Category: reviews of translations
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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 Hiroko Oyamada. Hiroko Oyamada (author), David Boyd (translator), The Factory, New Directions, 2019. 128 pgs. Hiroko Oyamadaβs The Factory weaves…
![[REVIEW] βA Senseless Menagerie: Hiroko Oyamadaβs πβπ πΉπππ‘πππ¦β by Tyran Grillo](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/the-factory.png?w=562)
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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 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 SoundβHaruki Murakami’s π΄ππ πππ’π‘πππ¦ ππ ππ’π ππ: πΆπππ£πππ ππ‘ππππ π€ππ‘β πππππ ππ§ππ€π” 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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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ 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 πππ‘ππ ππ π πΆππππππππ” by Glen Loveland](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/qiu.crocodile.hires2-copy.jpg?w=990)
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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 A Woman Burnt. Imayam (author), GJV Prasad (translator), A Woman Burnt, Simon and Schuster India, 2023. 336 pgs. We step into a new worldβotherwise inaccessibleβevery…
![[REVIEW] “A Tale of Love and Abuse: Imayam’s π΄ πππππ π΅π’πππ‘” by Fathima M](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/a-woman-burnt-1.jpg?w=952)
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There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
![Protected: [LEEDS | REVIEW] “Memory, Fiction, and Subjective Reality in Ge Fei’s π΄ 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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There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
![Protected: [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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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS π RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Bei Dao (author), Jeffrey Yang (translator), Sidetracks, New Directions, 2024. 176 pgs. The βsidetracksβ of Bei Daoβs title can first be understood as a structural metaphorβtwo parallel…
![[REVIEW] “The Fugitive: Bei Daoβs πππππ‘πππππ ” by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/sidetracks-bei-dao_cha.jpg?w=611)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS π 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 π΄πππ‘βππ ππππ ππ” 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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ο» RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSο» 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 πππ πΏπππ‘” 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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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ 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 Usamiβs Idol, Burning (γζ¨γγηγγ, 2020) offers an incisive exploration of…
![[REVIEW] “Belief, Devotion, and Estrangement in Rin Usamiβs πΌπππ, π΅π’πππππ” by James Au Kin-Pong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/idol-burning-canongate.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 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] βWhen a Passion Turns Toxic: Rin Usamiβs πΌπππ, π΅π’πππππβ 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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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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There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
![Protected: [REVIEW] βThe Strangeness Within: On Rajyabardhan Dhal Mahapatraβs The Nomadβs Houseβ 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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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 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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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN 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] βLove Lies Wasted: Yasunari KawabataβsΒ ππππ€ πΆππ’ππ‘ππ¦β by A. B. Freeman](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/yasunari-kawabata.jpeg?w=1000)
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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 Emi Yagi (author), David BoydΒ andΒ Lucy NorthΒ (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] βReimagining the Void: Emi Yagi’s π·ππππ¦ ππ π ππππ” 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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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ The Woman in the Purple Skirt. Natsuko Imamura (author), Lucy North (translator),Β The Woman in the Purple Skirt, Penguin Random House, 2021. 224 pgs. In Natsuko…
![[REVIEW] βLingering Suspense: Natsuko Imamura’s πβπ πππππ ππ π‘βπ ππ’ππππ πππππ‘β 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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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ 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] βFinding Hope in Despair: Shuang Xuetaoβs π
ππ’ππ ππ‘ππππ‘β by Kammy Lee](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/rouge-street-three-novellas.jpg?w=971)
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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. A human heart, resting on a bed of rice noodles,…
![[REVIEW] βA Hearty Feast: Food, Cannibalism, and the Human Condition in Sayaka Murataβs πΏπππ πΆπππππππ¦β by Lucy Hamilton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/life-ceremony.jpg?w=1000)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Hiro Arikawa (author), Philip Gabriel (translator), The Travelling Cat Chronicles, Berkley, 2018. 277 pgs. Hiro Arikawaβs The Travelling Cat Chronicles, translated by Philip Gabriel, is a heart-warming book that…
![[REVIEW] βOut Beyond the Horizon: Hiro Arikawaβs πβπ ππππ£ππππππ πΆππ‘ πΆβππππππππ β by Hui-Hua Lu](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/screenshot-2024-08-28-at-15.31.04.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yao-Chang Chen (author), Pao-Fang Hsu, Ian Maxwell, and Tung-Jung Chen (translators), Puppet Flower: A Novel of 1867 Formosa. Columbia University Press, 2023, 298 pgs. The American servicemen are in…
![[REVIEW] βSend in the Marines: Yao-Chang Chenβs ππ’ππππ‘ πΉπππ€ππβby Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/puppet-flower-a-novel-of-1867-formosa.jpg?w=972)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Banana Yoshimoto (author), Michael Emmerich (translator), Asleep, Grove Atlantic, 2001. 171 pgs. If youβve read Banana Yoshimotoβs celebrated novella Kitchen, there wonβt be much surprise in Asleep for…
![[REVIEW] βThe Art of Retelling, Benign Ghosts and ππππ ππ π΄π€πππ in Banana Yoshimotoβs π΄π ππππβ by Elnura Huseynova](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/asleep_banana-yoshimoto.jpg?w=1024)
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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ta Duy Anh (author), Quan Manh Ha and Charles Waugh (translators), The Termite Queen, Penguin Random House SEA, 2023. 256 pgs. Ta Duy Anhβs novels, replete as they are…
![[REVIEW] “A Daring and Unsettling Portrait: Ta Duy Anh’s πβπ ππππππ‘π ππ’πππ” by Mia Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/the-termite-queen-copy.jpeg?w=625)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Tale of A Material City: Lau Yee-wa’s Tongueless” by Luca Griseri ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Tongueless. Lau Yee-Wa (author), Jennifer Feeley (translator), Tongueless, The Feminist Press, 2024. 280 pgs. The…
![[REVIEW] “The Tale of A Material City: Lau Yee-wa’s πππππ’ππππ π ” by Luca GriseriΒ](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/tongueless_cha.jpg?w=938)
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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 Bluebeard’s First Wife. Ha Seong-nan (author), Janet Hong (translator), Bluebeardβs First Wife, Open Letter Books, 2020. 230 pgs. The following words resonate throughout the eleven…
![[REVIEW] βOutside Cones of Light was Total Darkness: Ha Seong-nanβs π΅ππ’ππππππβπ πΉπππ π‘ ππππβ by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ha-seong-nanauthor-janet-hong-translator-bluebeards-first-wife.jpg?w=971)
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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 Cho Nam-joo. Cho Nam-joo (author), Jamie Chang (translator), Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, Liveright, 2021. 176 pgs. Everyone who has read Cho Nam-jooβs debut novel Kim…
![[REVIEW] βThe Limited Life of a Woman: Cho Nam-jooβs πΎππ π½ππ¦ππ’ππ, π΅πππ 1982β by Dorina Tataran](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/kim-jiyoung-born-1982.jpg?w=923)
Cha 