{"product_id":"fortress-besieged-qian-zhongshu-9780811238601","title":"Fortress Besieged","description":"Set 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.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Qian Zhongshu\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0811238601\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780811238601\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e New Directions Publishing Corporation\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/05\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 608\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback","brand":"Qian Zhongshu","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47931129069823,"sku":"9780811238601","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_74d9fe04-8fa6-4667-b2ac-74155f1f5cad.jpg?v=1766346646","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/fortress-besieged-qian-zhongshu-9780811238601","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}