num_pages: 448
description: Fortress Besieged is a classic of world literature, a masterpiece of parodic fiction that plays with Western literary traditions, philosophy and middle class Chinese society in the Republican era. The title is taken from an old French proverb, "Marriage is like a fortress those who are outside want to get in, and those who are inside want to get out". Set on the eve of the ferocious Sino-Japanese War, Fortress Besieged recounts the exuberant misadventures of the hapless hero Fang Hung-chien. This masterwork of world literature plays with Western traditions, picaresque humour, tragic-comedy, satire, Eastern philosophy and the mores of middle-class Chinese society to create its own unique feast of delights.
language: English
title: Fortress Besieged
titlecomplete: Fortress Besieged
genres: China, Classics, Asian Literature, Asia, Novels, 20th Century, Literature, Historical Fiction, Chinese Literature, Fiction
ratings_count: 2347
publisher: Allen Lane