Hooray! You have added the first book to your bookshelf. Check it out now!
[−]
  • Search Digit-count Valid ISBN Invalid ISBN Valid Barcode Invalid Barcode
Blog this item

Catch 22

By Joseph Heller

(349)

| Hardcover | 9780671502331

Like Catch 22?
Join aNobii to see if your friends read it, and discover similar books!

Sign up for free

Book Description

Catch-22 is like no other novel we have ever read. It has its own style, its own rationale, its own extraordinary character. It moves back and forth from hilarity to horror. It is outrageously funny and strangely affecting. It is totally original.

It is set in the closing months of WoContinue

Catch-22 is like no other novel we have ever read. It has its own style, its own rationale, its own extraordinary character. It moves back and forth from hilarity to horror. It is outrageously funny and strangely affecting. It is totally original.

It is set in the closing months of World War II, in an American bomber squadron on a small island off Italy. Its hero is a bombardier named Yossarian, who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he hasn't even met keep trying to kill him. (He has decided to live forever even if he has to die in the attempt.)

His problem is Colonel Cathcart, who keeps raising the number of missions the men have to fly.

The others range from Lieutenant Milo Minderbinder, a dedicated entrepreneur (he bombs his own airfield when the Germans make him a reasonable offer: cost plus 6%), to the dead man in Yossarian's tent; from Major Major Major, whose tragedy is that he resembles Henry Fonda, to Nately's whore's kid sister; from Lieutenant Scheisskopf (he loves a parade) to Major -- de Coverley, whose face is so forbidding no one has ever dared ask him his first name; from Clevinger, who is lost in the clouds, to the soldier in white, who lies encased in bandages from head to toe and may not even be there at all; from Dori Duz, who does, to the wounded gunner Snowden, who lies dying in the tail of Yossarian's plane and at last reveals his terrifying secret.

Catch-22 is a microcosm of the twentieth-century world as it might look to someone dangerously sane. It is a novel that lives and moves and grows with astonishing power and vitality. It is, we believe, one of the strongest creations of the mid-century.

Critics

  • Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

    the enemy is anyone who is going to get you killed no matter which side he's on At the heart of the very black comedy that is Catch 22 is Captain Yossarian, a World War II American bombardier, who wants to survive the war. Flying repeated combat miss ... (read full critics)

    thebookbag published on Sun, 30 Oct 2011

23 Reviews

Login or Sign Up to write a review

  • 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.

    Is this helpful?

    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!

    Is this helpful?

    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.

    Is this helpful?

    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.

    Is this helpful?

    Abbey Lewis said on Mar 6, 2012 about the eBook edition | 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.

    Is this helpful?

    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.

    Is this helpful?

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

Book Details

Improve data of this book

Prices Change currency & sellers

ISBN Edition List Sale Seller
9780671502331 Hardcover $26.00 -- The Book Depository
Other editions →
+ 5 copies tradable: →
Added to Shelf Added to Wish List

Inline Translation Mode

Left click to navigate, right click to translate.

inline translation guide

or close

Inline translation is not ready for this page yet.

Inline translation mode.

Share this page with your friends.

The viewport has not loaded.