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Catch-22

by Joseph Heller

3.94 · rating details · 116,647 ratings · 5,518 reviews

Catch-22 is like no other novel. It is one of the funniest books ever written, a keystone work in American literature, and even added a new term to the dictionary.

At the heart of Catch-22 resides the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero endlessly inventive in his schemes to save his skin from the horrible chances of war. His efforts are perfe...more

Paperback, 453 pages

Published September 4th 2004 by Simon & Schuster Paperbacks (first published 1961)

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Community Reviews

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Aug 09, 2011

Chris is currently reading it

I have attempted to read this book on two separate occasions and I couldn't get beyond 100 pages either time. I do believe that this has more to do with me than the book and I plan on making a third attempt at some point in the future.

Currently it sits on my bookshelf and sometimes (when I have a few too many beers) we have a talk.

Me: Hi.
Catch-22: Oh, hi.
Me: How are you feeling?
Catch-22: I've been better.
Me: Don't be upset. It's not you. It's me. ...more

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Sep 13, 2007

Lori rated it

Shelves: books-i-just-couldnt-finish, lost-lit

I suffered through about 60 pages, and finally put it down. I very rarely ever leave a book unfinished.

The author narrates and introduces up to Yossarian, who does not want to fly in the war. I get that. I get the whole catch 22 senerio... You have to be insane to fly the plane. If you can get a dr to say you are insane, you wont have to fly. But in order to tell a dr that you are insane, this actually means you are sane. So you must continue to fly... which makes you insane. blah b...more

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Sep 15, 2007

Elizabeth rated it

This book was utterly misrepresented to me before I read it. For some reason I'd always thought it had been published the same year as Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow and was considered as representing the other fork of post World War II American literature apart from Pynchon's--this the conventional, plot-driven one catering to stupid people. Some professor or some didact must have told me that, enrroenously as it turns out, once. Catch 22 predates the Pynchon masterpeice by 15 years, and is in sty...moreThis book was utterly misrepresented to me before I read it. For some reason I'd always thought it had been published the same year as Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow and was considered as representing the other fork of post World War II American literature apart from Pynchon's--this the conventional, plot-driven one catering to stupid people. Some professor or some didact must have told me that, enrroenously as it turns out, once. Catch 22 predates the Pynchon masterpeice by 15 years, and is in style an apt precursor. Its subject is war and its hilarity. In this it shares much with Pynchon as well as Vonnegut. Since James Heller is not as obviously over-bursting with brilliance and random facts about particle physics as Pynchon, nor is he as willing to pander to mainstream tastes (I think) as Vonnegut, Catch 22 is a tought read at the begiining. There is a lot of irony and detachment, but with not as much ease as Vonnegut and with less of the awe inspired by Pynchon. IN fact, I almost gave up, and had started this book (450 pages) several times before and actually had given up. The real story of Catch 22 doesn't start coming together well past page 200, but when it does, it really does. There is a brilliant portrait of an entrepreneurial mess chef who is the representation of evil, evil being capitalism and the lack of loyalty to any moral cause. He creates a vast international smuggling network whose intricacies are at once ridicuously amusing and yet, it seems, accurately and minutely portrayed--it's as if Heller were a partcile physicist translating science for us when he lays out how that "syndicate" works. Most importantly, the book affected me because of what it had to say about war, and then how it was able to communicate that through the heartbreaking travails of one officer--Yossarian--who is willing to act out human desires in the face of a dominant culture turned insanse and subhuman, caricatured. His wartime airforce base is a perfect illustration of RD Laing's common-sense supposition, developed not long after the period of this novel, that insanity is a sane response to an insane world. Catch 22 is clever and tight and thematic--"Catch 22" refers to how things that seem irrational can be made to seem rational through tautology. This is a cleverly embroidered theme throught the entire novel. But in the end these are not what make the book great. It's the emotion at the heart of the book, Yossarian's desire to live and be fleshly human, and his unwillingness to retreat into the bastions of irony and obtuseness so attractive to eberyone around him. This is what makes Catch 22 heartbreaking and poignant, tear0jerkin even. (less)

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Aug 09, 2009

Choupette rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classics, own-or-access, to-be-re-read, ab-fav

While I was reading this, I was so tempted to dock a star from my rating. Even though I was reading it for the second time, even though I knew that the second half was brilliant and amazing and fabulous, dragging myself through the oppressive wit of the first half was so superlatively difficult that at times not only did I want to remove a star, but I wanted to give up! Cue the gasps of horror.

His specialty was alfalfa, and he made a good thing out of not growing any. The government ...more

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Feb 04, 2012

Tanu Das rated it

Shelves: all-time-favorite, why-did-i-fall-for-this, the-eternal-quest, emotional-drama, hah-hah

ooof exhausting story !! I will get back to it later(in 2050 perhaps).

Finally finished on 4 February 2012(not 2050 :p)

I did it! I finished it! I finished the book. And I am alive!!!

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The review

This book is pure unadulterated madness. There is a harem of characters and all of them are crazy. And not just silly crazy; more like annoying crazy! Milo, Aarfy, Whitcomb, these characters will make you want to either shoot them, or shoot yourse...more

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Aug 12, 2007

Teresa Jusino rated it

Shelves: readandreviewed

"I really do admire you a bit. You're an intelligent person of great moral character who has taken a very courageous stand. I'm an intelligent person with no moral character at all, so I'm in an ideal position to appreciate it." - Colonel Cathcart, Catch-22

I really appreciate it when a book respects the intelligence of its readership. If a book is going to be "experimental" in any way, I love those that throw you into a world with no explanations - a literary bapt...more"I really do admire you a bit. You're an intelligent person of great moral character who has taken a very courageous stand. I'm an intelligent person with no moral character at all, so I'm in an ideal position to appreciate it." - Colonel Cathcart, Catch-22

I really appreciate it when a book respects the intelligence of its readership. If a book is going to be "experimental" in any way, I love those that throw you into a world with no explanations - a literary baptism of fire (ie: Orwell's "Animal Farm"). Catch-22 is one of those books, and that's part of the reason why I thought it was so amazing!

Catch-22 tells the story of a US Army squadron based in Italy during WWII, and a disenchanted pilot named Yossarian who thinks everyone is trying to kill him. (not an unreasonable assumption in a war) Except that it's not an Italy, a military story, or a world that we're meant to immediately recognize. There is a logic in the book that all the characters seem to accept, but that doesn't make sense to the reader. Or, alternately, it makes too much sense to the reader, and that's when the book hits you hard. You start falling into it. You start siding with people. Then all of a sudden, you realize that you're siding with the wrong people. You start thinking to yourself how could I be agreeing with this asshole?! How can I be laughing! My favorite books are the ones that elicit visceral reactions from me...my chest gets tight, my stomach gets tied in knots, and I can't explain why I'm reacting positively/negatively - I just know that I am. There were so many of those moments in this book, I can't even begin to describe them all...

One of the things that impressed me most was the structure of the book - how all at once it seemed both haphazard, and entirely calculated. How each segment could stand alone, but that together they weaved an intricate, thought-provoking story...
If you like historical novels, if you like political novels, if you like in-depth characters, if you like humor, if you like to think - I would highly recommend this book to you.
(less)

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Dec 08, 2011

Leonard rated it

Shelves: finished-in-2011, best-reads-of-2011

Never have I been pulled through the entire spectrum of emotion so enjoyably quite like this, with Heller ingeniously switching tones on a dime with a magicians charm. One moment I was laughing like a fool and the next I was clenching my jaw with agony at the horrors of the war; thankfully for my taste, it leaned more on the comedic/optimistic side. Reading Catch-22 was sort of like watching a brilliantly shining coin flipping through a majestic parabola in slow motion, with one side being laugh...moreNever have I been pulled through the entire spectrum of emotion so enjoyably quite like this, with Heller ingeniously switching tones on a dime with a magicians charm. One moment I was laughing like a fool and the next I was clenching my jaw with agony at the horrors of the war; thankfully for my taste, it leaned more on the comedic/optimistic side. Reading Catch-22 was sort of like watching a brilliantly shining coin flipping through a majestic parabola in slow motion, with one side being laugh-out-loud comedy and the other an intense, realistic exploration of terror, on its way to the ground with the weight of someones fate resting on whichever side it falls on. But this isnt just a thoughtless experiment, as both tones are equally pleasing and useful to the story. This book definitely wasn't perfect, but it's close. It reminded me a bit of a Confederacy of Dunces, because there were times that I know alot of people simply wouldn't laugh at it if they don't possess a certain sense of humor. At times it can be a bit much, but if you don't allow the insanity and chaos to consume you, you'll enjoy it thoroughly. I feel like Yossarian and Dunbar represented how my friends and I would have handled the situation, with a sane amount of insanity that would be necessary in the face of such horror and idiocy. Yossarian has to be the best anti-hero I've come across so far, and the way Heller is able to spin illogical conversations, rules, and situations into logical nonsense and back again is fantastic. I'm rambling now but this is truly laugh out loud great; among too many to name, Clevinger's interrogation and the moaning at the briefing were comic gold, but have no doubt this is a thinking persons book as well. All the Big questions of life are examined in some form; there's plenty of psychology to examine, be it bureaucratic, war, anxiety, etc., and the final scene with Snowden touched me incredibly. I really cannot say enough about this beauty, so trust me and see for yourself. And I think Heller's prose is underrated. There were some sentences there that simply knocked me out. I will definitely read this one again and recommend to friends. This one pulled me in so well that it's one of the rare books that has genuinely made me wish characters were killed off painfully....fucking Milo. (less)

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May 30, 2008

Chad rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Few genres are more enjoyable to read than absurdist satire, and Catch-22 may be the finest example of the genre that I have ever read. It takes only three pages to reach the first seeming contradiction that, after a bit of thought, makes perfect sense: “The Texan turned out to be good-natured, gregarious and likable. In three days no one could stand him.” The entire text is filled with such gems. My favorite is a paragraph from chapter 9, describing Major Major’s father. Regardless of your stan...moreFew genres are more enjoyable to read than absurdist satire, and Catch-22 may be the finest example of the genre that I have ever read. It takes only three pages to reach the first seeming contradiction that, after a bit of thought, makes perfect sense: “The Texan turned out to be good-natured, gregarious and likable. In three days no one could stand him.” The entire text is filled with such gems. My favorite is a paragraph from chapter 9, describing Major Major’s father. Regardless of your stance on farm subsidies, it is impossible to deny the absurdity and hypocrisy exposed by this brief description:

Major Major’s father was a sober God-fearing man whose idea of a good joke was to lie about his age. He was a long-limbed farmer, a God-fearing, freedom-loving, law-abiding rugged individualist who held that federal aid to anyone but farmers was creeping socialism. He advocated thrift and hard work and disapproved of loose women who turned him down. His specialty was alfalfa, and he made a good thing out of not growing any. The government paid him very well for every bushel of alfalfa he did not grow. The more alfalfa he did not grow, the more money the government gave him, and he spent every penny he didn’t earn on new land to increase the amount of alfalfa he did not produce. Major Major’s father worked without rest a not growing alfalfa. On long winter evenings he remained indoors and did not mend harness, and he sprang out of bed at the crack of noon every day just to make sure that the chores would not be done. He invested in land wisely and soon was not growing more alfalfa than any other man in the county. Neighbors sought him out for advice on all subjects, for he had made much money and was therefore wise. “As ye sow, so shall ye reap,” he counseled one and all, and everyone said, “Amen”.

It is interesting that Heller chooses World War II, which of the armed conflicts in which the United States has been involved is clearly the most just and necessary, to demonstrate the senselessness of war for all who are involved. I have never served in the military, but it is not necessary to have done so in order to recognize the people and situations in Catch-22. While the novel centers around an Army Air Force squadron, the insights it provides are as much about bureaucracy and human nature as they are war. Generals and colonels who consider their mission to rise in authority or to gain publicity while caring little for the orthogonal mission of winning the war could as easily be company executives or government officials who rally their subordinates to the task of improving their lives without regard for the objectives of the organization that employs them. There is a part of mercenary merchant Milo Minderbinder in every selfish charlatan, from a back-stabbing friend to Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. The catch 22 itself should be roughly familiar to anyone who has had significant interaction with any large entity.

As I was reading through the novel I suffered a bit of fatigue because, while each chapter is brilliant, they are all brilliant in the same way and for the same reasons. At the time, I was prepared to suggest that large portions of the text be excised. After completing it, however, I find that very little occurs that is not important later. Given the opportunity to edit the book down, I doubt I would be able to remove more than ten percent of the text without significantly degrading the impact of the work as a whole. I have been previously critical of literature in which place and time flow continuously back and forward through sections of the book. This is certainly true of Catch-22, but in this case it is not a significant hardship. This is because very little of the novel is plot-based. Rather, each short chapter illustrates an unusual character or situation, sometimes from a different perspective than previously. Thus, the chronology is not terribly important, and Heller is free to deliberately reveal information in whatever order suits it best.

Biting satire is only effective when it is pointing out something truly horrible. Was is indeed, as Sherman stated, hell, but Catch-22 extends beyond war to all human suffering. The poignant 29th chapter briefly abandons humor to enumerate a litany of inexcusable, and only peripherally war-related, conditions. Yossarian encounters extreme poverty, illness, rape, violence against animals and children, police brutality, theft from the elderly, murder, and finally injustice while wandering through the streets of Rome. I must include another quote here to demonstrate the depravity Heller is trying to convey.

Almost on cue, a nursing mother padded past holding an infant in black rags, and Yossarian wanted to smash her too, because she reminded him of the barefoot boy in the thin shirt and thin, tattered trousers and of all the shivering, stupefying misery in a world that never yet had provided enough heat and food and justice for all but an ingenious and unscrupulous handful. What a lousy earth! He wondered how many people were destitute that same night even in his own prosperous country, how many homes were shanties, how many husbands were drunk and wives socked, and how many children were bullied, abused or abandoned. How many families hungered for food they could not afford to buy? How many hearts were broken? How many suicides would take place that same night, how many people would go insane? How many cockroaches and landlords would triumph? How many winners were losers, successes failures, rich men poor men? How many wise guys were stupid? How many happy endings were unhappy endings? How many honest men were liars, brave men cowards, loyal men traitors, how many sainted men were corrupt, how many people in positions of trust had sold their souls to blackguards for petty cash, how many had never had souls? … The night was filled with horrors, and he thought he knew how Christ must have felt as he walked through the dark world, like a psychiatrist through a ward full of nuts, like a victim through a prison full of thieves.

What a masterful account of the dark night of the soul, befitting the near-end of a masterpiece. Yossarian lives!(less)

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Feb 13, 2008

Krys Lee rated it

Yossarian, a bombardier, is terrified that thousands of people he doesn't know are trying to kill him while he serves on the Italian front. It is also about those that victimize for the sake of power and status and those that are victimized. The book begins en medias res in the hospital with Yossarian and his cohorts, all healthy soldiers feigning sickness in order to avoid more military action. The book follows their hapless missions as they are used by Colonel Peckham in order to improve his c...moreYossarian, a bombardier, is terrified that thousands of people he doesn't know are trying to kill him while he serves on the Italian front. It is also about those that victimize for the sake of power and status and those that are victimized. The book begins en medias res in the hospital with Yossarian and his cohorts, all healthy soldiers feigning sickness in order to avoid more military action. The book follows their hapless missions as they are used by Colonel Peckham in order to improve his chances for appearing on the cover of Life Magazine or becoming a general. On the way, you're treated to Miles Minderbinder's capitalist ventures that make the scalawags in the Civil War south look like saints, Major Major Major Major's disappearing acts, the chaplain's mistaken visions that help him retain his faith, and a healthy dosage of mysogeny (Heller is yet another talented wirter who really doesn't even attempt to understand women).

Technically, there are so many things to admire in this book. The orderly sense of traditional chronology is disrupted to reflect the chaotic and highwire experiences of war. For one, a traditional chronological narrative is substituted by repetitive patterns: each chapter, again, titled by a different character, Yossarian at various stages of his attempts to depart the military, the soldier Snowden's moment and manner of death as Yossarian watched on, the number of missions the soldiers are told to complete before being discharged, and catch-22 itself. The characters are stylized, exaggerated versions of people. The sweetspot between the everyman and the individual, as Charlie D'Ambrosio put it. The pace is manic but also slow when it needs to be. The comic tone never diminishes the anger of the book ("Men went mad and were rewarded with medals", "There was a much lower death rate inside the hospital than outside the hospital"), but rather, as Wilhelm Barnhardt roughly put it, the tone and the material are at odds with each other, which, in my opinion, creates friction, or energy, between the tone and content of Catch-22.

But most of all, it's an important, angry, felt book, that does all of this not by lecturing, but by entertaining in a language that feels invented by Heller. This writing is audacious, daring, not carefully literary and lifeless like so many hailed writers--Heller does not know how to write an uninteresting sentence. Dialogue rarely gets this strange or this good, the political and social issues of modern man rarely gets so depicted so humorously or accurately. It's my second reading of this novel, and it's stunned me as much as it had the first time. (less)

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Mar 17, 2008

jill rated it

Recommends it for: people who like to be bored.

Absurdist plays are one act for a reason.

Seriously, I know there were points to make about the repetitive ridiculousness of bureaucracy/war/capitalism/life, but over 450 pages of variations on the Catch-22 joke?

I did find myself more affected than I would have guessed by some of the deaths, and some of the lines were clearly awesome.

Underlined bits:
In a world in which success was the only virtue, he had resigned himself to failure.(277, about the Ch...more

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Jul 22, 2008

Jennifer rated it

The following is an example of how many conversations in this book took place.

Jen: I didn't like this book.
Nigel: Why didn't you like the book?
Jen: I did like the book.
Nigel: You just said you didn't like the book.
Jen: No I didn't.
Nigel: You're lying.
Jen: I don't believe in lying.
Nigel: So you never lie?
Jen: Oh yes, I lie all the time.
Nigel: You just said you don't believe in it.
Jen: I don't believe in it, Jen said as...moreThe following is an example of how many conversations in this book took place.

Jen: I didn't like this book.
Nigel: Why didn't you like the book?
Jen: I did like the book.
Nigel: You just said you didn't like the book.
Jen: No I didn't.
Nigel: You're lying.
Jen: I don't believe in lying.
Nigel: So you never lie?
Jen: Oh yes, I lie all the time.
Nigel: You just said you don't believe in it.
Jen: I don't believe in it, Jen said as she ate a chocolate covered cotton ball.
Nigel: Well I liked the book.
Jen: Fabulous! I liked it too!
Nigel: What did you like about it?
Jen: Oh, I hated it.

I think Heller was showing how war is chaotic by not writing in a chronological order. You really have no idea in what order events are taking place. I think he was showing how war is ridiculous by writing conversations like the one above. I'm not sure if any of his goals were to annoy the living hell out of his readers, but he annoyed me. 460 pages of absurdness is too much for me. Most of the characters were very one-dimensional. I could only distinguish between people by their names. Most of the good guys all had the same personalities and the bad guys all had the same personalities except one character ate peanut brittle and another put crab apples in his cheeks. Other than that - same personalities. Maybe his goal was only to distinguish between the good, everyday guys and the evil, power-hungry men in charge. If so, he succeeded. I just wasn't thrilled after page 150 or so. There is some funny stuff in there. The chocolate-covered cotton balls will crack me up for life. There's some really sad stuff too. It's weird because every time someone died, I cared, even though I knew nothing about them, except what they ate or who their favorite whore was. I'm not sure how Heller pulled that off. Anyway, I would recommend it. It's just that the ridiculousness of it gets to the point where it's just, well, ridiculous, and beyond my personal tolerance level. I still appreciated it though.(less)

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Aug 13, 2007

Juliet rated it

Recommends it for: high schoolers

Shelves: recently-read

Maybe there's a reason this book is usually required high school reading; it reads like it was written by a 17-year old. Someone who clearly finds himself to be hilarious, and no one ever had the heart to tell him differently.

I never felt for any of the characters, I never laughed, I never cried. In fact, half way through the book I couldn't take it anymore, so I skipped ahead to the last chapter and yet it still made sense. I'm sorry, but if nothing happens in the second half of a b...more

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May 23, 2011

Igor Tsinman rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: the-best

Уловка-22 Джозефа Хеллера это книга о нормальном, здоровом эгоисте по имени Йоссариан. Попав на войну в Европу Йоссариан хочет свалить домой, потому что не понимает что он делает на этой войне. Это не его война.

Выражение Уловка-22 стало нарицательным для парадоксальной ситуации из которой есть два выхода: плохой и очень плохой, т.е. выхода нет ваще. Тупик!

Книгу Уловка-22 я считаю одной из лучших и отнес ее к категории the best and must read.

Когда я читал книг...more

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Jan 05, 2009

Zinta rated it

For so many of us growing up in the USA, our high school teachers assigned us Joseph Heller's "Catch-22" as required reading, and I was among those assignees. I'm not sure why the requirement, other than perhaps some Catch-22 type of logic that everyone else was assigning it, so there, must be great, must read. I don't particularly remember liking the novel then, perhaps with no more substantial of a reason than -- just not my style. Reading the novel now, in midlife, my opinion (or my...moreFor so many of us growing up in the USA, our high school teachers assigned us Joseph Heller's "Catch-22" as required reading, and I was among those assignees. I'm not sure why the requirement, other than perhaps some Catch-22 type of logic that everyone else was assigning it, so there, must be great, must read. I don't particularly remember liking the novel then, perhaps with no more substantial of a reason than -- just not my style. Reading the novel now, in midlife, my opinion (or my literary style) has changed little, but today, I can attempt to add to "not my style" perhaps a few deeper insights.

In this second read, I realize what so fails to appeal to me is Heller's slapstick, absurdist, repetitive and dizzyingly circular style of storytelling. At the same time, I fully realize this is also the appeal of the novel for many: it's absurdity. Indeed, time has tested Heller's topic of war having little logic or reason in the real world, mostly born of individual and governmental insanity, power plays and mere whim, male ego clashing and chest thumping. Few wars seem to have good reason for happening when one considers all the other possibilities of resolution. While leaders sit safely in secure offices on fortressed hilltops, the common soldier takes all the risks, offers up his/her body for battering, endures indescribable torments in battle, and often gives the ultimate sacrifice of life. Shall we debate the virtues of boxing rings for political leaders instead? Yes, war is absurd. And Heller captures this "crazy-making" truth in a crazy-making novel in which characters dance to illogical commands, spin in frustration, and dig themselves in ever deeper as they try harder and harder to dig themselves out. You know... as in war.

So I slogged through the pages like a good soldier. Characters leapt forward and backward in time, one event led to no other event, resolution rarely made a showing, and the dance of insanity kept the main lead. Even as I slogged, I could not deny what an excellent reflection of warring reality Heller's writing proved to be. Kudos for that. Redeeming factor.

And then, somewhere towards the final pages, I was somewhat won over. Without losing his voice of absurdity, the author had Yossarian, key player, say lines so absurd they rang true to the core, e.g. "but we don't want what we want!" and I could only shake my head and echo, oh indeed. We don't. When offered a bounty of temptations to sell out his soul, Yossarian denied them all, and in his crazy way, spoke utter sanity. How common is it to want something desperately much of our lives, only to realize we don't want it at all when fantasy turns into reality? A gold star for the author. Other episodes of Yossarian struggling to keep a fellow soldier alive even as his guts spill out, the sheer horror and despair and helplessness of the situation, hit target. Bravo.

This, and Heller's commentaries on man being little more than meat, fodder for the brutalities of war, resounded with such painful truth that today's reader can only look up at current events and current disasters and realize -- we are living in a world ruled by absurdities even today. History has taught us nothing.

And so, I could be convinced that Heller's novel is a classic. Perhaps it is. (less)

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Apr 21, 2009

Charity rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 1001books, ml100, radcliffe

Catch-22...a book so influential that even it's title has been engraved in our lexicon. I just had to read it!

Welcome to Heller's version of World War II...
Yossarian, a B-25 bombardier flying missions out of a very unusual base in Italy, wants the doctor to ground him for insanity. But the very fact that he doesn't want to fly proves that he's sane. That's Catch-22. Basically, you are between a rock and a hard place...you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't...you...more

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Jan 16, 2008

Kalilah rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: favoratefiction

This was a challenging read. I must have picked it out 7 or 8 times with the intention of getting through it only to put it down in favor of something else 80 or 100 pages in. That said it's actually one of the must satisfying reads I've ever had. Heller's whimsy with regard to the behavior of his characters and his style was initially very frustrating. But as I read on I began to recognize that these unpredictable and irrational elements mirrored the situations the much beloved Yossarian and hi...more

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May 26, 2007

Dhiraj rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: All

Shelves: booksthatmakeyouthink

An extremely profound book which most people dismiss as a humorous book.Catch 22 is an intense black comedy which gives you an insight into what people do when faced with imminent danger/death. All the characters are unique in their own ways and yet you can relate to them in some way or the other. Major Major is a hated guy only because he is a non-conformist, which encompasses being good to people, being polite, honourable and being a devout Christian. The book brings about quite lucidly the ea...more

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Jun 15, 2007

mark monday rated it

Shelves: alpha-team, past-masters

milo you're not the boss of me, you can't tell me what to do! i am going to continue fighting, masturbating, and eventually becoming a statistic!

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Feb 23, 2011

Rick Koelling rated it

Despite my four years as an undergraduate student reading everything in the canon of American Literature for my college classes, I never read this book. I figured that finally, as I'm about to turn 40, I should read this seminal American novel. I'm glad I did. And, as someone who enjoys etymology, I thought it was about time I delved into the source of this oft-used phrase without just reading a Wikipedia entry or synopsis from the appropriate volume of Gale's 20th Century Literary Criticism....moreDespite my four years as an undergraduate student reading everything in the canon of American Literature for my college classes, I never read this book. I figured that finally, as I'm about to turn 40, I should read this seminal American novel. I'm glad I did. And, as someone who enjoys etymology, I thought it was about time I delved into the source of this oft-used phrase without just reading a Wikipedia entry or synopsis from the appropriate volume of Gale's 20th Century Literary Criticism.

It took me quite a long time to truly enjoy reading the book, but once Heller's quirky humor and antiquated writing style grew on me I was able to relax and enjoy things. Yossarian is an amazing and one-of-a-kind character. I see a bit of myself in his manic and maniacal personality. He's dumbfounded by the insanity of his wartime existence, and his intellectual acumen only makes his engagement of life all the more frustrating. I felt for the guy, I sympathized with his plight, despite the passage of 50 years since Yossarian entered the literary world. I now understand why the book remains relevant, but I think there are less people around in the 21st century who can relate to the protagonist's perceptions.

But perhaps more interesting is this book's attempt to depict aspects of World War II in a humorous, or absurd light, in fictionalized form, which isn't something you find written or portrayed anywhere else. Not knowing the history of this book, and not willing to look into it before writing this review, it almost seems heretical for Heller to suggest that anything like what this fictional account portrays actually occured. Did the average American actually laugh while reading this, or was it accepted as just the hallucinated humorous invention of a man who wanted to poke fun at the stodgy whitebread conception of our World War II heritage? I mean, my god, could you imagine what would happen if someone tried to write a similarly themed book about our present wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? First, no name brand publishing house would print it, and secondly, the author would be censured, vilified and probably shot by a right-wing crackpot.

I do take issue with some of the moral peccadilloes and word choices from this mid-20th century work, but I think it's just a reflection of the times it was written. There's suggestions of pedophilia, and the horrible treatment of "comfort" women occurs liberally throughout, but I guess that's just a reflection of the male bravado indicative of the influence of somewhat contemporary novels written by Hemingway and the drunken boyish immaturity of Fitzgerald. If we can take the "N" word out of a Twain novel to conform to contemporary standards should we edit the blatant misogyny from other books to make them more palatable, too? Actually, I blanched more at some of Heller's strange etymological creations and use of adverbs such as; disgruntledly, obstreperously and sententiously; and some of these bewildering adjectives: boulderous and vulturous. The Goodreads spellchecker doesn't even recognize two of these words! Oh well, it's not like I was reading Shakespeare, Captain John Smith or Increase Mather.

I actually feel sorry for all of the college and/or high school students who are forced to slog through this antiquated bestseller. Sure, it has some amazing insights into humanity, but the delivery and feel are too old fashioned to enjoy and accept in an American society that is so vastly changed from when this book was written. I believe the humor is too obscure and too esoteric for contemporary readers to grasp, unless they are discussing this book in the musty confines of an ivory tower literature elective. That said, let me include one of my favorite hilarious exchanges from the novel:

[A] fat, gruff colonel with a mustache and an enormous pink face that pressed down very close to Yossarian and radiated scorching heat like the bottom of a huge frying pan [said,] "Where were you born?"

"On a battlefield," [Yossarian] answered.

"No, no. In what state were you born?"

"In a state of innocence."

Perhaps this is the crux of the novel? We are all born in a state of innocence, and as we experience life, and some of us are subjected to some of the extremes of life, such as war, our perception of life turns incredulous or bitter. This ends up being the ultimate Catch-22. No matter how insane and illogical life gets, and no matter how angry and upset we may become, you just have to laugh at the absurdity of it all. When you can accept that things are crazy, you're no longer crazy anymore. That, my friends, is Catch-22. (less)

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Oct 19, 2011

chucklesthescot rated it

Recommends it for: nobody on this planet even if I hate their guts

Shelves: historical, fiction, war, worst-ever-books

Worst book I've ever had the misfortune to pick up. My dad warned me that this book was lower on the evolution scale than a wet turd, but I thought I'd try it anyway. I hated this with every fibre in my body and with any luck the book will just crawl away and die.

The characters were obnoxious, moronic gits who I hoped would all die at the hands of Jason Vorhees very soon and there was no way I'd ever connect with that idiot who was meant to be our beloved hero. The dialogue was inco...more

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Jul 19, 2009

Eric_W rated it

I read this years ago, and a paragraph in The Cat from Hue: A Vietnam War Story that I'm currently reading reminded me of it. Lawrence is on leave in Hong Kong from covering the Vietnam War and he revels in the clean sheets, three meals a day, showers, and no shelling. He has nothing in his room but a copy of Catch-22. Lawrence muses on the remarkable book as it pertains to courage. It's the end of the war, the outcome has been determined. Yossarian still must fly missions and his chances of ...more

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Sep 08, 2008

Kelly rated it

Shelves: fiction, 20th-century-postwar-to-late, great-and-terrible-men

My relationship with this book was somewhat quixotic. The first few chapters made me smile- in a bitter, ironic, wise-at-life sort of way of course. I loved the cleverness and deceptive punch-you-in-the-side way that Heller made his points, wrapped up in the whirling, hilariously awful world that he's created in depicting a tired, worn out unit towards the end of WWII in Italy. The choice of the main character in the bombardier Yossarian, a man who saw one too many horrors, is perfect. His quest...moreMy relationship with this book was somewhat quixotic. The first few chapters made me smile- in a bitter, ironic, wise-at-life sort of way of course. I loved the cleverness and deceptive punch-you-in-the-side way that Heller made his points, wrapped up in the whirling, hilariously awful world that he's created in depicting a tired, worn out unit towards the end of WWII in Italy. The choice of the main character in the bombardier Yossarian, a man who saw one too many horrors, is perfect. His questioning, questionable state of mind is perfect to depict all the contradictions, paradoxes, hidden, buried ideas that nobody wants to talk about during a war, and the sheer absurdism of the life soldiers lived, even in our "good war" of the 20th century. One understands Heller's rage at the blind torpor of a society that prefers to be lead and blame someone else for what happens. This particular unit is under special strain, as their commander orders them to fly more combat missions than any other unit, and then continually raises the number each time his men see a glimpse of their time to go home. The endless, senseless, everyday cruelty inflicted both on their surroundings and on each other slowly grinds the unit's minds and bodies into dust.

I almost wonder if when this was published, Heller was afraid that his audience would be inclined to put this book down as quickly as possible. It was one of my issues with the book that he seemed to throw out all his major questions, issues, wild emotions and ultimate points within the first few chapters, so that for awhile afterwards, it did all seem very monotonously repetitive, as we saw more and more ways of saying exactly the same thing in pretty near exactly the same formula. Perhaps absurdism is merely more effective in short form, as there was a period of the book where I was rolling my eyes and seeing shades of Catcher in the Rye's blind "Fuck the man!" screaming enough to only grudgingly read on. I understand that it may have been part of his point to illustrate that the absurdism of war does go on and on and on, but it did become something of a chore to read in the middle. Deceptively light comedy can't go on like that without at least hints at some deeper pathos that we don't have to assume is there. Also, the attitude that Heller is espousing, and the earnest questions he asks do feel somewhat dated. Not their message, of course. That is universal. Questioning authority, the value of life, the cost of war, the meaning of country and honor and duty, etc. But there is a phrasing that places it firmly in its time, which does seperate you from it a bit. I also found it all somewhat bleak and cold in tone, and not in a way that I wanted to spend time with at all. This middle section would be the reason that it took me so long to finish this book.

However. After I passed the halfway mark, my opinion improved once more. The character drawing, while still absurd enough to bring a wry smile to my face, was poignant enough that I started to get more involved. I needed to see layers. I needed to see the inner roiling turmoil, I needed to see the thoughts of these desperate men as they went about their tragically ridiculous lives, and see what it was that made them survive, or finally give up. It also helped that we saw more to Yossarian to make him a fully fledged person, rather than merely a conduit for the major points of the book. Perhaps I'm not saying this correctly, but while I can react critically to a character who is presented as a symbol, I can't be truly drawn to reading more about them unless I'm presented with more to see. In any case, I thought the last half intermittently, and particularly the last hundred and fifty pages or so were absolutely heartbreaking. In the end, Heller does make you both grieve and rejoice, and the story fulfills the promise of what I had hoped that it would be after its manically brilliant introduction.

All in all, it is a novel absolutely worth its "classic," name. It is worth reading to remind you of the many different perspectives that are available on an issue, to think critically about even concepts that you've never had to question before. Nothing is given. It is always worthwhile to be reminded of that.

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Sep 17, 2007

Seth rated it

Shelves: other-fiction

1 star. Couldn't finish it.

Clearly I'm in the minority here, so the problem may well lie with me. I grew up watching MASH; I saw Stripes and Sgt Benjamin in the theatres. National Lampoon and John Hughes gave me my childhood heroes.

Yossarian just comes across as a stuck-up whiner and I couldn't find anything funny in the first hundred pages. All the humor has been done later, better, and clearly-derivitively by other humorists. Robert Anton Wilson, Robert Altman, Alan Al...more

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Jan 07, 2011

Rusty rated it

Shelves: classic, pissed-me-off, recommendations, books-that-suck, read-in-2011

I would like to begin by saying that I have nothing against senile drunks with ADHD (I assume Heller was all of these things, because otherwise I don't know how he could write this thing). I would simply rather not read their books. I mean what the hell is this? He jumps back and forth in time without warning or provocation. He talks in circles and recycles jokes and ineffective devices. He communicates in 450 pages what others communicate on a bumper sticker. "War is bad and only cra...more

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Jun 19, 2008

Alan rated it

This might be one of the more original American Novels ever written were it not utterly derivative of one of the more original French novels ever written: Journey to the End of the Night (Celine).

Still it is really funny. But most American young people have the same experience of this Novel as they have of Coldplay. They experience it when they are teenagers and don't come across the thing that engendered it (Jeff Buckley) until later. The former is affecting and competent, the later...more

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Feb 06, 2010

Tyler Jones rated it

Shelves: books-that-changed-my-life

A word of warning - the following has more to do with my life than it has to do with the novel Catch-22. If you don't give a fig about me then just skip this.

As I mentioned in my note about War with the Newts, 1985 was the worst year of my life. I was a deeply depressed eighteen year old. My parents tried their best to help me. For my mom this meant finding me the best counselling possible, and for my dad this meant showing me that the world itself was crazy and I was quite right to...more

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Mar 26, 2008

Michael Larrabee rated it

After re-reading this book I really understood why it had struck me as being so amazing the first time. The mixture laugh out loud, silly slapstick humor and gut-wrenching tragedy gives the novel a unique place in literature.

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Feb 26, 2009

Adrienne rated it

I can’t say how much I hate this book. I definitely acknowledge its cultural and literary significance, which is why it gets two stars instead of one. I appreciate that Heller is a bit of a genius for the way his mind works and the style of his writing. It’s quite unique and even impressive. I value the themes in this book. I, too, think war is insane. I appreciate the realism of this book and especially that juxtaposed with the comedy. BUT reading this book feels like reading a very repe...more

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Wesley I love Catch-22. It's definitely a war book, and that much I love about it, but more so it's a hyperbolic look at the transcendent evil that looms whe...moreI love Catch-22. It's definitely a war book, and that much I love about it, but more so it's a hyperbolic look at the transcendent evil that looms when men lose themselves to the mechanics of the world. Whether it's capitalism, the military, government, agriculture, or basic human survival, Catch-22 gives horrifying glimpses of the dark side of our nation's ideals and what happens when ambition is abused.
Do I think the tenets of Americanism are as messed up as Heller and his story's protagonist, Yossarian, see them as? Hell no. Just like anything good and true, they can be manipulated and perverted into something evil - and it's this deviance that Heller writes about.
And I think that's where the comedy comes in. I think this book is usually knee-slappingly hilarious. But it's not comedy for comedies sake (which is something incredible and worth while in and of itself - the psychology of comedy and all that) - it's a derivative of the ridiculousness and extreme parody of the characters' characterization of certain ideologies gone mad. Without giving away the ending, all of the hilarious anecdotes and extreme world views that Yossarian encounters leave him with no other choice than the one makes at the end. He sees the moral degradation walking the streets of Rome (a return to the city's original demise) and his a switch is flipped. The transcendent evil or the world, represented there by what he sees in Rome, becomes too much and he gives in to cowardice.
I have felt the same kinds of feelings many times when I read about unimaginable acts of cruelty, perversion, blood-thirst, and moral dereliction. I think to myself, "Why even keep trying to hold up any kind of standard - moral, religious, political, athletic (Go Jazz!) - when it's continually bombarded and torn down at every turn? Why not just retreat within myself or within my family?" Although I disagree with Yossarian's final decision (but don't necessarily blame him for it), I can understand why and how someone could be brought to their knees at such a crossroad. My only complaint with the book is that Yossarian is too much of a coward and too defeatist. But I still love it.

(Sorry for the lengthy review - when I found out Amber and you all were reading it for your book club I was really excited. But when I found out no one liked it, I wished I could have been there to defend it. It doesn't make my top 20 list or anything, but I think it's still great.)(less)
Feb 27, 2009 08:29am

Lucky Teapot I'm a woman and Catch-22 is my favourite book. I never thought of it as "gender specific" and I can't see why anyone would. No female charac...more
Feb 13, 2010 07:15pm

Apr 18, 2011

Amanda rated it

Recommends it for: patient lovers of irony and sarcasm

Shelves: reviewed

I tried SO HARD to like this book. This was actually my third attempt to read it and while I did finish it this time, it was still a struggle. I've had many people with different taste in books rave about Catch-22 so I feel crazy for not liking it, but I'm sorry to say that I just found it very boring and difficult to keep reading.

The narration is clever, the message is strong, and the characters definitely have their moments, but for me the parts that made me laugh were few and far be...more

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Dec 13, 2008

Kye Alfred Hillig rated it

Shelves: favorites

Hands down my favorite book of all time. The humor of this novel is write up my alley. I would go as far as admitting that I have used the book as a test and those who don't like it don't get me and those who do, do. I love how things snowball in this book and something that seems small at first by the end of the book is a huge avalanche of laughter. This book boasts one of the largest casts of any book I have ever read but I kept track of all of them when reminded and loved them all dearly. The...more

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About Joseph Heller

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
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Joseph Heller was the son of poor Jewish parents from Russia. Even as a child, he loved to write; at the age of eleven, he wrote a story about the Russian invasion of Finland. He sent it to New York Daily News, which rejected it.After graduating from Abraham Lincoln High ...more

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Quotes from Catch-22

“He was going to live forever, or die in the attempt.” — 245 people liked it

“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 was 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.

"That's some catch, that Catch-22," he observed.

"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed.” — 176 people liked it

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