Fortress Besieged -- A Collection of Qian Zhongshu (Simplified Edition)

Author: Qian Zhongshu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-05-01
Features: This is an interesting book. To be precise, it is a wise book, for its interest stems from the insight and satire of a sage into human nature. Fortress Besieged shows us how a truly intelligent person views life and how they express their "views" and "feelings" using the words that all writers must employ. The novel demonstrates that it can be written this way, and that such a level exists in the high realm of the novelist. One can say that the charm of Fortress Besieged is dual: first, the life itself as presented by the author, and second, the author's own presentation of himself. After reading Qian's works, including his academic writings, especially this Fortress Besieged, you will find that everything around you, including yourself, and even some things you were once quite passionate about, have taken on a considerable touch of comedy. In this book, I wanted to write about a certain section of modern Chinese society and a certain type of people. When writing about such people, I did not forget that they are human, just human, with the fundamental nature of bipedal, hairless animals. The characters are, of course, fictional, but those who have a penchant for research will naturally not miss the chance to seek hidden meanings in the book or to abandon the right to make associations. This book took me two full years to write. Over those two years, I was often troubled by the world and pained by life, and repeatedly considered giving up. Thanks to the constant encouragement of Ms. Yang Jiang, who shielded me from many distractions and saved me time, I was able to painstakingly complete it. As usual, this book should be dedicated to her. However, recently I've come to think that dedicating a book is like the phrases "dedicating oneself to the nation" or "returning power to the people"—they are merely empty bubbles and illusions created by language. They say the work is handed over, but in reality, it's just like the flying knife played by a magician: you let go, but you never truly release it. No matter how you dedicate your work to someone, the work always remains the author's own. After all, it's just one book, and it's not worth being so cleverly dishonest about it. That's all.