This is one of those books that I keep coming back to, and I love this Folio Society edition. (I still giggle every time I think of the scenes with Major Major.) ( )

Joseph Heller was an American bombardier in WWII and the novel's main character, John Yossarian, finds himself in the same situation. Catch-22 is masterful satire. Yossarian wants to stop flying missions, but the fact that he questions the wisdom of flying more missions assures his commanders that he is sane enough to continue flying.

The author's style can make the story hard to follow--the different points of view and events described out of sequence can be confusing. Hang in there--you'll be glad you did.

Catch-22 is a hilarious, tragic, and insightful anti-war novel. ( )

It is difficult, sometimes, to see such a large exaggeration as a squadron of World War II soldiers who no longer have any idea what they are fighting for as a reflection of the psychological effects such hostilities. Certainly, we think, this cannot have any correlation to real-life combat. And yet, when looked at from a different perspective, Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 is just that—by showing a mindset that is that over- the-top, the reader quickly discovers Heller’s intent in writing this novel, and throughout the rest of the book develops that idea even more. Catch 22 is about such a squadron, who have become so apathetic to the fighting that they no longer understand what their goal is, and whose leaders have ceased the information they divulge to their men. Furthermore, there is no way out for these soldiers—they are trapped by an illogical complicated concept called a “Catch 22” which has become absolute law because the men do not question it.

And therein lies the problem. This book illustrates the worst kind of dystopia—the only source of utopia is complete ignorance, both from what is happening on the surface and what is happening behind the scenes. To be happy in the world of Catch 22, the soldiers must not only refuse to face the war that they are involved in, but the unwillingness of their superiors to show them the reason behind it, and the lack of answers they receive for the questions they do have. Eventually, the men stop questioning altogether because they know it is futile, and they simply serve without seeing the purpose. The only way to achieve perfection in a war is if you ignore it altogether.

This is a crazy book to read at times. It is not in chronological order and the only way to tell one time from another is by events, especially the rapid increase of the number of required missions each man in the squadron must fly in order to be discharged. The writing is blunt and often absurd. But it is hilarious and traumatic all at the same time, and although it is not hard to recognize the satire, it only makes the book that much better because one can pick out the ideas Heller wishes to convey from early in the plot. I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone who wishes for a good laugh and a good lesson. ( )

The attempt at humor in Catch-22 was a rather poor attempt.

The dialog was always a playful back-and-forth banter which at first was uninteresting, then grew tiresome, then I grew to downright dislike it.

I admit that this is one book I could not bring myself to finish. Not worth my time. ( )

One of my favorite books of all time. ( )