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Loading... Catch-22 (original 1961; edition 1996)by Joseph Heller (Author)
Work detailsCatch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961)
I read the first 118 pages for a book club. I always planned on picking it back up to finish it, but the idea was like finishing off leftovers that didn't taste good even before they'd sat in the back of the fridge for a week. Was I planning on finishing it because I genuinely wanted to find out how it continued, or was I just trying to finish it out of dedication to the idea that this is a classic and therefore Should Be Read? I finally decided that there are too many books that I want to read to spend another second with one that annoyed me so much I couldn't even bring myself to drink good scotch while reading it - who wants to waste the good stuff on a bad mood? I'd been advised that it gets better after the first 150 pages, but the way I figure, it really ought to START well if it wants to hold my attention. (  ) BrookeAshley | May 23, 2013 |  I realize that Catch 22 is a very popular novel, which is the reason why I read it. Having said that, Catch 22 is unequivocally one of the worst novels I have ever read. It's like one of those movies that wins the Oscar, so you watch it and wonder what all the hype was all about. Following the plot of Yossarian going through his flying missions during the war, I didn't find anything remotely humorous about the novel, not even to the point of giving a half chuckle or even a smile. The book was poorly written. The characters were outrageously terribly drawn and have no reflection on reality. There is not a single, redeemable quality about the book. Perhaps I am missing something that makes everyone think it was so wonderful, but I thought it was abysmal. Carl Alves - author of Blood Street (  ) Carl_Alves | May 22, 2013 | I kept a dictionary with me at all times while reading this book. (  ) katemo | May 16, 2013 | Top 10 enough said. ( ) IanMPindar | May 16, 2013 | Proof that a book written in accessible language, in an easy reading style, can be one of the greatest, as well as funniest books, ever written. The chaotic plot order of the chapters can be a little confusing, but given the 'catch 22' nature of the theme you should expect to be sent all over the place a little. A challenge to read without laughing. ( ) Hubster | May 12, 2013 |
 "A wild, moving, shocking, hilarious, raging, exhilarating, giant roller-coaster of a book"  "doesn't even seem to be written; instead, it gives the impression of having been shouted onto paper.... what remains is a debris of sour jokes" "the best novel to come out in years"  This kind of magnificent illogic whips like a mistral all through the novel, blowing both sequence and motivation into a rubble of farcical shocks and grisly surprises. Catch-22 is held together only by the inescapable fact that Joseph Heller is a superb describer of people and things... Heller's talent is impressive, but it also is undisciplined, sometimes luring him into bogs of boring repetition... but an overdose of comic non sequitur and an almost experimental formlessness are not enough to extinguish the real fire of Catch-22. "Catch-22," by Joseph Heller, is not an entirely successful novel. It is not even a good novel by conventional standards. But there can be no doubt that it is the strangest novel yet written about the United States Air Force in World War II. Wildly original, brilliantly comic, brutally gruesome, it is a dazzling performance that will probably outrage nearly as many readers as it delights. In any case, it is one of the most startling first novels of the year and it may make its author famous. Has the adaptationHas as a student's study guide
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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.
(retrieved from Amazon Wed, 02 Jan 2013 12:42:26 -0500)
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