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What are readers saying about Catch 22?
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Krishnamurthy posted a review at 2008-03-07 08:41:41.
(Language: English)
 
Resulting from its specific use in the book, the phrase “Catch-22″ became a term of common usage in the English language meaning a “no win situationâ€. When I picked up this book, all I knew about the book was that it was based on humor. As I finished the book, I realized that it is also a general critique of bureaucracy and human reasoning.The writing style of the book was unlike anything I had read before. The prose is circular and paradoxical, something you get used to soon. Normally one would think that such a kind of writing won’t be funny, but the author’s majestic control over the language and the words he chooses makes it a real winner. A lot of the events in the book have been repeatedly described from different points of view at different times; and the description is as if the reader already knows about them. So, with each iteration, we learn a little more about the story.The way the characters have been developed (and a lot of them), is simply majestic. I think each character represents one facet of human nature. Yossarian, the protagonist of the story is one of my favourites in the literary world.
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Yes (7) 
No (1)
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-10 07:01:54.
(Language: English)
Best book I have ever read. I read it when I was 16 years old. Whatever you do, do not read this book when you are 16 years old . . . I suspect most of you are probably safe from that danger but if you ever meet Dr Who and travel back in time on your personal timelime to that age or younger DO NOT GIVE THIS BOOK TO YOURSELF , unless you tell yourself not to read it until you are at least 18 !. . . . . . . I have read it over and over again. I don't want to give anything away here but I was blown away by the use of the word ' infundibuliform ', which was in fact the very reason it was recommended to me in the first place by Mike, all those years ago. If for no other rerason, read the book for this word alone. You will impress people in all social spheres by knowing and using this word and it is an ' icebreaker ' second only to knowing and using the Swedish word for hedgehog . . . anyway, I digress. It gave me a perfectly servicable sense of the absurd. If it gets a bit heavy at times ask someone else to hold it up for you while reading. Or if possible put on a table or flat surface.Okay, I am only joking ( although, this is rather good advice I was once given by a fellow reader ). A life changing book, you will not regret it if you persevere. Trust me, even if I am not a doctor . . . ! ;-D
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-28 05:06:17.
(Language: English)
Possibly my favourite book of all time, I have no idea how many times I've re-read it. This novel is funny, sarcastic, clever and sad with characters and ideas that are so iconic they've slipped into everyday life. Everyone understands the concept of a no-win Catch 22 situation, but many people probably don't realise that the concept was created by Joseph Heller in this book. I remember opening it, and falling in love with Yossarians character within the first few lines. Following bombardier Yossarian and his friends through a number of events, the book circles and re-visits things, showing you different points of view, other characters experiences or explaining exactly why that whore was hitting Orr on the head with her shoe. All Yossarian wants to do is to stay alive, all everyone else wants to do, from his superior officers to the Germans, is kill him. If you have to read one book about war, this should be the book. (OK, read 2 & also read Slaughterhouse Five. Then you’re done.) “The frog is almost five hundred million years old. Could you really say with much certainly that America, with all its strength and prosperity, with its fighting man that is second to none, and with its standard of living that is the highest in the world, will last as long as. . .the frog?â€
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Gavin posted a review at 2010-09-07 03:52:35.
(Language: English)
A friend recommended this book to me. According to this person, it is essential reading for anyone in the military as each character in the book can be represented by someone you’ve met in your military career. I can’t go this far, as my military career is rather limited, but this is definitely a unique and extraordinary book. Despite being disjointed and despite the connections among scenes and characters being unclear at their onset, and throughout the book feeling like I’m missing something, there are certain scenes that are absolutely hilarious and the depth of the story seems almost impossible for a writer to concieve. The depth of the comedy and satire is also extraordinary, as each character and each scene can be examined to depth, and there are important moral lessons to be gleaned from the story. In particular, it is the exaggerated acknowledgement that the military, like all bureaucracies, does not operate in as high-minded a manner as many believe. Any institution is only as moral and ethical as those who are making decisions. I definitely recommend this book, but it is not one to be read quickly or with a narrow mind.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-06-10 01:07:02.
(Language: English)
This book seemed very familiar to me in the sense that it was nothing like anything I've ever read before.If you understand that sentence then you've already read this book and you can move on to something else. However, if you're wondering what the heck I'm talkinga about, then read on..... Catch-22 is most famous for creating the phrase 'Catch-22' (naturally!). The book tells the story of Captain Yossarian, a bombadier in the late stages of World War II. Yossarian does everything he can to get out of flying his combat missions because for some strange reason, thousands of people he's never met are trying to kill him!! Catch-22 refers to the military rule that you can only be excused from combat missions if you are insane. However, if you recognize the danger and ask to be removed from service you clearly are still sane and therefore must fly your mission. The book is filled with similar contradictions. For example one of the airmen is convinced that another is a communist. Therefore he requires everyone to sign a "loyalty oath" but will not allow the "communist" to sign a loyalty oath. Since he hasn't signed a loyalty oath he MUST be a communist! I must admit that the first part of the book was hilarious. However, after a few chapters I found the jokes to be a bit repetitive and predictable. The book certainly has it's high points. For example when Milo the mess officer attempts to expand his far reaching "syndicate" by contracting with the Germans to bomb his own air base. Milo calmly enters the control tower shortly after the US bombers begin dropping bombs on their own airfield. When the pilots tell Milo they are out of bombs he calmly takes the radio from the commanding officer and instructs the pilots to go on a strafing run. The book also packs a little bit of an emotional punch when several of Yossarian's long time friends meet their untimely death. The author conveys the deaths in a very understated way that coupled with the satirical humor throughout the book seems to magnify the tragedy of these young men dying in combat (or in some cases in tragic freak accidents). However, in my opinion many of the comic scenes are way over the top and the anti-war message doesn't quite convey enough depth to garner a high rating from me. It's worth reading, if nothing else to appreciate the source of the often used term 'Catch-22'.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-06-26 08:04:23.
(Language: English)
Wow where to begin... When a book jokes about gang rape, statutory rape, battery, molestation, human trafficking, and murder, (among other offensive things) full of plot holes, hypocrisy, totally unsympathetic characters, and a sickening narcissism dripping from every page, oozing from the author and written into the characters, is widely regarded as one of the greatest literary works to come from the U.S. then it's either a sad statement about American Literature or American Literary criticism. The "comedy" book attempts to get laughs by recycling exactly the same jokes for all 450 odd pages. Desperately, Heller makes things more absurd but there's a certain line where "bureaucracy is inefficient, so they're crazy, they do crazy things" just gets old. That line is crossed about 10 pages in. Inexplicably, circular reasoning must also be hilarious according to the author. It's not. Yossarian is a completely unsympathetic protagonist. Self absorbed and wallowing in his own pity he wanders through the book listlessly too absorbed to help people around him or are dying, being raped, or even participating in the atrocities himself. He supposedly "feels sorry" for many people around him but when he chooses to "help" the people he feels sorry for by sexually assaulting them his morality is hard to believe or stomach. I could go on, but I won't. I will admit, that some of it was funny. The chapters on Milo and Major --- de Coverly were truly funny and it was a relatively quick read which shortened the pain somewhat. I was truly disappointed in the book, would not recommend it.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-20 09:23:07.
(Language: English)
You haven't yet read Catch-22? Really-- what's your excuse?? There's nothing like Joseph Heller's first novel in American literature this side of Moby Dick, certainly, and any single chapter is as entertaining as any episode of the situation comedy or television series you're addicted to, it's a total promise, and if this isn't as defining a novel about America as anything written by Steinbeck, Faulkner, whomever, then I wouldn't know what is - and neither would you! Popularly and simplistically defined as an anti-war story, it's far more complex than even that -- Heller crafted, back in the early 60s, no less than an allegorical prophecy of the rest of the 20th Century and beyond, using his own World War Two experiences as a very young bombardier as no less than the starting point for America's answer to Alice In Wonderland. This is one of the few novels in existence that causes polite people to laugh out loud in public places whilst reading, and if you've only seen the movie then you cannot know from the real Catch-22. No one really liked the movie, not even the director, in spite of a nearly perfect cast that tried very, very hard, yet illiterate college grads doing political commentary nowadays on television and online often quote the movie when they're actually quoting some indispensable line from this dizzyingly ambitious book. The great Robert Altman film "M A S H" would not have been possible without there first being a Joe Heller around. Read this and finally get up to date about what's really been going on in the Western hierarchy for the last sixty or more years.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-02-11 01:31:58.
(Language: English)
I've read Joseph Heller's Catch-22 a couple of times and keep returning to it if I want a good chuckle and also want practical illustration of the absurdity of life, as elaborately described by Camus. Catch-22, published in 1961, is about Captain Yossarian and the rest of the 256th Air Force Squadron stationed on the Mediterranean Island of Pianosa near the end of World War II. Yossarian desperately wants to be sent home before he is killed, but the squadron commander keeps raising the number of bombing missions the men must fly before they can be discharged. The concept of a Catch-22 is first introduced by the squadron's doctor, Doc Daneeka, when Yossarian asks if he could be grounded from flying any more missions for reasons of insanity. Doc Daneeka agrees that he would have to ground anyone who was crazy. However, he can't ground Yossarian or even his roommate Orr (whom the doctor admits must certainly be insane). "There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. . . . Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle". "That's some catch, that Catch-22," he observed. The author touches upon the madness of McCarthyism. The 256th Squadron's Chaplain is caught in a Kafkaesque trial over allegedly ‘forging’ Washington Irving's name to official documents. In order to prove his guilt, he is asked to sign his name--it doesn't match the signature of Washington Irving, so therefore the only solution is that he must have been forging his own handwriting. In the end, the Chaplain is not only found guilty of "being Washington Irving", but is also accused of committing "crimes and infractions we don't even know about yet" and asked to plead guilty or innocent. "I don't known sir. How can I say if you don't tell me what they are?" "How can we tell you if we don't know?" "Guilty. . . . If they're his crimes and infractions, he must have committed them." The logic that condemns the Chaplain is perfect, and perfectly senseless: once his guilt is named it becomes true, because how could something have a name if it did not exist? Those with the power of naming can control and create any truth they want. For the first time we see how Catch-22s enable binaries of guilt/innocence that will later haunt Yossarian. In Catch-22, war is an evil only enhanced by the veneer of bureaucracy, but here Heller complicates the question of culpability: "Every victim was a culprit, every culprit a victim, and somebody had to stand up sometime to break the busy chain of inherited habit that was imperiling them all." Earlier, the Chaplain had been told to choose between guilt and innocence; here, Yossarian realizes he can be both innocent of the charges made against him, but guilty of those he makes against himself. The binaries of logic--good/bad, innocent/guilty--can no longer hold. "How many honest men were liars, brave men cowards, loyal men traitors, how many sainted men were corrupt. . . . When you added them all up you were left with only the children, and perhaps with Albert Einstein and an old violinist or sculptor somewhere." Although at first Yossarian seems to be reasserting the hypocrisy of the world, he is also breaking down the very logic of hypocrisy, the idea that one is either good or bad. Superficially, Catch-22 is an anti-war and anti-bureaucracy novel, but although Heller certainly demonstrates the absurd cruelty of both, the book is not so simplistic. At a late stage in the book, Yossarian is suddenly offered the opportunity to get out of more missions. He can go home - all he must do is stop complaining, celebrate his corrupt superiors, and sell out the other soldiers. It is, Yossarian, says, "a pretty scummy trick I'd be playing on the men in the squadron." "Odious" the captains agree. Before, the military bureaucracy had stymied all of his attempts to leave by snaring him with Catch-22s of language. This time the tactic is different; it is a moral Catch-22. Although the linguistic Cathch-22s are by their very nature bulletproof, a moral one is simple to solve if one's conscience is left behind. After all he has been through, Yossarian has little problem forgetting his. He initially agrees to do it. Yet, no sooner does Yossarian compromise his morals that he is stabbed, hospitalised, and near death. Yossarian undergoes a personal epiphany and turns down his colonel's odious offer. When a sympathetic major reminds him that "It's a way to save yourself," he responds, "It's a way to lose myself." Within the logic of a Catch-22 (linguistic or moral) the only way to be saved is to lose: Yossarian needs to find a way out of the entire structure. Enjoy, A
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-09-23 07:37:36.
(Language: English)
There was a time when reading Joseph Heller's classic satire on the murderous insanity of war was nothing less than a rite of passage. Echoes of Yossarian, the wise-ass bombardier who was too smart to die but not smart enough to find a way out of his predicament, could be heard throughout the counterculture. As a result, it's impossible not to consider Catch-22 to be something of a period piece. But 40 years on, the novel's undiminished strength is its looking-glass logic. Again and again, Heller's characters demonstrate that what is commonly held to be good, is bad; what is sensible, is nonsense. Yossarian says, "You're talking about winning the war, and I am talking about winning the war and keeping alive." "Exactly," Clevinger snapped smugly. "And which do you think is more important?" "To whom?" Yossarian shot back. "It doesn't make a damn bit of difference who wins the war to someone who's dead." "I can't think of another attitude that could be depended upon to give greater comfort to the enemy." "The enemy," retorted Yossarian with weighted precision, "is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on." Mirabile dictu, the book holds up post-Reagan, post-Gulf War. It's a good thing, too. As long as there's a military, that engine of lethal authority, Catch-22 will shine as a handbook for smart-alecky pacifists. It's an utterly serious and sad, but damn funny book.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-03-11 12:49:39.
(Language: English)
Its take me a while to read Catch-22, its taking me months the plot is rather hard to grasp. The story is told as a series of seemingly unrelated events, in no particular order, with flashbacks to events that happened at some unspecified point in the past and glimpses of events which apparently haven't happened yet, all joined together with random incidents, descriptions and anecdotes. It's absolute chaos, as you read it and get into the flow of the book it isn’t all that bad it just requires a certain amount of effort. The Funny Bits. Perhaps I didn't laugh as often as I thought I would, but when I did laugh, I laughed hard. The comical moments tend to sneak up on you. It can be anything from an innocuous character description inducing such a vivid and hilarious mental image that a violent snort escapes you before you've even registered what you've read, to a description of comical circumstances that borders on slapstick. Every genre of comedy is represented here, but it is always subtle and efficient. One of my favourite examples is a description of a particularly fearsome senior officer, whose humpbacked nose “came charging out of his face wrathfully like a Big Ten fullback”. This a book that would definitely stand a second read. In fact, I suspect it is one of those books that gets better with every re-read. It will certainly make more sense the second time around.
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wordsbeyondborders posted a review at 2012-04-04 09:01:24.
(Language: English)
What is the general impression that prevails on war?. It raises patriotic, even jingoistic feelings, people feel proud and sad at the same time about the young men who give up their lives in it. This has been propagated through books and other forms of media. But there have been several writers who have taken a different view to this and shown the other side of it. These are not some neo-liberals, who were sitting at home and pontificated about non-violence and other stuff. These were men who were part of the first/second world wars and distilled their experiences in the form of books. Some wrote it as an intense and gritty work, like Erich Maria Remarque and James Jones, some wrote as a mismash of sci-fi and real life horror like kurt vonnegut. And there is Joseph Heller, who wrote 'Catch 22', a monstrously insane work that looks at the horrors of war with huge amounts of black humor. This is a novel which is morbidly funny, terrifying and sad at the same time. Joseph Heller too was part of a airborne bomb squad in the second world war. The novel is set in world war II, in its later stages when the allies were closing in on the victory. It follows the experiences of a fictional army unit set in Italy. The novel may be bit repetitive for some, since it shows the same event happening from different points of view, but each repetition of the event gives some additional information about it and therefore acts as one stop closer to understanding it. So random events that occur initially, would make more sense as you read through the novel. There are lots of characters in the novel who experiences form the bulk of the novel. The main one is 'Yossarian'. Yossaraian is a young man whose main objective is to stay alive at any cost. He is only 28, but feels like he is an old man because everyone is trying to kill him and he may be dead at any time. So if he could be dead at any time, it must mean that he is old. Seems weird, even funny right? Well, this the brand of morbid humor that permeates through this novel. You smile at this line, then you stop, when you think about this 28 year old guy who must be so scared that he says a corny thing like this. The novel is full of such situations where you start laughing, then stop it as the impact of the dark humor hits you. The novel has several such unforgettable characters. The character 'Doc Daneeka' is one, whose fate shows the bureaucratic bull shit that exists in all organisations. What happens to him? All unit men are bound to fly for a certain amount of time as per rules, but Daneeka arranges things such that he does not fly, but his name is in the log book. But sadly for him, the plane he is supposed to be flying in crashes and he is marked as dead. Even though he is alive and visible to everyone, he is still treated as dead by the bureaucracy. His wife is sent a letter stating about his death and she too accepts it. He cannot leave the unit since he is dead and a dead man cannot be given permission to go out. The whole farce climaxes when Doc Daneeka starts getting convinced that perhaps he is indeed dead since the authorities say so. The ultimate absurdity. Heller also satirizes the business side of war through Milo MinderBinder. He is the mess officer and a true servant of capitalism. He is the true business man who will provide supplies for both the allies and axis, in-fact he opens a separate line of communication between them and gets rights to go anywhere in the war zone for his business activities. He is not bound to anyone, but his own business and the process of making money. His famous saying by which he justifies what he does is "What's good for Milo Minderbinder, is good for the country". Milo could a satirical metaphor for the global villager and the concept of the global village which has come up in recent times. The most poignant character among them would be 'Major Major Major Major'. Yes this is his name, his father gave him such a name a joke. Well he was doomed from the beginning. Due to this crazy name, he gets promoted very quickly due to some quirk in the computer which mistakes his name for an actual rank. Now he cannot be demoted. So his colleagues and superiors hate him for becoming their equal without doing anything, while he subordinates hate him for outranking them so quickly. He is isolated and no one wants him. Once he decides to participate in a basket ball game in disguise. But his subordinates identify him, but without letting him know about it, they allow him to join and beat him up in the guise of playing the game and thus satisfying their anger against him. This character stops coming in the middle of the book, but is a most poignant one. It also serves to show the cliques/group-ism existing in the army as in every other organisation. This crazy novel ends with Yossarian deserting the army and paddling away to his escape. One hopes that he made his escape. (Infact Yossarian comes back in one of Heller's later novels, 'Closing Time', but that's for another post). By now you would have got an idea of the themes and the morbid humor in this novel. The novel has been criticized heavily for trivializing the sacrifices of the soldiers, showing them as cowards and being unpatriotic. This could not be further from the truth. In fact this novel looks at the young men who were plucked from their normal lives and plunged into a hell of which they had not idea of how to survive and treats them with the utmost compassion. Neither does it have any overt anti-war propaganda, but through the lives of these young men subverts the concept of war. If anything, the novel would be offensive to the arm-chair theoreticians and nationalists who equate patriotism with people dying for their country, and I am pretty sure that most of these same people would hesitate to give up their little finger for their country. If you still find this novel offensive, request you to just think about this. How was your life when you were/are in your early and late twenties. Yes, you would have faced a lot of problems, but how many of us were/are in a situation where we were trying to avoid the next bullet/bomb that could send us to oblivion. How many of us are/were in a situation where we don't know if we would be alive the next hour let alone the next day. Not many I guess. These things are still happening around the world and most of us lucky enough to not been affected by this. Think about the young men who have to confront something which is completely beyond their comprehension. Their reactions to it may make some sense now. You may still dislike the novel, but you would certainly look at it in a different life. For those, who liked the sound of this post and the novel, read the book. It's a masterpiece.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-05-29 06:59:11.
(Language: English)
this is probably the funniest book i have ever read, and one of my favorite war books, along with slaughterhouse five and all quiet on the western front. however, catch 22 is unique in its portrayal of the farcical nature of WWII, depicting the established order through characters such as colonel cathcart as selfish heartless murderers, and in this novel they are out to kill yossarian. yet these murderers are not viewed with fear, but rather with ridicule, because of their absurd goals, such as cathcart's attempts to make it on the saturday evening post by raising the number of missions for his troops to complete to be sent home, soon reaching 80 missions. yossarian, sensing these selfish ambitions, refuses to fly any more combat missions when he has reached 70 missions, and although he would be typically labelled as antiheroic for this action, his action is in fact very heroic and brave because of his willingness to resist to tyrannical order.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-09-15 05:08:10.
(Language: Spanish)
Este es definitivamente uno de los libros más raros que he leído... capaz de transmitir "estrés" al lector con su narrativa caótica, sin linea temporal, sus diálogos llenos de trampas, continuos cambios de humor de los protagonistas. Es increíble con que tiranía se retrata a los altos mandos del ejército (llegando a ponérseles peor que el enemigo), llegando a sentir verdadera ansiedad al leer sus diálogos, y hasta un cierto canguelo. La sensación de incapacidad de los soldados de enfrentarse a las decisiones de los altos mandos se retrata de tal manera que pasas tu mismo a sentirla al leerlo, como si te estuviesen hablando a ti. La verdad no se como logró el autor provocar esa sensación, todavía tengo diálogos clavados en la cabeza, cortos, estresantes y de completa locura. Me imaginé que esta novela iba a ser buena, por la visión que iba a dar de un soldado en la guerra, y así le he puesto 4,5 estrellas, pero en realidad no es buena por eso, es buena por como es capaz de transmitir todo lo que relata al lector con su estilo narrativo tan peculiar. Hay que darle una nota muy alta también a la traducción, que ha sabido mantener esa tensión que a veces se pierde al pasar una novela a un idioma diferente.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-15 04:51:22.
(Language: English)
Catch-22 was, by far, the best book I was ever forced to read in school and is without a doubt one of my favorite fictions. Heller's satire, bordering on the outrageous and even insane, is reminiscent of the way Douglas Adams can describe a ridiculously absurd situation as though it were commonplace and expected. Heller, though, can infuse much more serious matters into his works, as in the chapter where Yossarian is walking through the streets of Rome, so that the reader realizes the seriousness of the issues at hand. On top of that, the transition between the two is seamless. And another side note: the mild stream-of-consciousness that Heller uses to write the book adds greatly to its meaning and intrigue. Having chapters that aren't sequential helps to reveal how monumental events in the characters' pasts help to shape their futures without giving away exactly what happened, such as the Snowden instance which plagues Yossarian throughout the book, though we don't find out why until very near the end. Catch-22 is a phenomenal book. I recommend it to anyone.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-03-29 04:06:07.
(Language: English)
The author's writing style is all over the place without any kind of consistent flow to it. He introduces characters randomly, all of whom are annoying, including (or perhaps, especially) the main character. If I want to be pissed off about how stupid people are, I'll read the news. I want to read books for entertainment, pleasure, and maybe even knowledge. I don't think this had any of that to offer. Well, it probably had knowledge, at the very least, but it all seemed very obvious; maybe it wasn't back in the '60s. It's too bad I couldn't get into this book since I really like the cover design. Man... I hate it when adages have merit. Take this as you will -- I only made it to the fourth chapter. Then I threw my book in the air and, after retrieving it, laid into it with a mighty fist of frustration.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-10-22 10:40:38.
(Language: English)
OK this was the last of the three books I've read recently that have been dubbed 'post-modern', 'anti-hero' World War II novels (Slaughterhouse 5 and Gravity's Rainbow being the other two). This unfortunately was my least favorite of the bunch. I won't wax poetic AGAIN about how much I love Pynchon and how great I thought Vonnegut's sci-fi/WWII flashback vignette was, but needless to say I liked those two better than Catch-22. Catch-22 is funny, as its intended to be, but basically tells the same joke over and over. There is too much dialogue, too much idiocy, too much repetition. The story could have been about 1/3 as long and been much more enjoyable. I get Heller's themes, I get his moral dilemmas, I get his humor, but frankly got tired of it very fast and had to convince myself to plod through the rest of the book. I guess if you want a dose of this stuff, stick to Slaughterhouse 5 and if you have a few months to spare, Gravity's Rainbow instead.
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Peachy posted a review at 2010-04-10 08:10:29.
(Language: English)
Catch-22 is an existential, antiwar satire told through asininity and disjointed logic, often running on bureaucracy and “military intelligence,” or a lack there of. Heller uses a non-chronological narrative which can be hard to follow at times, but eventually results in an affective lead-up to the novels important conclusions. We are presented with a military wrought with corruption and greed, whereby the senior officers pose more of a threat to the men then the actual enemy. This classic is a reminder that in a world of distorted values where success measures worth, we must question whose definition of success we will find validity in and ultimately find our individuality. We are left with the message that to be true to ones self is the only goal worth pursuing, and that often the only way for that to come to pass is to stand up against the masses and face adversity. But when all is said and done, as evidenced even today, weakness, greed and corruption prevail, and the wars march on. Yours truly, Washington Irving Check out more of my reviews at BookSnakeReviews
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-05-04 01:33:52.
(Language: English)
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-03-06 06:34:58.
(Language: English)
I laughed hysterically, I almost cried, I was moved, shocked, disgusted, riveted and deeply impressed by this modern classic. I read a more recent publication too, which included a foreword by the author. I actually really enjoy knowing the context of a book when I read it too, and I liked the irony in the fact that Catch-22 was largely ignored upon it's initial publication, and it's popularity grew by word of mouth mostly, until, a year or so later, it came crashing into bestseller lists with a rampant acclaim (and of course an almost equally rampant criticism, like many great works). I had obviously heard that this book was hilarious, and a satire, but what I didn't know what was kind of humour to expect. When I think of funny writing, I think of Pratchett, or even Nick Hornby... and Heller's style is quite different to both of those, also probably more comparable to Pratchett in the way of absurdism. Catch-22 is set towards the end of World War II, in an American bomber camp on a small island off Italy. It follows the story of Yossarian, a crazed pilot who has just about had enough of the War, fears for his life and believe everyone is out to kill him (which they almost all are). Each chapter tells the story of one of the melee of characters and events, making for a slightly higglety-pigglety plotline, but Heller manages to keep all the strings taught and pulls everything together well in the end. I loved the humour in this - it reminded me a bit of a Ross Noble show. Heller would mention little things sometimes in the story that you would think: "what?" about, and then forget while reading and trying to follow what was going on, and then they'd be repeated and put into context and suddenly the pieces would fit and I'd find myself chortling with unbridled mirth at the whole situation. This kind of complex humour always gets me - I love how multi-layered it is. All in all, this was a fantastic read. I think I might read it again someday, I am certain it would be just as funny a second time around.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-11-28 08:56:02.
(Language: English)
“Almost on cue, a nursing mother padded past holding an infant in black rags, and Yossarian wanted to smash her too, because she reminded him of the barefoot boy in the thin shirt and thin, tattered trousers and of all the shivering, stupefying misery in a world that never yet had provided enough heat and foot and justice for all but an ingenious and unscrupulous handful. What a lousy earth! He wondered how many people were destitute that same night even in his own prosperous country, how many homes were shanties, how many husband were drunk and wives socked, and how many children were bullied, abused or abandoned. How many families hungered for food they could not afford to buy? How many hearts were broken? How many suicides would take place that same night, how many people would go insane? How many cockroaches and landlords would triumph? How many winners were losers, successes failures, rich men poor men? How many wise guys were stupid? How many happy endings were unhappy endings? How many honest men were liars, brave men cowards, loyal men traitors, how many sainted men were corrupt, how many people in positions of trust had sold their souls to black-guards for petty cash, how many had never had souls? How many straight-and-narrow paths were crooked paths? How many best families were worst families and how many good people were bad people? When you added them all up and then subtracted, you might be left with only the children, and perhaps with Albert Einstein and an old violinist or sculptor somewhere.” Catch-22 is one of the wittiest books that I have ever read. It looks like a war story everything happened in an island which is used as a base for an American bombardier squadron. But when you think about it thoroughly you can see that it is about our life and it almost cover every aspects of our life with different characters and events. It makes you laugh and at the same time feel sad, very sad. “Yossarian was cold, too, and shivering uncontrollably. He felt goose pimples clacking all over him as he gazed down despondently at the grim secret Snowden had spilled all over the messy floor. It was easy to read the message in his entrails. Man was matter, that was Snowden’s secret. Drop him out a window and he’ll fall. Set fire to him and he’ll burn. Bury him and he’ll rot, like other kinds of garbage. The spirit gone, man is garbage. That was Snowden’s secret. Ripeness was all.”
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-10-11 04:56:41.
(Language: English)
Joseph Heller's 'Catch-22' is certainly one of the most affable, humorous, entertaining book ever to grace the literary world. Joseph Heller managed to exploit the idiocy of humans (more specifically military men - but I'm not trying to make a point here) and turn it into a one-of-a-kind book diverging into conversations and situations that are equivocal in nature, which frankly I think has only the purpose of leaving the reader in a state of unadulterated bewilderment. ... I have lingered in this review section for almost ten minutes, mentally scouring my brain for the right words in a sort of sick desperation because I know that no review I write will ever do this brilliant book justice. All I can say for sure is that I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and it is clear to me now why Nelson Algren of 'The Nation' described this book as "not only the best novel to come out of the war, but the best novel to come out of anywhere in years". John Yossarian is now my new hero (excepting the late Lady Diana Spencer).
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-09-01 09:27:18.
(Language: English)
This book is an "ecclesiastical aplomb", as so imaginatively used by Joseph Heller many, many times in his scenes. His characters are diverse and quirky, each with they're own perks and qualms, coming in different shapes and sizes but nonetheless serving the greater purpose in Heller's book; to describe the roaringly hilarious revelations of an army squadron at war, and their misfits with superiors as well as friends, enemies, and whores. I never thought I'd enjoy a war comedy before, but my first try was apparently lucky, because it was with Catch-22. I enjoyed this book so much mainly because many times I had to stifle dubious snorts of laughter from every page. Heller has a positively profane way of making sacrifice at war something entirely comical and enjoyable, and the only reason I gave this a 4.5 instead of a 5 was because my favourite characters didn't end the way I wanted them to!
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-31 12:45:59.
(Language: English)
It takes a while to get into, but once you're there, you're there. A funny book which only manages to be fun. You're bouncing along, enjoying the first few chapters which read like humorous episodes of Mash and then BAM, chapter 15 hits you and before you know it the tragedy brings tears to your eyes. As for the first part of the book you thought all of the characters imortal pranksters until one of them gets cut down before your eyes. From there on out the humour is by turns both more far-fetched and more viscerally real, while the tragedy of the story just keeps mounting with the tension until you're set free with the ending and you find your salt stained cheeks cleaned with tears of ecstasy. This is a truly powerful book which is just as relevant today as it ever was due to its harsh criticism of the greed and lunacy which follow war like vultures and magpies. My mother read this book years before I was born and it has stuck in her mind as if she had only read it a few weeks ago when I did. This novel stays with you. And when the world starts to go a little crazy, Yossarian serves as a reminder that it's the world, not you.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-06-09 01:51:13.
(Language: English)
Catch-22 tells the story of Yossarian, a lead bombadier in the Air Force who hates the war (WWII) and has a strong desire to live. As Yossarian approaches the required number of bombing missions required for discharge, the number is increased. He attempts to plead insanity to obtain a Section 8. The catch is that he can be grounded if he claims he's crazy and asks to get out of combat duty, but once he asks, he's considered sane because anyone who has a concern for their own safety and wants to get out of combat duty isn't crazy. Catch-22. The story is a satire of bureaucracy, absurd, amusing, tragic and cynical and I loved many of the characters and anecdotes related in the book. Is Catch-22 a classic? Yes, I think that it is, but it's not without its flaws. I found the bizarre events, paradoxes and circular logic very repetative and tedious. For me, I think the book would have read better as a short story or at least a much shorter novel. Events were not necessarily presented chronologically and there were so many characters that it was difficult to keep them all straight. I really enjoyed reading the first couple of chapters and a few chapters here and there throughout the novel, but it was definitely not a page-turner. Most of the time I felt like I was slogging my way through the book.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-07-01 09:44:01.
(Language: English)
I loved this book more than any other book apart from 'The Corrections' - Jonathan Franzen. I took both with me on my last round the world trip in 2004 and Im not sure if the highlight of my trip was peeing off the Eiffel tower onto asian tourists, free climbing in Marseille, swimming in tahitian lagoons an ocean clearer an more blue than i had considered possible, seeing the tallest trees in the world: Redwoods,Humboldt- nthrn cali, getting best and biggest waves of my life in Southern Mexico, reuniting with dear gf of 4 years previous in Africa, or reading this book, 'Catch 22' - Joseph Heller, and Jonathan Franzens 'The Corrections' during my time abroad. It is a strange sensation to jog along the edge of towering cliffs in Tahiti overlooking cleaner, more blue picture perfect water than one can imagine and still be much more so consumed with thoughts of a character in a book and a greater eagerness at the looming prospect of returning to the top of a bunk bed with a book resting on top of it.
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