Category: Susan Blumberg-Kason
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βWhen News Breaks: Carol Linβs Memoir of Love and Warβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason Carol Lin, When News Breaks, Third Rail Press, 2025. 284 pgs. Carol Lin came of age in…
![[REVIEW] βπβππ πππ€π π΅πππππ : Carol Linβs Memoir of Love and Warβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/when.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Joseph Torigian, The Party’s Interests Come First: The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping, Stanford University Press, 2025. 718 pgs. During the early months of the pandemic,…
![[REVIEW] βThe Partyβs Interests Come First: Joseph Torigianβs πβπ πΏπππ ππ ππ πβππππ₯π’π, πΉππ‘βππ ππ ππ π½ππππππβΒ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/xi-jinping.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Charles Philipp Martin, Rented Grave: An Inspector Lok Novel, Level Best Books, 2024. 305 pgs. There is something about Hong Kong that lends itself particularly well to crime…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βThe Legacy and Brilliance of Hong Kong Crime Novels: Charles Philipp Martinβs π
πππ‘ππ πΊπππ£πβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/rentedgrave-1.jpg?w=992)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Mending Bodies. Hon Lai Chu (author), Jacqueline Leung (translator), Mending Bodies, Two Lines Press, 2025. 240 pgs. For those who haven’t read the original Chinese…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βMagical Realism or Political Prophecy? Hon Lai ChuβsΒ πππππππ π΅πππππ Β Reexaminedβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](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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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Paul French, Her Lotus Year: China, the Roaring Twenties, and the Making of Wallis Simpson, St. Martin’s Press, 2024. 298 pgs. Wallis Simpson will forever be imprinted on British…
![[REVIEW] βRemembering WallisβPaul Frenchβs π»ππ πΏππ‘π’π ππππ: πΆβπππ, π‘βπ π
ππππππ ππ€πππ‘πππ , πππ π‘βπ ππππππ ππ ππππππ πππππ ππβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/f09d90bbf09d9192f09d919f-f09d90bff09d919cf09d91a1f09d91a2f09d91a0-f09d918cf09d9192f09d918ef09d919f-f09d90b6e2848ef09d9196f09d919bf09d918e-f09d91a1e2848ef09d9192-f09d9185f09d919cf09d918ef.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Grace Loh Prasad, The Translatorβs Daughter, The Ohio State University Press, 2024. 272 pgs. Grief occurs in many forms. Thereβs the mourning of a loved one who has passed…
![[REVIEW] βStunning Memoir: Grace Loh Prasadβs πβπ πππππ πππ‘ππβπ π·ππ’πβπ‘ππβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/the-translators-daughter.jpg?w=880)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ralph Jennings, 50 Useful Tips on China, from a Guy Who ALMOST Got It, Earnshaw Books, 2024. 260 pgs. Ralph Jennings is a seasoned journalist who has spent the…
![[REVIEW] βResonating with Anyone Who Travels Internationally: Ralph Jenningsβs 50 ππ πππ’π ππππ ππ πΆβπππβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/50-useful-tips-on-china-from-a-guy-who-almost-got-it.jpg?w=971)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS πRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Alexandra A. Chan, In the Garden Behind the Moon, Flashpoint, 2024. 432 pgs. On paper, Alexandra A. Chan seems to have it all. A doctor of archaeology, a professor,…
![[REVIEW] βRemembering Through Memoir: Alexandra A. Chanβs πΌπ π‘βπ πΊπππππ π΅πβπππ π‘βπ ππππβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/in-the-garden-behind-the-moon.jpg?w=1000)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Andreas von Buddenbrock, The Ink Trail Hong Kong, Blacksmith Books, 2024. 96 pgs. When I moved to Hong Kong in 1990, I arrived with a long list…
![[REVIEW] “Intricate Sketches: Andreas von Buddenbrock’s πβπ πΌππ πππππ π»πππ πΎπππ” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/the-ink-trail.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Amy Lin, Here After, Zibby Books, 2024, 272 pgs. My dad became a widower in his late thirties. I was born a few years after that, a…
![[REVIEW] βTo Mourn and Remember: Amy Linβs π»πππ π΄ππ‘ππβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/here-after-amy-lin-copy.jpg?w=817)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Liang Wern Fook (author), Christina Ng (translator), The Joy of a Left Hand, Balestier Press, 2023. 144 pgs. When my youngest child was about two years old, I noticed…
![[REVIEW] βHumans in All States of Emotion: Liang Wern Fookβs πβπ π½ππ¦ ππ π πΏπππ‘ π»πππβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/the-joy-of-a-left-hand.jpg?w=880)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Susan Blumberg-Kason, Bernardineβs Shanghai Salon: The Story of The Doyenne of Old China, Post Hill Press, 2023. 275 pgs. βAcknowledgements are also due toβ¦ Bernardine Szold Fritzβ¦ who, sometimes…
![[REVIEW] βThe Extraordinary Story of Bernardine Szold FritzβA Review of Susan Blumberg-Kason’s π΅πππππππππβπ πβπππβππ πππππ: πβπ ππ‘πππ¦ ππ πβπ π·ππ¦ππππ ππ πππ πΆβπππ” by X. H. Collins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/the-extraordinary-story-of-bernardine-szold-fritze28094a-review-of-susan-blumberg-kasons-bernardines-shanghai-salon-the-story-of-the-doyenne-of-old-china.jpg?w=768)
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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 Nightmare Japan. β Jinhee Choi and Mitsuyo Wada-Marciano (editors), Horror to the Extreme: Changing Boundaries in Asian Cinema, Hong Kong University Press, 2009. 284 pgs.β Jay…
![[REVIEW] βThe Golden Age of Asian Horror Film: An Examination of π»πππππ π‘π π‘βπ πΈπ₯π‘ππππ and πππβπ‘ππππ π½ππππβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/horror.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Gary Bettinson, The Sensuous Cinema of Wong Kar-wai: Film Poetics and the Aesthetic of Disturbance, 2014. 176 pgs. In the summer of 1994, I left a cinema in Tsim…
![[REVIEW] βGetting to the Heart of Wong Kar-wai: Gary Bettinsonβs πβπ ππππ π’ππ’π πΆπππππ ππ ππππ πΎππ-π€ππβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/29477id_021_0005_29477id_215.webp?w=800)
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π RETURN TO JUST ANOTHER DAY I was a first-year student at university in Baltimore. It was the end of the academic year and finals were about to start. We had a reading day or two where we could review and…
![[JUST ANOTHER DAY] Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/just-another-day_cha.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 Owlish. Dorothy Tse (author), Natascha Bruce (translator), Owlish, Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2023. 224 pgs. Iβve always sensed that Hong Kong has a unique way of combining the…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Making Sense of Time: Dorothy Tse and ππ€πππ β” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/dorothy-tse-cha-an-asian-literary-journal.jpg?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 The Sorrows of Others. Ada Zhang, The Sorrows of Others, A Public Space, 2023. 160 pgs. Empathy. Itβs a simple word and one…
![[REVIEW] βEmpathy is Key: Ada Zhangβs πβπ ππππππ€π ππ ππ‘βπππ ” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/the-sorrows-of-others-1.jpg?w=700)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Liu Xinwu (author), Jeremy Tiang (translator), The Wedding Party, Amazon Crossing, 2021. 400 pgs. Time is a recurring theme in Liu Xinwuβs novel, The Wedding Party, recently translated from the Chinese into English…
![[REVIEW] “A Rich Tapestry for Tomorrowβs Beijingers: A Review of πβπ πππππππ ππππ‘𦔠by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/theweddingparty-1.jpeg?w=700)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Artist and author Fiona Hawthorne grew up in Hong Kong and much of her work is informed by her childhood, including two new books out this year: Drawing on the Inside: Kowloon…
![[REVIEW] “Fiona Hawthorne and Kowloon Walled City” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/fiona-hawthorne.png?w=1024)
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Click HERE to read Michael O’Sullivan’s reflection on writing Lockdown Lovers, written exclusively for Cha, and an excerpt from the novel. πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Lockdown Lovers. Michael O’Sullivan, Lockdown…
![[REVIEW] βBefore We Know How It Will End: A Review of Michael OβSullivanβs πΏππππππ€π πΏππ£πππ β by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/lockdown-lovers_michael-osullivan.png?w=1024)
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{Written by Susan Blumberg-Kason, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Stephen Griffiths, The Kowloon English Club, Blacksmith Books, 2021. 292 pgs. Hong Kong in 1996 was a special time. The Handover was a…
![[REVIEW] “The Centre of the Universe: A Review of Stephen Griffiths’s The Kowloon English Club” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/kowloon-english-club-800px.jpeg?w=672)
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{Written by Susan Blumberg-Kason, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Malcolm Merry, The Unruly New Territories: Small Houses, Ancestral Estates, Illegal Structures, and Other Customary Land Practices of Rural Hong Kong, Hong Kong…
![[REVIEW] “Truculent Attitude and Independent Spirit: A Review of Malcolm Merry’s The Unruly New Territories” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/the-unruly-new-territories-small-houses-ancestral-estates-illegal-structures-and-other-customary-land-practices-of-rural-hong-kong-1.jpeg?w=666)
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{Written by Susan Blumberg-Kason, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} YΕ« Miri (author) and Morgan Giles (translator), Tokyo Ueno Station, Tilted Axis Press, 2019 (first published in 2014). 197 pgs. Kazu Mori is…
![[REVIEW] “Critical Social Commentary of Modern Japan: A Review of YΕ« Miri’s ππππ¦π ππππ ππ‘ππ‘πππ” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/tokyouenostation-2.jpg?w=762)
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{Written by Susan Blumberg-Kason, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Leslie Shimotakahara, Red Oblivion, Dundurn Press, 2019. 304 pgs. Jill Lau and her sister Celeste rush to visit their elderly father after…
![[REVIEW] “A Stirring Tribute to Hong Kong: A Review of Leslie Shimotakahara’s Red Oblivion” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/red-obivion_shimotakahara.png?w=1024)
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{Written by Susan Blumberg-Kason, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Patricia O’Sullivan, Women, Crime and the Courts: Hong Kong 1841-1941, Blacksmith Books, 2020. 344 pgs. When the British took Hong Kong in 1841,…
![[REVIEW] “Not Hardened Criminals: A Review of Patrician O’Sullivan’s Women, Crime and the Courts” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2_women-crime-and-the-courts-hong-kong-1841-1941-800px-1.jpg?w=1024)
Cha 