Fortress Besieged [Paperback]

I read the Chinese (original) version by Qian Zhongshu many times, but not the English translation yet. So I would be more than willing to rate the book a 5 star, it's not a review about the English version of it.

Neither my Chinese nor English language skill could be adaquate to comment on the translation of such a masterpiece in Chinese modern literature though.

So I will just say this: while reading this book, if you suddenly start laughing till tears come out, then, I guess, you really come to understand large part of the Chinese people, as well as the society.

It won't be easy for foreign readers, you need some background, history, etc to reach that stage. But if your interest in Chinese people goes beyond "cheap labour that flood WalMart with competing products", this book opens a path towards the heart of those (our) people and their (our) society. Not a quick and easy path, but a lasting one.

This breathtaking novel about China in the 1930s during the Japanese occupation is characterized by miscommunication. At least in love, everyone in this novel misunderstands others, leading to serious failure in relationships. Another characteristic is how trivial things - the products of chance - end up having immense consequences and becoming pivotal events. Things like the arguments between husband and wife, the books about Communism, etc. all translate into major changes. Critics attribute this to the main character - Hung Chien's lack of drive and his willingness to let events take control of him, but aren't we all? Few are made of steel. Isn't it human nature to have bad moods, to give up sometimes, or to go with the flow? We end up in situations no one could have predicted, and nothing really matters. Further it is not like we can stand in the face of circumstances no matter what. Sometimes events are beyond our control - nothing can change them.
His criticism of the academic world is very funny - surely extends beyond the borders of 1930s China. So are his criticism of social ills. Indeed I see many parallels between his time and our culture under Israeli occupation: the degree from the "West" becoming a mark of status, the photo in the newspaper upon return of the student from abroad, or people going to the West to study their own language and literature.
I suspect the fact that Hung Chien's being torn between two cultures contributed much to his passivity. He couldn't decide clearly what he wanted from life. With new eyes, he saw many things he didn't like about his culture, but he couldn't accept the Western model in full either. His expectations became different from that others [parents, wife, colleagues] had in store for him.

Fortress Besieged
by Zhongshu Qian
Facing a precarious looking rattan footbridge without railings & "afraid he'd only make a mess out of it if he tried to help her" all Fang Hung-chien "could do was smile ruefully" at the young lady---whom he'd earlier characterized behind her back as "a delicate little Shanghai girl"---and say "that leaves just us two cowards." To which she countered: "Mr. Fang, are you scared? I am not. Would you like me to go in front. If you follow me you won't have to look at the void below and you won't have the feeling that the bridge is endless. This way you would have more confidence." (Aside: try re-reading the above after substituting the word "life" in lieu of "the bridge.") Once the pair were safely across Mr. Fang's pal Chou Hsin-mei smilingly asked of the lady (whom I'm not going to name for your benefit) "were you leading him from the front or was he looking after you from behind?" Good question. And this is what this book is about, such questions on the subject of courtship---but not relating to any and all Chinese. No, this novel by a Chinese intellectual---whose first names can be translated as "book-lover"---primarily concerns & satirizes the foibles and pretensions of other intellectuals; particularly Chinese students who have journeyed abroad seeking foreign degrees.

The story thus conveniently commences aboard a steamship making its way back to China, peopled by a number of Chinese students (among them Fang Hung-chien) returning from Europe. The year is 1937 and the characters' lives are set amidst a backdrop of European hegemony and increasing Japanese aggression vis-a-vis China. For the author Chinese students who go abroad to study are more often mere pretenders, hollow intellectuals, trying to surmount some sort of self-perceived Chinese inferiority complex. Needless to say, such folk in this book do not fare well when it comes to having successful relationships. Chou Hsin-mei comes out of it better than most in the end, but only after experiencing much turmoil over a number of years, having presumably married (we aren't actually told) a "simple honest country girl"---his earlier declared goal upon his having been jilted by "a city-girl with a college degree." Likewise, we aren't told much about how other rather prominent characters' choices turn out for them in the end either. Only Fang's degree of happiness enjoyed is elaborated on to the extent that one may draw conclusions on the subject of marriage; and whether it's cracked up to be all that some imagine it to be. P.S & word to the wise: Fang's character writing to a woman in the novel cautiously admits that "I can only use cliches which have been worked to death for thousands of years to express my feelings." For my taste, the author's writing style parallels this comment far too closely. If you are annoyed by an over usage of similes then "Fortress Besieged" (what the author likens a marriage to be akin) is going to grate on your nerves at times. On but several pages I found just these similes utilized by the author: Something was..."like finding a pack of cigarettes when one craves opium;" ..."like rice-flour noodles without elasticity;"..."like a balloon released by a child;"..."like the last few notes that float in the air after the music has ceased;"..."like a phantom of early dawn"... The author, for no apparent purpose, also liberally employs English idioms, scattered words and phrases---not surprising that he himself taught English (and studied in Europe, I might add), but it is more than a touch ironic when juxtaposed with his thesis that "returned students from abroad suffer from enlarged egos." (P.P.S. I came across and read this book while in China myself.) Cheers!