Genre Group Read (Jan 2014) - Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

[Holly, That Geeky One]

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller won January's Genre Group Read, the genre being Historical.

Can't wait to read this along with my other picks for this months genre!

[catherine]

I've reserved this book at the library; hope I get it this month!

[Jamie]

Oh, no! This has been on my "to read" list since last year. Now I am definitely going to have to commit to it--the stars are aligned--no more procrastination on this one. :-)

[Holly, That Geeky One]

Jamie, I'm feeling the exact same way. I've tried and failed when it has come to Catch-22, and I'd better give it another go!

[LuAnn]

Never done a 'group read' before but I'm in! :O)

[Moira]

Count me in on this one too please.

[Melissa]

I will pick this book up tomorrow and join you all.

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

Sorry for the lack of structure thus far with the read-along, guys! Feel free to just talk amongst yourselves until we can sort out some kind of schedule.

The only thing I ask is that when mentioning specifics about the plot or character developments, you make it clear at the beginning of your post what chapter you'll be talking about and put any spoilers under a spoiler cut, out of respect for those who might be reading a little slower or who have fallen behind. A spoiler cut is made by typing in < spoiler > (without the spaces), then typing your comments, then adding < /spoiler > (without the spaces) at the end. Thanks, guys!

[Liz]

this book was an oddity. never really warmed to it or the characters but it is considered a must read so i did. glad i did but wouldn't read it again.

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

Liz wrote: "this book was an oddity. never really warmed to it or the characters but it is considered a must read so i did. glad i did but wouldn't read it again."

I have to admit, Liz, I shared your opinion when I read it a while back, haha! I read it because... that's what you do. But I didn't enjoy it.

[Holly, That Geeky One]

Has anyone started this yet?

[Inkeri]

I started it yesterday, but didn't get very far yet.

[Rob]

I am half way through it, and hope to finish it tonight

[Blue]

I'm 160 pages in and struggling with it. Normally if I disliked a book this much I would drop it but I really want to finish it just so I can claim to have read it/don't feel compelled to go back later and try again.

[Lucy]

I'm only 14% through but I am loving this book!

[Luffy Sempai]

Chloe wrote: "I really want to finish it just so I can claim to have read it/don't feel compelled to go back later and try again. "


I feel the same way, albeit only recently. I know it's a stupid stance on some level but I can't help it. It's goodreads' influence. I need to know I read the book. Without this site, I wouldn't care.

[Holly, That Geeky One]

I'm completely the same, Luffy. Considering it's such a major piece of fiction, I feel like I need to read it!

[Carol]

I'm interested in seeing what younger people think of this book. Some of you really love it or you are struggling to get through it. I read it early in my librarian career and I liked it. I still use the phrase Catch 22. The main character reminds me of Klinger from Mash. Klinger had problems with Catch 22 too.

[Inkeri]

Carol wrote: "I'm interested in seeing what younger people think of this book."

Just out of interest, what age group would you consider 'younger people'? :)

I'm 31 years old. Would I be one of these younger people? I'm only interested about this, because I work with young people in their 20s and I feel so old sometimes when I'm around them, but I still think I'm pretty young and cool even though I might not be.

[Melissa]

I'm starting tonight. It might take a week.

[Aitziber]

I read this book in 2012. It's amazing, but it takes some getting used to. I would say to people, push through it, because it ends up paying off in a major way.

Good luck!

[Carol]

Inkeri wrote: "Carol wrote: "I'm interested in seeing what younger people think of this book."

Just out of interest, what age group would you consider 'younger people'? :)

I'm 31 years old. Would I be one of t..."

I was thinking about people in their twenties and thirties.

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

Carol wrote: "The main character reminds me of Klinger from Mash. Klinger had problems with Catch 22 too."

I seem to recall hearing/reading somewhere that the character of Klinger was directly inspired by this book. Has anyone else heard that? Did I imagine it? There certainly were a lot of similarities.

I'm in my 30's and I hated this book, I'm afraid. I read it last year. I believe my opinion was "A good idea done horribly wrong." It's very much a love-it-or-hate-it kind of book.

[Rob]

I wonder if Heller was trying to suggest that War itself is an unsolvable problem along the lines of:

The more you fight, the more they try to kill you and,
The more they try to kill you, the more you fight.

[Luffy Sempai]

Faye wrote: "I'm in my 30's and I hated this book, I'm afraid. I read it last year. I believe my opinion was "A good idea done horribly wrong." It's very much a love-it-or-hate-it kind of book."

Bless you. I haven't read the book but I know what I don't like, and I don't like this one. Every feedback I get from users everywhere deter me from reading it.

[Holly, That Geeky One]

Started this yesterday and it's really surprised me so. After pushing through the odd humour as the lack of chronology, it's a rather amusing book, and some of the writing is excellent.

I was unsure in the first few chapters, but I knew if I didn't read it this time, I'd probably never pick it up again. Only abut 150 pages in, but I thought I would hate it. Instead, I'm rather amused and excruciatingly curious about the whole book.

[Aitziber]

Holly, I'm so glad! I'm a lit student, so I know what it's like to have supposedly great books pushed onto me and not to care about them. I feel Catch 22 can be very exhausting at first, but it deserves every bit of praise heaped onto it. :) Hope you enjoy it to the end!

[Holly, That Geeky One]

I'm currently studying English Lit too, and hoping to start a degree in it in September. Luckily, many of the 'big books' pushed onto us are ones I really want to read, so it suits me perfectly.

I'm just over half way through, and it's great to find another person who feels the same way about it!

[Aitziber]

Oh, if that's the case I will add you to my GR friends, as I'm sure you'll be reading books I've either read or want to read.

Yes, it's too bad the book's not so popular here! It's such a quotable book, with the quotes both being funny and meaningful in a second read. It is rather unique among WWII lit too. It goes to show that even in wars where the enemy was a clear villain, there were such areas where the conflict was dominated by bureaucracy, pointlessness, and trying to turn a profit.

[Dora]

and I'm aso hoping to study English literature from next year on, but I already teach myself.

[Holly, That Geeky One]

Just finished this, and really enjoyed it. I was expecting to really hate it, and it pleasantly surprised me!

I'll post some more concise thoughts tomorrow considering its now 11pm...

[Inkeri]

I just finished this book and I'm happy I never have to read it again. It was not my cup of tea, although I did find it somewhat amusing at times. At the end of the day it was just too absurd and messy. I'm not a big fan of war-themed books in the first place, but I really expected to like this one, and it makes me a bit sad that I didn't.

[Bouchra]

Just finished this book a few hours ago - you cannot imagine the level of happiness I was at when I finally reached the end. I hated the book for a number of reasons, but I kept wanting to know what Yossarian was going to do, up until the end. I still want to know what happened to him after, and I'm debating reading the sequel, but I'm not entirely sure about it.

I also wrote a review, if anyone is interested in more of my opinion.

Faye wrote: "I believe my opinion was "A good idea done horribly wrong.""

I second this opinion wholeheartedly. If only some things were fixed with the book, it would've been a really good one.

[John]

How odd. I loved it when it came out so long ago, and have listened to the audio book twice since, the last time a few months ago. I thought the structure exactly fitted the chaotic nature of the war. And what a terribly sad and appropriate ending. So many great characters.

[Melissa]

I'm with Bouchra - This book is finally finished, and yes it dragged for me also. If it wasn't for the challenge I would not have finished it.

[Lucy]

I seem to be the odd one out on all of these threads! I passionately loved everything about this book, so much so I can't even properly review it. I think it just exemplified my personal taste in literature.

[Holly, That Geeky One]

Lucy, I completely agree. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed this book. I thought I'd be with the majority of the people on this thread, but once I got into it I wholeheartedly enjoyed the madness of it. And usually weird narration puts a massive red cross on a book for me, the narrative really worked.