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Catch-22

By Joseph Heller, Howard Jacobson (Contributor)

(349)

| eBook | 9781446424049

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Book Description

Set in the closing months of World War II in an American bomber squadron off the coast of Italy, Catch-22 is the story of a bombardier named Yossarian who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he has never even met keep trying to kill him.

Critics

Yossarian Slept Here: When Joseph Heller Was Dad, the Apthorp Was Home, and Life Was a Catch-22

A few weeks ago in this space, I had the pleasure of reviewing JUST ONE CATCH, Tracy Daugherty’s biography of Joseph Heller. Heller’s daughter Erica's sometimes scarifying, but often hilarious, memoir of life in the Heller household is a worthy compa ... (read full critics)

bookreporter published on Tue, 6 Sep 2011

23 Reviews

6 people find this helpful

An insane picture of the world

Take a sane US Air Force bombardier named Yossarian and put him into the middle of World War 2 in a base at a tiny island called Pianosa in Italy. Surround him with people who are almost insane and trash up his life with inane bureaucratic hurdles. You've got Joseph Heller's Catch-22, a book which i ... (continue)

Take a sane US Air Force bombardier named Yossarian and put him into the middle of World War 2 in a base at a tiny island called Pianosa in Italy. Surround him with people who are almost insane and trash up his life with inane bureaucratic hurdles. You've got Joseph Heller's Catch-22, a book which is both maddening and brilliant at the same time. This is a book which I can't even describe 'cause there are no words for it. It is a comical insane trip for the mind, at the same time being fodder on the current state of the world.
Catch-22 was not an easy read. I almost gave up after the first 100 or so pages, not being able to see where the story was going. Infact what I had to really do was to just keep reading and let the extreme sarcasm and insanity of the book to sink in. The book is too long for its subject and the circular logic of Catch-22 in the dialogues are just too many and I felt that it spoils the reading. The last few chapters (starting with The Eternal City) get pretty serious and culminate with a happy ending for Yossarian. An escape for him from it all.

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Ashwin Nanjappa said on Jun 25, 2007 about the School & Library Binding edition | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

Loved it loved it loved it... but some might not.

I say GENIUS.
Joseph Heller is completely nuts and trying to really follow the story will drive you nuts, too!
There is not a single hint of chronological order. You start off thrown in the middle of a battlefield, then take a tour of the tents, get introduced to the big guy, the doctor, the 'wanna ... (continue)

I say GENIUS.
Joseph Heller is completely nuts and trying to really follow the story will drive you nuts, too!
There is not a single hint of chronological order. You start off thrown in the middle of a battlefield, then take a tour of the tents, get introduced to the big guy, the doctor, the 'wannabe' Major Major Major Major (alone, the name of the guy is pure genius) and then what?
It's all about the Catch 22!
You'll never know anything, you'll never really understand what's going on.
I am not saying it's one of those books "everyone should read", cause I bet a LOT of people wouldn't get past the first 10 pages (or past the first change of time and setting) cause they'd find it confusing, annoying and pointless... but if you see it on a bookshelf at the local library or at the bookstore, try and read the first few pages. See if you can deal with the story. If it strikes you at the beginning, you won't regret going on with the reading!

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Miss Clio said on Apr 27, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

"Catch-22" has become a common expression for any unescapable situation. Its most common formulation is this: If you are crazy, you are exempt from flying war missions. But if you ask not to fly war missions you cannot be possibly crazy.
Funny how so small a sentence is the only thing many p ... (continue)

"Catch-22" has become a common expression for any unescapable situation. Its most common formulation is this: If you are crazy, you are exempt from flying war missions. But if you ask not to fly war missions you cannot be possibly crazy.
Funny how so small a sentence is the only thing many people know about this 500-pages book.
Funny but, actually, perfectly appropriate: the paradoxical, self-contradictory nature of Catch-22 is the perfect image for the book as a whole.
Heller really loves contradictions: the book is full of them. He also loves turning things upside down - usually with humorous outcomes - and he pulls the trick so many times that by the end of the book it starts to wear pretty thin.
Discarding this book as petty comedy, however, would be very wrong. Despite of the stylized and exagerate portrayal of characters, it shows insightful glimpses on the human psyche and personality. Many of the contradictions Heller so thoroughly points out are actually characteristics of every one of us.
If one can bear with the disorientating style of the narration, Catch 22 will provide an interesting read about the uncertainties of humanity.

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Simbul said on Dec 16, 2009 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Atypical war fiction

I picked up this book because I'd heard a lot about its wit and poignancy, and in those respects it met my expectations. However, I often found myself losing interest in the convoluted plot and unable to follow a narrative in the first half of the book. The second half really picked up, and I enjoye ... (continue)

I picked up this book because I'd heard a lot about its wit and poignancy, and in those respects it met my expectations. However, I often found myself losing interest in the convoluted plot and unable to follow a narrative in the first half of the book. The second half really picked up, and I enjoyed the diverse characters. Definitely unlike any war fiction I've read before.

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Abbey Lewis said on Mar 6, 2012 | Add your feedback

Great book

I finally took the time to read it and I really enjoyed the book. A bit Orwellian, very witty and different from any other book. The only slightly disappointing bit is the end... it seems not the best end, or at least I don't feel it lives up to the boldness of the rest of the book.

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fabiodebe said on Aug 16, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Yeah, I know this is supposed to be a classic. But when something just doesn't appeal to you, there's no point in forcing yourself to face it. Life is too short.

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Holmes said on Mar 12, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback