Reviews

I don't like pain. It hurts me. I'm not a glutton for punishment, nor do I like to torture myself. This is the reason I have no problem stopping a film before the final credits, giving up on a bad book, and avoiding toilet paper that has the characteristics of John Wayne. All jokes aside, I have the need to write about a recent novel I had to give up on, and the reasons for my decision. A film would take a certain a situation for me to write a review. Watching a film is easy, a passive activity. Reading is hard, it requires active participation from the audience. This review is part public service to help others save their time and effort for something more enjoyable, and part anger management therapy to get past my disappointment in and loathing for Joseph Heller's "classic of American literature," Catch-22...

To read the rest of this review go to https://drewmartinwrites.wordpress.com/2016/01/29/catch-22-1961-book-review/

topazriver's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny sad

3.0

joshuabushen's review against another edition

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4.0

4.4

arae0311's review against another edition

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4.0

There's a bit of a learning curve to understanding what's going on (with a large cast of characters and a non-linear narrative, both in terms of chronology and viewpoint) but once you get past that, it's easy to get immersed in the depressing yet comedic and absurd world of Catch 22. The anger I feel at bureaucracy was reignited when I was reading this book.

But as with all classics, if you're going to talk about the human condition, it would help if the author treated women as autonomous humans :)

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