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[EXCLUSIVE] βThe Abacusβ by Jeff Beyl
Chinese Abacus 1814 One day, while wandering in the Mong Kok district of Kowloon, I bought an antique abacus. Known as one of the most densely populated areas on earth, Mong Kok is a busy shopping...
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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βSome Sort of Enclosed System: Hiroko Oyamadaβs πβπ...
Β Β RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSΒ Β RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Hiroko Oyamada (author), David Boyd (translator), The Factory, New Directions, 2019. 128 pgs. The cover is what first drew me in....
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[REVIEW] βOriginal and Surreal: Yun Ko-eunβs πππππ πππ πππβ by Jack Greenberg
πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Table for One. Yun Ko-eun (author), Lizzie Buehler (translator), Table for One: Stories,...
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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βTroubling Facets of Life in Tokyo: Nick Bradleyβs πβπ...
RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Nick Bradley, The Cat and the City, Atlantic Books, 2020. 304 pgs. Nick Bradleyβs The Cat and the City is a patchwork of short...
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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βNothing Under the Sun Is Truly New: Lawrence Kwan Chun...
RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Lawrence Kwan Chun Kan (director), In Broad Daylight η½ζ₯δΉδΈ, 2023. 106 min. In Broad Daylight combines two major news stories that...
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[REVIEW] βClean Work: Wim Wendersβs πππππππ‘ π·ππ¦π β by Oliver Farry
RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Wim Wenders (director), Perfect Days, 2023. 123 min. Wim Wenders is not alone among Western filmmakers in having a fascination with...
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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βSimultaneities and Narratives in Apichatpong...
RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Apichatpong Weerasethakul (director), Mysterious Object at Noon, 2000. 83 min. βEnlisting locals to contribute improvised narration...
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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βAn Outrageously Ambitious Not-Quite Masterpiece: Yan...
RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yan Lianke (author), Carlos Rojas (translator), Heart Sutra, Glove Atlantic, 2023. 426 pgs. Just as the late Milan Kundera was in...
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[REVIEW] βAt the Edge of Impermanence: Bae Suahβs πππ‘πππ πππβπ‘ πππ π·ππ¦β by...
RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Bae Suah (author), Deborah Smith (translator), Untold Night and Day, Jonathan Cape, 2020. 155 pgs. Where do we come from? What are...
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[REVIEW] βLost in Translation: The Perverse Pains and Pleasures of...
RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Wong Kar-wai (director), In the Mood for Love, 2000. 98 min. Wong Kar-Waiβs In the Mood for Love (2000) has become known as one of...
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[EXCLUSIVE] βStories of a Businessman Who Writes Poetry on Work Tripsβ by...
Zheng Wang: Trips Stories of a Businessman Who Writes Poetry on Work Trips is a sequence of narrative poems in a pseudo-chronological order, a kind of spiritual diary. Its predominant theme is the...
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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βAn Excellent Example of Slow Cinema: Wim Wendersβs...
RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Perfect Days. Wim Wenders (director),Β Perfect Days, 2023. 123 min. Perfect Days (2023) is a...
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[REVIEW] βThe People in These Stories Have Found a Soulmateβππ πΆππ‘π : π΄π...
RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS On Cats: An Anthology, introduction by Margaret Atwood and photographs by Elliot Ross, Notting Hill Editions, 2021. 84 pgs. Cats are...
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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βAn Ode to Unrequited Love, 30 Years Later: Wong...
RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Chungking Express. Wong Kar-wai (director), Chungking Express (4K Restored Edition), 2021...
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[REVIEW] βTo Mourn and Remember: Amy Linβs π»πππ π΄ππ‘ππβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason
RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS 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...
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[REVIEW] βOur Histories House So Much Loss But They House So Much Love Too:...
RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jessica J. Lee, Two Trees Make a Forest, Catapult, 2020, 282 pgs. The first day in the cloud forest softened me to fog⦠Behind me,...
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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βA Portrait of Those Left Behind: πβπ πΉπππππ β π΅πππβ by X....
RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka (directors and screenwriters), The Foolish Bird 笨ι³₯, 2017. 118 min. One minute into The Foolish Bird 笨ι³₯, I...
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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βWhen The Translations Hit, They Really Hit: Sayaka...
RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Sayaka Murata (author), Ginny Tapley Takemori (translator), Life Ceremony, Granta Books, 2023. 272 pgs. Sayaka Murataβs Life...
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[REVIEW] βThe Birth of Deathly Birds: Kim Hyesoonβs πβπππ‘ππ ππππ πππππ β by...
Β RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kim Hyesoon (author), Don Mee Choi (translator), Phantom Pain Wings, New Directions, 2023. 208 pgs. Reading Kim Hyesoonβs Phantom...
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[REVIEW] βA Criticism of the Ways in Which Modern Society Treats, Sees, and...
RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Sosuke Natsukawa (author), Louise Heal Kawai (translator), The Cat Who Saved Books, HarperCollins, 2021. 208 pgs. The Cat Who Saved...
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