetracks-bei-dao_cha.jpg?w=611)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS 📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kang Hwagil (author), Clare Richards (translator), Another Person, Pushkin Press, 2023. 302 pgs. When her boyfriend chokes her for the fifth time since their office romance began, Kim…
![[REVIEW] “Unmasking Toxic Cultures: Kang Hwagil’s 𝐴𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛” by John Teoh](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/another-person-78-reviews-authors-hwa-gil-kang-author-clare-richards-translator.jpg?w=950)
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RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kim Soom (author), Bruce Fulton and Ju-Chan Fulton (translators), One Left, University of Washington Press, 2020. 224 pgs. During the Second World War, over 200,000 Korean girls…
![[REVIEW] “Bearing Witness to History: Kim Soom’s 𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑡” by John Teoh](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/kim-soom-author-bruce-fulton-and-ju-chan-fulton-translators-one-left-1.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 Idol, Burning. Rin Usami (author), Asa Yoneda (translator), Idol, Burning, Canongate, 2022. 96 pgs. Rin Usami’s Idol, Burning (『推し、燃ゆ』, 2020) offers an incisive exploration of…
![[REVIEW] “Belief, Devotion, and Estrangement in Rin Usami’s 𝐼𝑑𝑜𝑙, 𝐵𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔” by James Au Kin-Pong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/idol-burning-canongate.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 Idol, Burning. Rin Usami (author), Asa Yoneda (translator), Idol, Burning, HarperVia, 2022.144 pgs. Japan, for me, has long been a pop music paradise. On my…
![[REVIEW] “When a Passion Turns Toxic: Rin Usami’s 𝐼𝑑𝑜𝑙, 𝐵𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔” by Wendy Tokunaga](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/rin-usami-author-asa-yoneda-translator-idol-burning.jpg?w=946)
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📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Izumi Kyōka (author), Charles Shirō Inouye (translator and author of introduction and afterword), Japanese Gothic Tales, University of Hawai’i Press, 1996. 202 pgs. Japan Gothic Tales comprises four short…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS]“The Haunting World of Random Encounters in Izumi Kyōka’s 𝐽𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝐺𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑐 𝑇𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠” by Vanessa Winghei Yeung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/japanese-gothic-tales-1.png?w=1024)
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There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
![Protected: [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Everyday Movement: Gigi L. Leung’s Love Letter to Hong Kong” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](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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There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
![Protected: [REVIEW] “The Strangeness Within: On Rajyabardhan Dhal Mahapatra’s The Nomad’s House” by Kathiravan Annamalai](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/copy-of-copy-of-copy-of-untitled-design.png?w=600)
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📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN 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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📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN 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] “Between the Living and the Dead: Sanaka Hiiragi’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑀𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠” by Aditi Yadav](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/sanaka-hiiragi.png?w=1024)
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📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yasunari Kawabata (author), Edward G. Seidensticker (translator), Snow Country, Vintage, 1996. 192 pgs. The short review goes a little something like this: Is it possible for one to love…
![[REVIEW] “Love Lies Wasted: Yasunari Kawabata’s 𝑆𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑦” by A. B. Freeman](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/yasunari-kawabata.jpeg?w=1000)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 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 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘” 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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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 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 𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑖𝑠𝑜 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑝” by Anna Moon](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/in-the-miso-soup.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Emi Yagi (author), David Boyd and Lucy North (translators), Diary of a Void, Viking, 2022. 213 pgs. Shibata works for a cardboard tube company on the fourth floor of an overheated office.…
![[REVIEW] “Reimagining the Void: Emi Yagi’s 𝐷𝑖𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑉𝑜𝑖𝑑” by Lucy Hamilton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/review-reimagining-the-void-emi-yagis-diary-of-a-void22-by-lucy-hamilton.jpg?w=925)
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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 The Woman in the Purple Skirt. Natsuko Imamura (author), Lucy North (translator), The Woman in the Purple Skirt, Penguin Random House, 2021. 224 pgs. In Natsuko…
![[REVIEW] “Lingering Suspense: Natsuko Imamura’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑆𝑘𝑖𝑟𝑡” BY James Kin Pong Au](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/the-woman-in-the-purple-skirt.jpg?w=925)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Shuang Xuetao (author), Jeremy Tiang (translator), Rouge Street: Three Novellas, Metropolitan Books, 2022. 216 pgs. Over the past few years, China has seen a resurgence of interest in its…
![[REVIEW] “Finding Hope in Despair: Shuang Xuetao’s 𝑅𝑜𝑢𝑔𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡” by Kammy Lee](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/rouge-street-three-novellas.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 Life Ceremony. Sayaka Murata (author), Ginny Tapley Takemori (translator), Life Ceremony, Granta Books, 2022. 266 pgs. A human heart, resting on a bed of rice noodles,…
![[REVIEW] “A Hearty Feast: Food, Cannibalism, and the Human Condition in Sayaka Murata’s 𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝐶𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑦” by Lucy Hamilton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/life-ceremony.jpg?w=1000)
Cha 