100 must-read books for college students

Chapter 91 The Long Masterpieces in the Modern Chinese Literary World
Chapter 90 A masterpiece in modern Chinese literature: Fortress Besieged

"Fortress Besieged" is Qian Zhongshu's only novel.In this novel, the author uses humorous language and ruthless
The satirical method describes the life situation of the protagonist Fang Hongjian who is displaced and homeless. "Fortress Besieged" reveals this
Such a theme: people around the city want to escape, and people outside the city want to rush in.As with marriage, so with career

, Most of the wishes of life are like this. "Fortress Besieged" is a masterpiece handed down from ancient times with high social value and literary value.
It is a rare excellent work in the history of science.

"Fortress Besieged" The World's Lifestyles

Qian Zhongshu (1910～1998), born in Wuxi, Jiangsu, is a modern writer and famous scholar.Created a collection of essays "Written on the Edge of Life"

, a collection of short stories "Man·Beast·Ghost" and a novel "Besieged City" and a large number of academic papers such as "Guan Zhui Pian" and so on.

The unique "Fortress Besieged", known as the new "Scholars", was written in the late period of the Anti-Japanese War. According to the author, it took two years to write, "two
During the years, I was worried about the world and my life, and I wanted to stop it many times. "It can be seen that the author completed this work in a very unusual life and mentality.

。读者最初读到这部作品，是在1946年2月15日出版的《文艺复兴》第1卷第2期上，至翌年
Volume 2, Issue 6, published on New Year's Day, has been published in 10 times (the middle part 2
卷第3期轮空)。1947年5月，由上海晨光出版公司出版单行本。到1949年一连出了3版。

The novel "Fortress Besieged" is divided into 9 chapters, which can be roughly divided into the following four units:

Chapter 1 to Chapter 4 are the first unit.This unit describes the situation of Fang Hongjian in Shanghai and his hometown (a county in the south of the Yangtze River), so as to write about his
Shanghai's social life dominates.In this unit, the "love" relationship between Fang Hongjian and Su Wenwan occupies the main position.Su Wenwan
Their self-indulgence, wishful thinking and Fang Hung-chien's hypocrisy and selfishness made them perform many ironic scenes.

burlesque.These scenes brought to the fore a pair of men and women with good looks and different minds: a woman who exposed the reserved and self-consciousness of a lady.

Negative and pretending to be coquettish, in the end it is inevitable to end up with an embarrassing appearance; a dude who exposes his indecision and
Being cynical, he inevitably ended up in the embarrassing situation where he had to lose Maicheng.Surrounding them, the author also wrote about the social life of Shili Yangchang.

Various characters in life, such as Zhang Jimin, who works as a comprador in the American-owned Citigroup and likes people to call him Jimmy, looks

Dong Xiechuan, who is fashionable and conservative in his bones, and Chu Shenming, a young philosopher who "has the most research on male and female gender", is full of youthfulness

Cao Yuenlang, a poet who advertises himself as "neoclassicism" in truth, and Zhao Xin, who mistook Fang Hongjian as his rival in love, wasted all his efforts.

Mei, and even Tang Xiaofu, who was born beautiful and well-behaved, etc., they all showed their individuality in the author's works.

In fact, no matter whether they are having banquets and meeting guests, discussing poems and papers, and various social activities, they all show their inner emptiness and boredom.

And vulgar.Obviously, this kind of life will not cultivate healthy friendship and love, let alone noble sentiments and ideals
, which itself is a "siege" to be broken through.

Chapter 5 could constitute a second unit by itself.This unit acts as a transition or cohesion.In this unit, try

Fang Hongjian and Zhao Xinmei, who drank the bitter wine of "love", rushed out of the cage of love. They changed from imaginary rivals in love to fellow sufferers
My dear friend, I went to Hunan Pingcheng Sanlv University together to find a job.In this unit, the author also prepared a farce for the third unit

The new characters are Li Meiting, the dean of Sanlv University in the future, Gu Erqian, an associate professor, and Sun Roujia, a young female teaching assistant.them

Together with Fang and Zhao, he set off from Shanghai to the south, and staged many ironic stories along the way.This improvised little

There are not many people in the group, but there are many contradictions.All kinds of entanglements, quarrels, ridicules and frolicking that happened among them, as well as all the encounters along the way.
Hearing constitutes a very exciting part of the novel. Although the detailed description and psychological portrayal of this part are not much ink, they are vivid and vivid.
Colors, hustle and bustle, clear at a glance, are the unique social style of a backward semi-colonial and semi-feudal society sketched by masters.
vulgar painting.

Chapters 6 and 7 are the third unit.This unit takes Sanlv University as the stage, making all kinds of characters in the dignified institution come alive one by one
At the scene, scenes of gentle and sweeping farce were staged: from the principal, the dean of the dean, the heads of various departments, down to the staff and students, and even
There are family members involved in a dizzying personnel dispute.Occupational exclusion, love competition, grandiose

The routines, the shady rumors and slanders, and the unpredictable conspiracies are simply dazzling.since
Of course, there are "black people" behind these farces.
侩。

No wonder the author wrote in the "Preface" of the novel
" said that what he wrote was also animals, but only "bipedal hairless animals".

At the end of this unit, Zhao Xinmei, Fang Hongjian, and Sun Roujia left Sanlu University one after another, and went to other places to make a living.

Chapters 8 and 9 are the fourth unit.On the way back to Shanghai, Fang Hongjian married Sun Roujia.For both parties, this is not
What could be an exciting union, coupled with the anxiety of being out of a job, kept them quarreling after marriage.

This kind of quarrel was relatively simple on the way back to Shanghai. After settling in Shanghai, the conflict became more complicated due to the intervention of relatives on both sides.

It's complicated, there are countless quarrels and disputes between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, Weng and son-in-law, sister-in-law, relatives and friends...even between master and servant.at last

In the end, the conflict between Fang and Sun intensified because the former resigned from the newspaper, and the "loveless nest" they had just established was dumped like this.

Overturned.The disintegration of the new home made Fang Hongjian break out of the "siege" again, which was both pain and relief for him.

But after he was freed, he was still facing a "siege". He planned to go to Chongqing to find Zhao Xinmei, who had just taken office, to solve his professional problems.

That must be an uncertain road, because the entire environment described in this novel titled "The Besieged City" is not at all
It does not provide a free world for its protagonists, so they are not yet free from the confusion of life.

The novel ends with a series of "Dangdang..." sounds from the old-fashioned chime clock. This suggestive ending is like the novel's

The topic is equally meaningful.Many outstanding works of realism provide few clear conclusions about society and the way out of life.
theories, but the life itself they describe, like the sound of this old chime clock, "deeper than all language, all

Crying and laughing". The same is true for Fortress Besieged.

According to rough statistics, there are about 70 characters in "The Besieged City", among which more than 10 characters with the most personality can be regarded as Hegel

The famous saying: "Everyone is a whole, a world in itself."

Among a series of characters, events, and emotional conflicts, the one that finally plays a restrictive role is the imminent one at that time.

Ethnic Conflicts: Not only did Fang Hongjian's "old home" lose its rural property due to the war ignited by the invaders, but he was forced to live in Shanghai
, thus accelerating the disintegration process of the extended family, that is, the "new home" that he and Sun Roujia had just established, also because of the Japanese
The influence of others infiltrated the newspaper and prompted him to resign, which widened the rift between their husband and wife and led to the collapse of the small family.

For Fang Hongjian, his departure from the newspaper and home was another "siege" that he broke through out of national righteousness.
It is an exaggeration to say that it is a small "degeneration".Now that the brittle but not strong eggshell has been pecked, who can say that it will not fly out of it?

What about the different Fang Hongjian from before?The ending of the novel, even if it is not definitely the beginning of the protagonist's awakening, is also the present
Real life forced him to make a political choice: in the face of peace and national justice, he chose the latter. "

The history since the May Fourth Movement shows that maintaining a minimum national dignity in the face of foreign enemies is exactly the way many intellectuals move forward.
beginning.

Palace of Fine Arts Linguistic Treasury

"Fortress Besieged" is the work with the most rationality, interest and life connotation rarely seen in modern Chinese novels.

One of the world's most prestigious full-length masterpieces. "Fortress Besieged" embodies the superb skill of psychological satire. Qian Zhongshu can use it very cleverly.
、极
The sharp language speaks like aphorisms, which is amazing. "Fortress Besieged" is an "introduction to the art of modern satirical novels in China"
The exhibition has added something unprecedented". Since the publication of "Fortress Besieged", it has been published in English, French, Russian, Japanese, German, Czech and other foreign languages.

Translations are published overseas.Professor Xia Zhiqing of Columbia University in the United States praised it as "the most interesting and heart-warming classic in modern Chinese literature."

Camp Novel".

In the modern literary world, "Fortress Besieged" is a satirical novel famous for its "bitterness", but its artistic technique is delicate and vivid.

Tactfully.Even so, it's not trivial, and it's by no means sleek.Facing such a strange society and those disturbing

It is impossible for any honest writer to contain his contempt and hatred, it is only the writer's feeling
Love is not a "volcanic eruption", but a slowly burning flame, from time to time from those seemingly calm narratives and

Discussion spurted out.It was a white-hot feeling, not "volcanic," but equally devastating.
Immortal power.

(End of this chapter)