Something Happened
by Joseph Heller
|
|
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of Something Happened.
discuss this book
friend reviews (0)
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
lists with this book
Where's the love? Add this book to your favorite list.
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 667)
Read in March, 2008
This is an amazingly great book...and I generally recommend against reading it.
This book takes place entirely inside the head of a middle-aged, upper middle-class, middle manager. He is not a nice person. He is not a unique person. He is not a particularly interesting person...except for the stunning detail in which we get to know him. We see--no--we live through his insecurities, his sex drive, his job, his nostalgia, his insecurities, his wife, his sex drive, his humor, his insecuritie...more
This book takes place entirely inside the head of a middle-aged, upper middle-class, middle manager. He is not a nice person. He is not a unique person. He is not a particularly interesting person...except for the stunning detail in which we get to know him. We see--no--we live through his insecurities, his sex drive, his job, his nostalgia, his insecurities, his wife, his sex drive, his humor, his insecuritie...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
1 comments
Read in August, 2004
Something happened…and I still can’t figure out what it is. With Heller’s careful and passionate dialogues along with profound character development, he successfully produced his second book about nothing. There are few authors that can write an entire novel without a plot and still make it encapsulating and powerful. I take my hat off to Mr. Heller, especially when he identifies many of our empty words and selfish tendencies in our interpersonal relationships. It will scare you to rea...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in May, 2008
The next novel Joseph Heller wrote after the masterpiece Catch-22 almost couldn't help but be a disappointment. Either it was going to be a lot like Catch-22 and one would wonder why he didn't branch out more, or it will be different and readers would miss C-22.
This is a very different book from Catch-22, written entirely in an internal thought-monologue of our hero - an upper-middle business at a nameless, faceless company in the 1960s USA. He is disillusioned, massively depressed, succes...more
This is a very different book from Catch-22, written entirely in an internal thought-monologue of our hero - an upper-middle business at a nameless, faceless company in the 1960s USA. He is disillusioned, massively depressed, succes...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2007
I guess Heller did well in giving me a relationship with the main character strong enough for me to hate him. You are supposed to feel no pity for him throughout the book and think of him as your average salesman. I hated him because of his casual take on marriage and solicitation of prostitution. I hated the way he wanted you to feel sorry for his shit life. I hated the "tragic" ending because I could smell it a mile away. ( and it smelled of disappointments and redundancy) This ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
nobody
Joseph Heller's Catch 22 is one of my favorite books, so I figured I'd give Something Happened a shot. I knew going in it would be non-linear and not really plot-driven. That's not what bothered me.
Something Happened is about the malaise of post-war America. But the book is so saturated with malaise, the characters are so paralyzed by the fear of being required to act and not knowing what to do, that I can't like any of them and I certainly didn't enjoy spending time with the narrator. In a...more
Something Happened is about the malaise of post-war America. But the book is so saturated with malaise, the characters are so paralyzed by the fear of being required to act and not knowing what to do, that I can't like any of them and I certainly didn't enjoy spending time with the narrator. In a...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I'm drawn to review this book, but even years after reading it, I'm still not sure quite how I feel about it. The novel brings you to an uneasy association with the narrator through gruesome repetition of his obsessions, and piles on one aspect after another of a wealthy suburban life with a dark underbelly. There is no redemption in this book, and whatever truths it illuminates seem overshadowed by a deep and abiding gloom.
The feeling is similar to the feeling I got after watchin...more
The feeling is similar to the feeling I got after watchin...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 1999
"More like Nothing Happened," I've heard it quipped, which misses the entire point. Where Catch-22's Yossarian was essentially likeable, Heller doesn't give you that easy out with Bob Slocum.
From Vonnegut's review in the New York Times (1974): "Is this book any good? Yes. It is splendidly put together and hypnotic to read. It is as clear and hard-edged as a cut diamond. [...] This is black humor indeed--with the humor removed."
From Vonnegut's review in the New York Times (1974): "Is this book any good? Yes. It is splendidly put together and hypnotic to read. It is as clear and hard-edged as a cut diamond. [...] This is black humor indeed--with the humor removed."
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
recommends it for:
those who want to read about a severe case of self-absorption
I had such high hopes for this book because of my love for Catch-22. While the writing is, of course, magnificent, and the main character, though maddening, is perfectly crafted, I felt set up by the end. I expected something major to occur, and although something did happen, it was sort of a side note at the end of the novel instead of a turning point. I guess perhaps the main idea was that Bob Slocum was so despicable that his interior life was far more important to him than anything (or anyon...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I was an insurance claims adjuster 15 years ago. It can be lonely to pour through the intimate details of others' misfortune. Heller captures this detachment. His hero remembers a loving family, a rich satisfaction in his life, the adoration of a young wife, but 'Something Happened.' Set in the hero's present, a deep apathy for all things and distain for most people soaks this poor souls thoughts. What happened? Nothing specific. Welcome to middle age...
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Contrary to what the title tells you, not a lot happens in this book, it is just about a man living his life, he is not sure about his job or the direction in which his life is going. I really enjoyed reading it, and when I read Arthur Miller's Focus last year it reminded me a lot of it, and also a little bit of the Outsider by Camus too - one man living his life, not altogether content with his lot.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Each chapter seems to find a creative new way to repeat the essentials of the chapter before it (you still hate your job and your family? Really?). I'll admit, that is something you won't find in any other book and thus gives Something Happened that special "uniqueness". But unique does not equate with genius. This book needs to be a tenth of its current size before it can be called good.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 2008
seems like a modern(ish) version of death of a salesman. i'll let you know.
ok. i had to put this one down because, ironically, NOTHING happened. the main character is the epitome of an asshole, with his womanizing and his poor treatment of his handicapped son. while i'm assuming that's the point, i didn't care to experience it textually or otherwise. i'll stick with "catch-22."
ok. i had to put this one down because, ironically, NOTHING happened. the main character is the epitome of an asshole, with his womanizing and his poor treatment of his handicapped son. while i'm assuming that's the point, i didn't care to experience it textually or otherwise. i'll stick with "catch-22."
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2000
An amazing book, but you've gotta have a stomach of steel to get all the way through it. The main character is cowardly, despicable, and I won't tell you what he does at the end of the novel, but it's pretty awful. Joseph Heller is a stellar writer and this book is a great example of his talent, but I can see why Catch-22 is far more popular.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I read this book a LONG time ago, so I can't talk about subtleties of the characters or the plot development....so I am not rating it.
What I do remember is that I ONLY finished this book because I was determined to finish it. It was a tough read and after I finished it I felt like grabbing a strong drink and watching cartoons.
What I do remember is that I ONLY finished this book because I was determined to finish it. It was a tough read and after I finished it I felt like grabbing a strong drink and watching cartoons.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
My friend Nathan loaned this to me. It's interesting but not compelling, as I told him recently. I may not finish it before we move. Also, I had a similar experience with Catch-22, which I also couldn't finish. At least that one I own, so it can taunt me indefinitely from the H section of my future awesomely organized bookshelves.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2000
Yikes, was this book hard to take. Excruciating but powerful. And just when you're about as hopeless as can be, it gets worse. I don't know of a better book to illustrate the crippling, alienating, paralzying places our minds can construct for us, and to keep us from trivializing them with phrases like "all in your head."
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I read this for the first time when I was in high school. I haven't read it recently, but I suspect I would understand many of the themes better as an adult. There's no getting away from the humorous side, no matter how old you are. But I think I might see more of the sarcastic edge to the humor now than I did when I was 15.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 1987
OK. I read this book; I can't say why it stands out in my mind as great; but it just does. It was one of those books that I just got for some reason. I actually need to read it again since I'm older now; but I do remember it was great; and I liked it better than Catch-22.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2002
Joseph Heller was an astounding writer with a gift for stirring reactions under the surface of our consciousness. This book repelled me, disturbed me, angered me, but left me, I think, better for having read it. If that doesn't make sense, read it yourself.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
With little doubt, the most frustratingly annoying book I've ever read - to this day I can't imagine why I bothered to finish it, other than some perverse belief that at some point, it just had to eventually have a payoff worthwhile. Wow was I wrong.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
