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Deemed one of the greats of modern Chinese fiction, this comedy of manners is excellent at satirising the faux-intellectual manners of the "returned students" Chinese students returning from study However I do not Fortress Besieged so after I read this, because I found it is also about Fortress Besieged. Zhongshu Qian. Qian writes, "With Miss Pao it wasn't a matter of heart or soul. She hadn't any change of heart, since she didn't have a heart. Soon Fang is trapped into a marriage of Nabokovian proportions of distress and absurdity. Recalling Fielding's Tom Jones in its farcical litany of misadventures and Flaubert's "style indirect libre," Fortress Besieged is its own unique feast of delights. Possibly the last in a line of Chinese thinkers that began with Fortress Besieged, he spent two years at Oxford, majoring in English and learning Latin and modern Fortress Besieged languages. During the Cultural Revolution he was sent to a re-education camp with his wife, Yang Jiang. By he was presumed dead, but he later reappeared at a sinological conference in Italy. Qian wrote some of the most important texts onclassical Chinese poetry and literature, Fortress Besieged, short stories, Fortress Besieged second incomplete novel that was lost in the mail, and edited various groundbreaking anthologies. Fortress Besieged - Zhongshu Qian - Google книги

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and Fortress Besieged again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the Fortress Besieged. Return to Book Page. Preview — Fortress Besieged by Qian Zhongshu. Fortress Besieged by Qian Zhongshu. Jeanne Kelly Translator. Nathan K. Mao Translator. Qian writes, "With Miss Fortress Besieged it wasn't a matter of heart or soul. She hadn't any change of heart, since she didn't have a heart. Soon Fang is trapped Fortress Besieged a marriage of Nabokovian proportions of distress and absurdity. Recalling Fortress Besieged Tom Jones in its farcical litany of misadventures and Flaubert's "style indirect libre," Fortress Besieged is its own unique feast of delights. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. Published February 17th by New Directions first published More Details Original Title. Other Editions Friend Fortress Besieged. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Fortress Besiegedplease sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Fortress Besieged your review of Fortress Besieged. Fortress Besieged is one of the most famous and influential Chinese novels of the 20th century, and yet I had never heard of it myself till last year. Perhaps he overdoes it a little, sometimes you want Fortress Besieged tell his characters to JUST STOP, bu Fortress Fortress Besieged is one of the most famous and influential Chinese novels of Fortress Besieged 20th century, and yet I had never heard of it myself till last year. Perhaps he overdoes it a little, sometimes you want to tell his characters to JUST STOP, but recalling similar incidents with some of my Fortress Besieged extended family members, I can say that he has accurately captured the pattern though perhaps exaggerated the amplitude of pettiness, sly Fortress Besieged, and the combative mindset of constantly trying to Fortress Besieged advantage of everyone and guarding against everyone else taking advantage of you. For me, it was Fortress Besieged fascinating look into life in s China. There is a picaresque Fortress Besieged journey in which he mercilessly derides the country's backward and bureaucratic transport systems and the repulsiveness Fortress Besieged Chinese innkeepers, and a couple of exhibits of labyrinthian Chinese office politics, one set at a university in the middle of nowhere, and a smaller one at a Shanghai newspaper. The marriage at the end spoiler, the book is about courtship and marriage Fortress Besieged so Fortress Besieged it was painful to read, much like Madame Bovary. I was surprised by how funny his writing was, and how often I burst out laughing in the Fortress Besieged two-thirds of the book. The soup Fortress Besieged served cold and the ice-cream served warm; the fish was like the Marines, having landed days ago, while the meat was like the submarine corps, deployed for long periods underwater; and apart from the vinegar, Fortress Besieged the bread, butter, and red wine were sour. I used to have a few nice things, but now they're all gone. You gentlemen never saw my house in Nanjing——at least the house wasn't burnt down by the Japanese, but all my furnishings and collectibles are nowhere to be found. It's a good thing I'm an optimistic Fortress Besieged, or else I'd die of grief. The ravages of war had certainly reduced many wealthy, landowning people to paupers, but at the same time it gave an untold number of paupers the opportunity to reminisce on their past riches. The Japanese Fortress Besieged down so many imaginary mansions, seized so many utopian estates, and ruined innumerable one-sided romances. If you want to experience the headache of an authentic, demanding Chinese family and marriage, you have to read this book. Fortress Besieged translation is lacklustre, so try to read the original in Chinese if you can. It was slow-going for me but worthwhile in the end. View all 4 comments. Apr 21, Ethan Fortress Besieged rated it it was ok. Fortress Besieged is regarded as one of the great Chinese novels of the twentieth century. Published in the s, and set in during the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war that preceded World War II, it's supposed to be a triumph of social satire, word play, and uniquely Chinese cynicism about relationships, families, and human behavior in general. If all this is true, then the translation in this version has not done Qian Zhongshu justice. Either that, or the social elements that he's se Fortress Besieged is regarded as one of the great Chinese novels Fortress Besieged the twentieth Fortress Besieged. Either that, or the social elements that he's sending up are so alien to a modern, western reader that getting the joke is a mostly hopeless endeavor. Put another way: at no point during my reading of Fortress Besieged was I able to discern what Fortress Besieged big deal is about this book. I suspect the translation is not up to the task of communicating Qian's mastery of Chinese puns, twisted word Fortress Besieged, diction-based comedy, and subtle absurdism. He peppers his writing with ancient proverbs that can't be translated literally without losing all meaning, but the translators Jeanne Kelly and Nathan Mao make little effort to find English equivalents, and Fortress Besieged leave us with gobbledegook. Sentences that are Fortress Besieged likely dripping with irony come across as confusing or incoherent. Fortress Besieged needs an update. I'd be willing to try it again some day if a superior translation ever emerges. View all 3 comments. Humorous of harsh language and the deeper Fortress Besieged on life. Fortress Besieged title is based on a French proverb: Marriage is like Fortress Besieged fortress besieged: those who are outside want to get in, and those who are inside want to Fortress Besieged out. Fortress Besieged odd Fortress Besieged, sometimes clunky, but which ultimately stuck with me. The clunkiness is fairly straightforward: it reads more like a series of Fortress Besieged parodying familiar genres the tourist novella, the road trip novella, the campus Fortress Besieged, the romantic comedy, the romantic farce. Each of them has its merits, and they do hold together, just, but the structure is very odd. I'm unsure of the commenta An odd book, sometimes clunky, but which ultimately stuck with me. I'm unsure of the commentators' attempts to turn the book into a kind of existentialist zeitgeist thing about "what it means to be a 20th century Chinese man". I'm very sure that readers of twentieth century Anglofiction will enjoy it, as will any academics Fortress Besieged at anytime. I found this book readable, I think I should enjoy reading its Chinese copy more but I know just few Chinese words so I ordered a copy and gave it as a present to T. Oct 09, Kobe Bryant rated it it was ok. Feb 22, Harker US Library rated it really liked it. That means the pool of books available to American readers in translation from, say, Mandarin is relatively limited—only works of scholarly interest, unusual acclaim, or specifically Western appeal make their way to our libraries. Not only has it been the object of intense study and widespread consumption in the seventy-five years since its publication, but its consistent references to Western proverbs and literature make it uniquely relatable to an American audience. The excellent translation by Nathan K. Mao and Jeanne Kelly also helps. Apr 01, Mimi rated it really liked it. This is a satirical comedy of manners set in China in during the Japanese invasion, which only appears Fortress Besieged the background. The language takes a little getting used to whether due to the translation or not, I couldn't tell. Almost every page has a funny metaphor, for instance: "He didn't realize that a person's Fortress Besieged are just like a monkey's tail. When it's squatting on the ground, it's tail is hidden from view, but as soon as it climbs a tree, it exposes it's backside to everyone. Nev This is a satirical comedy of manners set in China in during the Japanese invasion, which only appears in the background. Nevertheless, the long tail and red bottom were there all the time. They aren't just a mark of having climbed to a higher position. Those outside want to get in. The same is true Fortress Besieged marriage, for careers, and for much of what we want in life. Jan 04, Zoe rated it it was amazing. The original is much better than the translation but I guess this is unavoidable. There is much essence lost in the attempt to fit intricate Asian subtleties into western concepts. Great Chinese book, one I hope to read again. Funny, insightful, philosophical -- not much more one could ask from a book. View 2 comments. This Fortress Besieged a very interesting book because the author Fortress Besieged been a unique Chinese scholar, well versed in both Chinese and Western literature. Fortress Besieged | novel by Qian Zhongshu | Britannica

It was made into a popular television series in the early s. The book was begun while Qian Zhongshu and his wife Yang Fortress Besieged were living in Shanghai during the Japanese occupation. According to Yang Jiang, the successful production of several of her plays inspired Qian to write a full-length novel. The writing of the novel began inand was completed in Many of the characters and much of the plot are taken from the experiences of Qian and Yang both abroad and in China. For Fortress Besieged, the opening scene at sea reflects their journey from France to China on board the ship Athos II. The novel is known for its acerbic asides, such as describing one young lady in the following way:. Qian never completed another Fortress Besieged. He began work on a second, but the manuscript was lost when he and his family moved to Beijing in The novel was published in Shanghai in The second edition was Fortress Besieged The third edition in After the Communist Revolutionthe book was not reprinted in mainland China again until In the meantime, it was also banned in Fortress Besieged because of its scathing satire of the Nationalist government. She is quite pretty, if thin Fortress Besieged pallid, but her pickiness means she is still unattached. After disembarking at Shanghai, Fang looks for work and is Fortress Besieged to attend matchmaking sessions arranged by his parents. Fang wants to pursue Miss T'ang, but Miss Su expects him Fortress Besieged propose to her instead. When she discovers the truth, she ruins any chance of Fang getting with her cousin. His heart broken, Fang leaves Shanghai and gets a teaching job at a recently-opened university in the interior, where he discovers Fortress Besieged of his new colleagues also has a bogus doctorate from the same institution. After his contract is not renewed, they get married and go back to Shanghai, where their relationship worsens. The novel ends with his wife leaving him as he listens to the chiming of a clock. The literary critic C. Hsia has called Fortress Besieged"the most delightful and carefully wrought novel in modern Chinese literature" and "perhaps Aspects of the novel have entered the Chinese idiomatic lexicon. Likewise, the novel's title, deriving from the French proverb, has given rise to a similar saying in Chinese. The novel has been translated into many languages. These include a Russian version which appeared ina German version ina French version inand a Japanese version in The novel was translated into English by Nathan K. It was updated in by New Directions Publishing with Fortress Besieged additional foreword by the historian Jonathan Spence. Despite pinyin becoming the standard Fortress Besieged in the intervening years, the publishers retained the original Wade-Giles romanisation of Chinese names and places. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Fortress Besieged Cover art of the 1st edition of Fortress Besieged The Independent. The Los Angeles Review of Books. A History of Fortress Besieged Chinese Fiction. Fortress Besieged Haven: Yale University Press, New York: New Directions, Categories : novels Chinese Republican era novels Novels set in Shanghai Novels set in China Fiction set in the s 20th-century Chinese novels Chinese novels adapted into television series. Hidden categories: All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from Fortress Besieged Articles with permanently dead external links All articles with unsourced Fortress Besieged Articles with unsourced statements from August Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. Cover art of the 1st edition of Fortress Besieged