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Catch-22: A Novel
Resumen
Several decades after its initial publication, Catch-22 remains a cornerstone of American literature and one of the funniest-and most celebrated-novels of all time. In recent years it has been named to "best novels" lists by Time, Newsweek, the Modern Library, and the London Observer.
Set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy-it is his own army, which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he's assigned, he'll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes a formal request to be removed from duty, he is proven sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved. Since its publication in 1961, no novel has matched Catch-22's intensity and brilliance in depicting the brutal insanity of war.
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The classic American novel for me. If you wish to understand that perfectly American process of taking a very serious matter such as WWII, and then giving it an artificial structure, the American army's Air force, then recruiting a number of fairly normal people to run it, and to be in it, then setting a minor role for those people, in this case, bombing Bologna, a fairly obscure target in the minor Italian theatre, and then cluttering this dangerous role with an arbitrary set of standards for success, and pursuing those standards to the extent of hampering that mission, this is the perfect novel. Heller's book has multiple levels of symbolism, and one finds that even the huge undertaking of WWII is but a symbol for American life overall, then Heller's novel has worked its wonders in your world view for the rest of your life. He did it to me, and I am not ashamed. The only flaw is that there are no well developed female characters in this book....
Each day I come across Catch-22 situation, thamks to this book I can give them a proper name
Best book ever written.
It's rare to read a book where each sentence seems to have carefully chosen words that string together in perfect balance on the page. The novel seems to be more about the words than about the plot of the novel. There are many characters and I was glad I kept some notes to keep track of them. I would get lost in the story, but always enjoyed the words.
Catch-22 is one of the funniest, weirdest, most unique novels I’ve ever read. It presents the story of Yossarian, a World War II bombardier who is constantly inventing illnesses and ailments in hilarious attempts to prevent himself from having to fly dangerous missions, which is a realistic concerned, given that whole armies—thousands of people—are trying to kill him. The government bureaucracy is always one step ahead of poor Yossarian, though, and his attempts are thwarted by Colonel Cathcart, who constantly raises the number of missions the men must fly in order to fulfill their service.Heller’s characters and their experiences of army life are hysterical, maddening, and utterly mad, and his satire is spot-on. Catch-22 is a classic that should be on every bookshelf, whores and all.Full review at The Book Lady's Blog
First read this superb dystopian anti-war novel in 1970: Couldn't put it down; such a great read, but must have as the copy long ago went missing.Finally replenished my library & having re-read I was amazed at just how well Heller's writing stands up to modern day equivalents based on the hard-learned experiences of modern warfare.Heller's book detailing the catastrophic mental and physical anguish of Yossarian (surely one of the greatest 'human' characters in all of literature) is one of very few 'warfare' masterpieces to emerge post-WW2.The novel surpasses Jones' From Here To Eternity (&, different war, but as relevant Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front) for its devastatingly accurate portrayal of the ordinary soldier trapped within the vast & supremely indifferent High Command mince-making machinery of a so-called 'strategic war effort'.It ranks alongside Red Badge of Courage, For Whom The Bell Tolls, The Debacle, & Regeneration as an epic narration of man's inhumanity & humanity.
I'm another person who couldn't finish this book. I tried, mainly so that I wouldn't have to return it to my friend with an apology for detesting one of his favorites. Maybe two-thirds of the way through I had to give up.
The rambling repetitiveness in the narrative is, I think, supposed to represent the futility of the characters' struggles, their insanity, and the how the war would never really end for them. Unfortunately, it was just too much circular non-logic to tolerate.
Another problem for me was the way the story jerked between bitter satire, outrageous farce, and annoying accounts of everyday drama.
Heller's depiction of World War II seemed more fitting for a government office than a warfront. Even if that is how he remembered the war, the setting didn't feel real. I didn't care about any of the characters and often struggled to tell them apart. The plot was inconsequential. I felt that I was wasting my time once I'd absorbed the gist of the book.
The rambling repetitiveness in the narrative is, I think, supposed to represent the futility of the characters' struggles, their insanity, and the how the war would never really end for them. Unfortunately, it was just too much circular non-logic to tolerate.
Another problem for me was the way the story jerked between bitter satire, outrageous farce, and annoying accounts of everyday drama.
Heller's depiction of World War II seemed more fitting for a government office than a warfront. Even if that is how he remembered the war, the setting didn't feel real. I didn't care about any of the characters and often struggled to tell them apart. The plot was inconsequential. I felt that I was wasting my time once I'd absorbed the gist of the book.
This book affected me emotionally more than any book I can remember. It is one of my favourites regardless. While there is much dark humour, the underlying messages about war and other societal commentary hit hard, as I am sure was intended. Definitely not suitable for young children or anyone uncomfortable reading about graphic violence, profanity, etc. Not a light read, but a meaningful one.
This is not my first go-around with this book. I first read it in high school not long after it was first published. I loved it. It was witty, zany, highly memorable. Youngsters my age ate it up. A few years later, a movie based on the book came out. It was zany. And it was witty in the same way a comedian who frequently messes up the punchline is witty. It never captured the depth of the book. Did I mention that it was zany? My opinion of the book suffered as a result. I admit I did not notice at the time how much the movie had reworked the book. Characters died in different situations. Endings changed. Zany was kept. Witty and depth were not. So, now I found myself reading the book for a Books on Tap event sponsored by my local library and a popular cidery. To my relief, I found the book highly refreshing. It was witty, zany, complex, and startlingly appropriate to a Trump-led America. What I had thought of earlier as being a treatise on the madness of war, became much more obvious to me as a deep reflection on the madness of society. People are rational, except when they are not. People work on behalf of their own self-interests, except when they don't. People believe facts staring themselves in the face, except when they don't. In the meantime, I know a simply outstanding book when I read it...or I don't. You judge.
Just tried reading this book, and for one of the rare instances in life, threw it away in loathing. I love the classics (Orwell, Steinbeck, Algren, Twain, et al.), but this one was like trying to get through a literary tribute to Abbott & Costello... just filled with snarky one-liner jokes that fell flat pretty much every effort. Satire is one thing, canned-ham commentary that goes over 400 pages is too much. We get it; war is absurd. There just was very little original insight here. Cool, Heller came up with the Catch-22 term. Not cool he pounds it into your head every single scene.
A subversive classic.
Groucho Marx channeled by angry, word-bloated 1950s English major on speed flying off the handle about war.
Catch-22 is a very different book than what I normally read. It is very comical, crazy, and confusing, but Joseph Heller somehow mixes all of the craziness together to create a somewhat sensible piece of literature. This is not one of my favorite books, but it is quite funny at times.The story takes place during World War II. The protagonist, Yossarian, is part of one the US Air Force bomb squadrons stationed in Pianosa in Europe. The war is in full swing and the squadron members continue their missions to help with the war. The actual story line of the book is very confusing. It seems like the book is made up of small little anecdotes focusing on different member's lives and experiences, but they all tie together through common characters. Some of the stories seem to be out of order chronologically at some points and made me slightly confused. Also, the characters occasionally reference events that have not been talked about in depth, further adding to the confusion.The characters in the book were some of the best I have ever read about. Each had specific quirks and problems that persisted consistently throughout the book. Each interaction between them always seems realistic and crazy. Each character left a unique impression on me as I read through the book. Some characters were cowards, intellects, or just plain weird. I found myself becoming attached to them and every event had a much stronger emotional impact.Large picture aside, the dialogue and events in the book are very funny. The characters constantly contradict themselves and their compatriots and create ridiculous problems. Their antics lead to sometimes unwanted results, but they always take everything in good humor. Some of the events are much more serious however, but Heller was still able to put a slight twist in them to make it a little more funny.The contradictions, however, created a lot of confusion for me. I found myself lost and puzzled by what exactly happened at some points in the book. I would go back and try to reread the section and I usually was able to decipher the true meaning of what exactly occurred. However, there were a few times where I was forced to continue even though I did not have an understanding of what happen. This made the book a much harder chore to read than most, and it caused me to put down the book more times than I would have liked.Catch-22 is a amazingly funny book. The characters were some of the most special and witty characters I have ever met. The story was very intriguing and the dialogue was comical. There is no other book I have ever read that is anything like Catch-22. However, I found myself not wanting to read the book a few times. The events created a very confusing setting to follow. If you take the time to really read and understand the book, Catch-22 is very wonderful.
I read this when it came out, understood the catch and marveled at the total inefficiency of the military (as with Hemingway). Then I read it again in 2013 while vacationing in Scotland. It is still a very good book (for about 200 pages) and I discovered that there were many catches, not just 22. I still laughed out loud a few times as I did 60 years ago but fatigue set in about 1/2 the way through for me. Each later chapter was just an earlier chapter with different characters dressed in new clothes but speaking the same convoluted language until it became mind-numbing. The "I did..I didn't" constructions appeared to be written just for the sake of writing them in later chapters rather than indicating crazy people and crazy thinking.The Milo Minderbinder character and his exploits (e.g. contracting with the Nazis) became extremely annoying; he became the most outlandish and unrealistic character in the book. I finally skipped later chapters when he was the focus. My new conclusion, this book should have been pared down by half (to about 220 pages) since it is so repetitive.
major major majorly good.
Best book ever? Quite possibly.
This book is not funny. I don't get it.
One of the best books I ever read.
brilliant and hillarious.
One of the best books I ever read.
This was a re-read from long-long ago. The book remains very funny. The fun however is very much the same the whole work long and consequently becomes somewhat stale after a while. AS an exercise in bureaucratic logic it should be required reading for eveybody facing the bureaucratic machinery and for those manning the machine. It will be an even battle with some hope of overcoming Kafka's nightmares in the end.
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.
I found this book very annoying to read after the first little while, though it was interesting.
My first read was when I was in 10th grade and I fell in love.
This book turned into a survival guide for me the whole time I worked for the state, the whole time I was in the military. Or at least it made me feel as if someone else knew what was going on.
And I always wanted to meet some one named Major Major Major.
This book turned into a survival guide for me the whole time I worked for the state, the whole time I was in the military. Or at least it made me feel as if someone else knew what was going on.
And I always wanted to meet some one named Major Major Major.
Loved it. Sometimes it's the absurdity that comes closest to the truth.
This book will always have a special place in my heart as it was the very first book I ever went to the store and purchased using my own money I earned at a job. No idea where THAT copy of the book is, I only seem to have an old $0.75 mass market pb from the early sixties that must've been my dad's.
I'm sorry, I know this is considered a great classic. But I had to struggle to make myself finish it. Not at all my cup of tea. Boring, somewhat disturbing (violent), not particularly funny (to me), and no characters to whom I could relate. And maybe that's the point. But I won't be reading this again.
Catch-22 is a modern classic set during World War II. The narrative is non-linear and the situations are often absurd. If you enjoy films such as Pulp Fiction or Memento, then you should give this book a read. If you are a fan of Kurt Vonnegut, then you will love Joseph Heller.I first read Catch-22 when I was on Active Duty in 2002 and I loved every word. It made me laugh out loud on a regular basis - something that is out of character for me. There is a lot of truth behind the insanity presented by Joseph Heller.Highly recommended. This book is a classic for a reason!
I've been hearing about this book so long now, I finally decided it was time to pick it up and get it over and done with. Boy, am I glad I did. To me, Catch-22 is somewhat like marmite. You'll either love it or you'll hate it. There is no grey area. I happen to love it. This book is filled with so many colourful characters that you'll end up loving them all. You go through so many emotions that by the end of the book, you're exhausted. I grasped Heller's writing style right off the bat. He is a unique and clever writer.The story follows Captain Joseph Yossarian, a US airman trying to survive the madness of the Second World War. I think it's a great depiction of modern mentality. Frankly, I don't think it's only the war that is insane ... Life itself is insane - a Catch-22, so to speak.Much of the prose is repetitive, which would usually bother me, but I found it to be tolerable. The only problem I had was with the length of the book. The story dragged on at times, and I found I wanted to get through those parts quickly. It would have been better if the book was shorter. All the same, I found this read to be very refreshing, and I plan on reading it again someday.One of my favourite line from the book:There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's 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 were sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.
Joseph Heller has done something few authors are able to do - he pervaded the English language with a word and situation: the catch-22. The story follows a bombardier, Yossarian (what kind of name is that, anyway?) who leads a squadron during the war. Yossarian is not your typical protagonist as he does not sacrifice or try to help his fellow soldiers. Yossarian does an excellent job of doing everything in his power to stay alive, whether it be faking illnesses or attack maps. Heller has written more than just a story; he has taken an in-depth look at his experiences in the war and shared what he feels was clearly a problem: the bureaucracy of war. Using absurd characters and situations he made it clear to the reader how poorly run the war was and can be because of the influence of bureaucracy. Throughout the war the officers were doing anything in their power to move up in rank at the expense of the enlisted men, and the enlisted men were doing everything in their power to not die. The actual writing style and story make this book hard to peg-down and describe. On the one hand, Heller's use of wit and absurdity to amplify his message results in absolutely hilarious situations and dialogue. However, the story is written in pieces of flash-back which can occasional lead to confusion and repetition. Unfortunately, the characters, though hilarious, do not have the qualities to connect them with the reader. There is no driving force to the story or characters to entice the reader to continue, which combined with the length of the book can result in some slogging through. Although the pacing, story and characters are the weak point in the novel, Heller's writing style, use of wit, and overall message produce a work worth reading for the humor alone.