diff --git a/compile.c b/compile.c
index 97a7d21..36e7883 100644
--- a/compile.c
+++ b/compile.c
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ CORD compile(ast_t *ast)
     case Var: return Match(ast, Var)->name;
     case Int: return CORD_asprintf("((Int%ld_t)%ld)", Match(ast, Int)->precision, Match(ast, Int)->i);
     case Num: return CORD_asprintf(Match(ast, Num)->precision == 64 ? "%g" : "%gf", Match(ast, Num)->n);
-    case Char: return CORD_asprintf("'\\x%02X'", (int)Match(ast, Char)->c);
+    case Char: return CORD_asprintf("(char)'\\x%02X'", (int)Match(ast, Char)->c);
     case UnaryOp: {
         auto unop = Match(ast, UnaryOp);
         CORD expr = compile(unop->value);
@@ -123,12 +123,28 @@ CORD compile(ast_t *ast)
         return CORD_cat_char(code, '"');
     }
     case StringJoin: {
-        CORD code = NULL;
-        for (ast_list_t *chunk = Match(ast, StringJoin)->children; chunk; chunk = chunk->next) {
-            if (code) CORD_sprintf(&code, "CORD_cat(%r, %r)", code, compile(chunk->ast));
-            else code = compile(chunk->ast);
+        ast_list_t *chunks = Match(ast, StringJoin)->children;
+        if (!chunks) {
+            return "\"\"";
+        } else if (!chunks->next) {
+            CORD code = compile(chunks->ast);
+            if (chunks->ast->tag != StringLiteral)
+                code = CORD_asprintf("__cord(%r)", code);
+            return code;
+        } else {
+            int64_t num_chunks = 0;
+            for (ast_list_t *chunk = chunks; chunk; chunk = chunk->next)
+                ++num_chunks;
+
+            CORD code = CORD_asprintf("CORD_catn(%ld", num_chunks);
+            for (ast_list_t *chunk = chunks; chunk; chunk = chunk->next) {
+                CORD chunk_code = compile(chunk->ast);
+                if (chunk->ast->tag != StringLiteral)
+                    chunk_code = CORD_asprintf("__cord(%r)", chunk_code);
+                CORD_sprintf(&code, "%r, %r", code, chunk_code);
+            }
+            return CORD_cat_char(code, ')');
         }
-        return code;
     }
     case Block: {
         ast_list_t *stmts = Match(ast, Block)->statements;
diff --git a/nextlang.h b/nextlang.h
index 2e55b1c..2718ef6 100644
--- a/nextlang.h
+++ b/nextlang.h
@@ -31,11 +31,13 @@
 #define CORD_asprintf(...) ({ CORD __c; CORD_sprintf(&__c, __VA_ARGS__); __c; })
 #define __declare(var, val) __typeof(val) var = val
 #define __cord(x) _Generic(x, bool: x ? "yes" : "no", \
-                         int8_t: CORD_asprintf("%d", x), int16_t: CORD_asprintf("%d", x), \
+                         int8_t: CORD_asprintf("%d", x), \
+                         int16_t: CORD_asprintf("%d", x), \
                          int32_t: CORD_asprintf("%d", x), int64_t: CORD_asprintf("%ld", x), \
                          double: CORD_asprintf("%g", x), float: CORD_asprintf("%g", x), \
                          CORD: x, \
                          char*: x, \
+                         char: CORD_cat_char(NULL, x), \
                          default: "???")
 #define __heap(x) (__typeof(x)*)memcpy(GC_MALLOC(sizeof(x)), (__typeof(x)[1]){x}, sizeof(x))
 #define __stack(x) (&(__typeof(x)){x})
diff --git a/parse.c b/parse.c
index 75a0d1e..d7d8ff7 100644
--- a/parse.c
+++ b/parse.c
@@ -922,7 +922,6 @@ PARSER(parse_string) {
             ++pos;
             spaces(&pos);
             for (ast_t *interp; (interp=optional(ctx, &pos, parse_expr)); spaces(&pos)) {
-                interp = WrapAST(interp, FunctionCall, .fn=WrapAST(interp, Var, .name="__cord"), .args=new(ast_list_t, .ast=interp));
                 chunks = new(ast_list_t, .ast=interp, .next=chunks);
                 chunk_start = pos;
             }