English novel John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress" (1678) and Aphra Behn's "Oroonoko" (1688) are also contenders, while earlier works such as Sir Thomas Malory's "Morte d'Arthur", and even the "Prologue" to Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" have been suggested. Another important early novel is "Gulliver's Travels" (1726, amended 1735), by Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift, which is both a satire of human nature, as well as a parody of travellers' tales like "Robinson Crusoe". The rise of the novel as an important literary genre is generally associated with the growth of the middle class in England. Other major 18th-century English novelists are
The Travels of Lao Can characters and events illustrate a "complex conservatism" that concludes that technology instead of social change is the answer to the problems experienced by China. Cordell D. K. Yee's review of "The Chinese Novel at the Turn of the Century", however, argues that "it is doubtful that all episodes conform" to the allegory concept. Robert E. Hegel, in a review of "The Chinese Novel at the Turn of the Century", argues that Holoch's interpretation is persuasive and "makes a substantial contribution to the studies of the novel". The Travels of Lao Can The Travels of Lao Can (, or "The Travels