Fortress Besieged

DNF - Page 254 (perhaps 2/3rds of the way through)

Maybe I need to be a Chinese native to really get something out of this book that I see others are getting out of it. I tried to power through and finish it, especially since I was more than halfway through, but I failed to really connect with any of the characters or the (extremely slow moving) plot. From doing some research it sounds like maybe the translation doesn't do it justice? Unsure. It's supposed to be humorous and is hailed for its satire and wordplay, but I just didn't see much here that I thought was funny. Maybe the humor is lost in the translation.