Catch-22 (Vintage Classics)
Catch-22 is like no other novel. It has its own rationale, its own extraordinary character. It moves back and forth from hilarity to horror. It is outrageously funny and strangely affecting. It is totally original. Set in the closing months of World War II in an American bomber squadron off Italy, Catch-22 is the story of a bombardier named Yossarian, who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he hasn't even met keep trying to kill him. Catch-22 is a microcosm of the twentieth-century world as it might look to someone dangerously sane. It is a novel that lives and moves and grows with astonishing power and vitality -- a masterpiece of our time. - Back cover.
BUY THE BOOK
These clubs recently read this book...
Community Reviews
Easily one of my favorite books of all time.
So relevant, so widely applicable. Downright silliness at some parts but always with the underlying horror- using comedy to cope.
One of the most unique and original books I’ve ever read.
So relevant, so widely applicable. Downright silliness at some parts but always with the underlying horror- using comedy to cope.
One of the most unique and original books I’ve ever read.
So I was trying to add some classics into my reading piles I've always wanted to read but I just never got around to it. Like some of the others I've read I either love them or hate them. This one is a little in-between. Did I love it, not exactly, but I did enjoy it way more than I thought I would and understand it is an antiwar satire story. I'm not big on war/government anything so most of that goes over my head. Despite that this story was great. It was humorous a lot of the times and I found myself laughing out loud. There is a lot of dark humor and dark moments/serious moments that happen. I actually really liked most of the characters. Many were quirky in their own way and just sold it for me.
The beginning is a bit confusing because of all the jumping around, but once I understood the structure and flow of the story, I quickly got invested. A bit of a lull in the middle, but picks up towards the end with a great concluding chapter. Surprisingly funny and tragic in equal parts, this war novel was a lot more likable than I thought it'd be.
I'm not actually going to finish it. I'm about halfway through (Chapter 21), and I wanted to stick it out, because there are things I like about the book. But I'm enjoying it less and less, and I don't think it's going to redeem itself.
My chief complaint is that the humor is wearing thin. Heller keeps leaning on the same kinds of jokes--twisted, circuitous dialogue that ends in frustration and misunderstanding all around. It's funny at first, but the effectiveness of the technique is more and more sporadic as the story goes on. The narrative structure of the book has a similar gimmick--the story twists and turns through time, wrapping around and through itself repeatedly in an obvious metaphor for the bureaucracy that Heller is sending up. Applied in this broader way it's fine, and doesn't really hurt anything--it might actually work to the benefit of the book, though not greatly so. But on the smaller scale, it gets monotonous.
Nearly as big a problem, though, is the misogyny that permeates the book. Again, this is obviously intentional, and surely it's supposed to reflect poorly on the male characters (as well as probably reflecting poorly on the institution of the army, the situation of war, etc.). But mostly, it's just disgusting. It's no fun to go through, and comes up awfully frequently. Heller's slapstick satire isn't really a robust enough tool to probe this issue in a sustained way. One or two such instances in the book would be poignant. The dozens of them that riddle it, though, strip away any meaning that might briefly have been there.
I'm vacillating between 1 & 2 stars for this book. Because while it has some good writing and interesting aspects, it's overly indulgent in a way that amplifies its weaknesses. If it were a shorter novel, it might work quite well. So in the end, I think it's too simplistic to just give it the lowest rating, and I'm going to go with 2 stars. But I certainly don't recommend reading it.
My chief complaint is that the humor is wearing thin. Heller keeps leaning on the same kinds of jokes--twisted, circuitous dialogue that ends in frustration and misunderstanding all around. It's funny at first, but the effectiveness of the technique is more and more sporadic as the story goes on. The narrative structure of the book has a similar gimmick--the story twists and turns through time, wrapping around and through itself repeatedly in an obvious metaphor for the bureaucracy that Heller is sending up. Applied in this broader way it's fine, and doesn't really hurt anything--it might actually work to the benefit of the book, though not greatly so. But on the smaller scale, it gets monotonous.
Nearly as big a problem, though, is the misogyny that permeates the book. Again, this is obviously intentional, and surely it's supposed to reflect poorly on the male characters (as well as probably reflecting poorly on the institution of the army, the situation of war, etc.). But mostly, it's just disgusting. It's no fun to go through, and comes up awfully frequently. Heller's slapstick satire isn't really a robust enough tool to probe this issue in a sustained way. One or two such instances in the book would be poignant. The dozens of them that riddle it, though, strip away any meaning that might briefly have been there.
I'm vacillating between 1 & 2 stars for this book. Because while it has some good writing and interesting aspects, it's overly indulgent in a way that amplifies its weaknesses. If it were a shorter novel, it might work quite well. So in the end, I think it's too simplistic to just give it the lowest rating, and I'm going to go with 2 stars. But I certainly don't recommend reading it.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.