{"product_id":"fortress-besieged","title":"Fortress Besieged","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe greatest Chinese novel of the twentieth century, \u003cem\u003eFortress Besieged\u003c\/em\u003e is a classic of world literature and a masterpiece of parodic fiction\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eSet on the eve of the Sino-Japanese war, \u003cem\u003eFortress Besieged\u003c\/em\u003e recounts the exuberant misadventures of its hapless hero Fang Hung-chien.  After aimlessly studying in Europe at his family’s expense, Fang returns to Shanghai armed with a bogus degree from a fake university. On the ocean liner back, Fang’s life becomes deeply entangled with those of two Chinese beauties—Miss Su and Miss Pao. 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.” When he does finally make it home, he obtains a teaching post at a newly established university, encounters effete pseudo-intellectuals, and falls into a disastrous marriage of Nabokovian heights of distress and absurdity. A glorious tale of calamity, disillusionment, love, war, and wedded unbliss, \u003cem\u003eFortress Besieged\u003c\/em\u003e was acclaimed by C. T. Hsia as “the most delightful and carefully wrought  novel in modern Chinese literature.”\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"WW Norton","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48895841632413,"sku":null,"price":25.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0671\/8783\/5037\/files\/fortressbesieged.jpg?v=1788996926","url":"https:\/\/postcardbookshop.com\/products\/fortress-besieged","provider":"Postcard Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}