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Abridged Chinese Classic Series: The Besieged City
Published in English as Fortress Besieged.
From Amazon:
"Intended for learners of Chinese as a second language, this is an abridged version of the novel by Qian Zhongshu. [....] Maintaining the major plots true to the original, the abridged version of 40,000 words, represents approximately one-sixth of the original 230,000 Chinese characters."
From Amazon:
"Intended for learners of Chinese as a second language, this is an abridged version of the novel by Qian Zhongshu. [....] Maintaining the major plots true to the original, the abridged version of 40,000 words, represents approximately one-sixth of the original 230,000 Chinese characters."
- GenresChina
196 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2008
5 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
Qian Zhongshu
30 books67 followersQian Zhongshu (Chinese name: 錢鍾書 / 钱钟书) (November 21, 1910 – December 19, 1998) was a Chinese literary scholar and writer, known for his wit and erudition.
He is best known for his satirical novel Fortress Besieged. His works of non-fiction are characterised by their large amount of quotations in both Chinese and Western languages (including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Latin). He also played an important role in digitizing Chinese classics late in his life.
(from Wikipedia)
He is best known for his satirical novel Fortress Besieged. His works of non-fiction are characterised by their large amount of quotations in both Chinese and Western languages (including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Latin). He also played an important role in digitizing Chinese classics late in his life.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 11, 2020
Unbelievably talented author. The first time I read this book, I was at a young age. It proves a point - not every book should be read as early as possible in a man's lifetime. Just like alcohol can only be consumed after 21 years old. I hope to read the book a third or fourth time. Mr. Qian and Mrs. Qian (a.k.a. Mr. Yang, Jiang) have influenced at least three generations of Chinese readers.
April 16, 2019
This is the first book I have read in the "Abridged Chinese Classics" series. Each book in this series is about 200 pages long and is what it sounds like - an abridged version of some Chinese classic or other, with the dialogue additionally simplified to around the 2000 word level. I discovered the existence of the "Abridged Chinese Classics" series in an Ad at the back of "Chinese Graded Reader 3000 Words" - the final book in the "Abridged Chinese Contemporary Short Stories" series.
This series so far is the best I have found since the days of Mandarin companion (my first series of graded readers based on English language classics like "Great Expectations" but converted into Chinese and using at most 300 to 450 distinct characters). This book read like a real novel, and while it wasn't an enthralling one, it was much better than the drivel that I normally am forced to read for the sake of gaining fluency in Chinese. Here is an example (translated to English) of the garbage I normally have to read:
It's not easy getting old (short story in the 奇妙的愛情 (wonderful love), one of the books in the "Friends" series of graded readers, 1200 word level)
My father and mother have six kids, three sons and three daughters. I'm the youngest - this year I am 50 years old. My older brother and sister believe I should host a birthday party. "You should find a restaurant that isn't too far away, and it would be best if there was also a hotel nearby that can accommodate up to 12 people, and that has a place for the children to play, and not in a big city. If you can do this, we will be happy to go see you.
Therefore, I came upon a problem: How do I find a restaurant with good food (my older siblings are picky eaters), that children will also like, not too far from the hotel, and not in a big city? This summer, my sisters and I already went to see three restaurants. The first restaurant has good food, but isn't suitable for kids. The second restaurant was in a beautiful area, but the food wasn't great. The third restaurant had good food, but it was next to a big road with lots of cars going by. Next week I plan to go with my older brother to look at another restaurant. The fish at that restaurant is very famous, there is a hotel nearby that can accommodate 15 people, and it is next to a beautiful lake.
Soon it will be my birthday. Before it arrives I must find a restaurant that will satisfy my older brother, older sister, their kids and their kid's kids. Getting old really isn't easy!
This is the kind of trash that I have been forced to ingest, day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year for the sake of realizing my dream of eventually being able to read Chinese. I grit my teeth, think about my goal, and quietly endure as the narrator describes in detail their difficulty of finding a pair of pants that they like, or why they like horses, or how they tried baking cupcakes for their neighbour, but their neighbour said they don't like cupcakes and then their feelings were hurt.
Now, finally, it seems that this has come to an end. This novel - while again, not what I would normally choose to read in English - at the very least had a complex plot suitable for an adult audience, with moderately interesting characters, and instilled in me as I read a mild curiosity as to what would happen next. The novel takes place during the war with Japan (hence the title), and while the war isn't particularly important to the plot, it does provide an interesting backdrop.
I'm already on book two of the series, which is about "the decline of a large feudal family following the May Fourth Movement of 1919". Sounds promising.
This series so far is the best I have found since the days of Mandarin companion (my first series of graded readers based on English language classics like "Great Expectations" but converted into Chinese and using at most 300 to 450 distinct characters). This book read like a real novel, and while it wasn't an enthralling one, it was much better than the drivel that I normally am forced to read for the sake of gaining fluency in Chinese. Here is an example (translated to English) of the garbage I normally have to read:
It's not easy getting old (short story in the 奇妙的愛情 (wonderful love), one of the books in the "Friends" series of graded readers, 1200 word level)
My father and mother have six kids, three sons and three daughters. I'm the youngest - this year I am 50 years old. My older brother and sister believe I should host a birthday party. "You should find a restaurant that isn't too far away, and it would be best if there was also a hotel nearby that can accommodate up to 12 people, and that has a place for the children to play, and not in a big city. If you can do this, we will be happy to go see you.
Therefore, I came upon a problem: How do I find a restaurant with good food (my older siblings are picky eaters), that children will also like, not too far from the hotel, and not in a big city? This summer, my sisters and I already went to see three restaurants. The first restaurant has good food, but isn't suitable for kids. The second restaurant was in a beautiful area, but the food wasn't great. The third restaurant had good food, but it was next to a big road with lots of cars going by. Next week I plan to go with my older brother to look at another restaurant. The fish at that restaurant is very famous, there is a hotel nearby that can accommodate 15 people, and it is next to a beautiful lake.
Soon it will be my birthday. Before it arrives I must find a restaurant that will satisfy my older brother, older sister, their kids and their kid's kids. Getting old really isn't easy!
This is the kind of trash that I have been forced to ingest, day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year for the sake of realizing my dream of eventually being able to read Chinese. I grit my teeth, think about my goal, and quietly endure as the narrator describes in detail their difficulty of finding a pair of pants that they like, or why they like horses, or how they tried baking cupcakes for their neighbour, but their neighbour said they don't like cupcakes and then their feelings were hurt.
Now, finally, it seems that this has come to an end. This novel - while again, not what I would normally choose to read in English - at the very least had a complex plot suitable for an adult audience, with moderately interesting characters, and instilled in me as I read a mild curiosity as to what would happen next. The novel takes place during the war with Japan (hence the title), and while the war isn't particularly important to the plot, it does provide an interesting backdrop.
I'm already on book two of the series, which is about "the decline of a large feudal family following the May Fourth Movement of 1919". Sounds promising.
August 29, 2013
This is a really good book for Chinese language students. Most reading material for intermediate students is short texts that don't differ much from what you'd find in a text book. This is an actual novel simplified for the student with vocabulary translations, pinyin, and comprehension questions in Chinese at the end of each chapter.
Even with the vocabulary I found there were still some words that I had to look up. Some parts of the story were harder than others but overall I was able to read the whole thing. It is very satisfying to have read a novel in Chinese, even if it was a simplified student edition.
The text of the novel did feel that like the story had been simplified perhaps a bit too much. All the events were there but it seemed to lack much emotion. I'm going to find a full English translation of the novel and read that to see what I missed. But I still really enjoyed this. I read a chapter a day and finished it in just under two weeks. I shall definitely see if I can get the other books in this series as they are really good practice.
Even with the vocabulary I found there were still some words that I had to look up. Some parts of the story were harder than others but overall I was able to read the whole thing. It is very satisfying to have read a novel in Chinese, even if it was a simplified student edition.
The text of the novel did feel that like the story had been simplified perhaps a bit too much. All the events were there but it seemed to lack much emotion. I'm going to find a full English translation of the novel and read that to see what I missed. But I still really enjoyed this. I read a chapter a day and finished it in just under two weeks. I shall definitely see if I can get the other books in this series as they are really good practice.
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September 27, 2014钱钟书真可谓是大师，这本长篇小说真的写的很棒
书中不仅很好的刻画了40年代的背景，很多为人处世的道理就算在今天也都适用
可惜，钱老就写了这么一本长篇小说
我是超想读续集的可惜没有....
书中不仅很好的刻画了40年代的背景，很多为人处世的道理就算在今天也都适用
可惜，钱老就写了这么一本长篇小说
我是超想读续集的可惜没有....
July 29, 2023
Really good option to read a Chinese classic when you're learning the language. I really enjoyed it and I learned a lot of useful vocabulary in the process.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews