Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Pianosa, Italy

First off, I guess I should congratulate Mr. Heller on writing a book that is unlike any I have ever read before. And the book has obviously made a cultural impact. It was written in the 60's and, here we are, 80 years later, and people are still reading it. I think Hulu put out a Catch-22 series this year as well. However, I don't understand how anybody could ever enjoy a book that was intentionally written to make no sense (and it certainly succeeded in that goal). I was reading Catch-22 in public, and somebody commented: "Ugh. Catch-22. That's one of those books that you're happy that you've read it, but you hate reading it." I think that's as good of a critique as any for this book.

The novel follows Captain John Yossarian and his fellow soldiers during WWII. Yossarian's squadron are continuously being made to do more missions after completing the previously required number of missions. We meet a host of zany characters and are introduced to the bureaucratic, nonsensical higher ups in Heller's satirical army. There are moments that make you laugh and moments that make you cry, but mostly you want to tear your hair out because nothing makes any sense (and yes, I understand that was the point).

This book could have made just as much of an impact if it was a 60 page short story, and I would have loved it. The first 2/3 of the book happens out of chronological order as to confuse the reader to mimic the sense of confusion and monotony that the characters are experiencing. That's a creative concept, but I don't want to read over 100 pages of filler as a punishment.

The last third of the book was much better because Heller drops the tangential, out of order nonsense that characterizes most of the book. The deaths towards the end are impactful.

Other than that, there's not much to say about the book because there's so little plot and so much filler. I can see why it's considered a classic, and I'm happy that I read it. But I certainly did not enjoy the ride. And I will not be reading Closing Time unless someone pays me to do it.

Review by the Numbers

Overall: 2/5

Writing: 2/5

Plot: 1/5

Character Development: 2/5

Message: 3/5

Challenges Satisfied

Italy (Reading My Way Around the World Challenge)

Book About Other Groups (Soldiers, WWII): (Diversity Challenge)

Book Published in the 1960s (Decades Challenge)