Reviews tagging 'Death'

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

54 reviews

mvegag's review against another edition

dark funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

brom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I feel like this is one of this books that either you love or you hate. 

The writing style is witty and humorous,  the narrative a bit difficult to follow at times because it isn’t told chronologically and occasionally digresses, but it’s absolutely worth it.  

And not to drag on Richard Hooker again, but he wishes he could write like Joseph Heller.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexism, and War

Minor: Rape and Suicide

dee_dee_dee's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

niacinamides's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I couldn’t figure out a way to possibly rate this in stars. I loved this book, but I don’t know if I particularly liked it. I’m very glad I read it, but I don’t know if I could read it again. It’s an unbelievably well crafted book but I couldn’t fully see that until I was nearly 3/4 of the way through. I’ll think about the last quarter or so of this book for a long, long time. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, and War

corvuscorax's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective slow-paced

3.75

A fost o carte destul de greoaie, poate pentru că nu eram neapărat în starea potrivită ca să o citesc sau pentru că nu am trăit experiențe care să mă aducă mai aproape de subiect. Pe alături mi s-a părut o imitație ieftină a lui Kafka, dar alteori stilul lui Heller, înțesat de enumerări adjectivale ca un robinet din care curg ritmic picături, m-a vrăjit și mi s-a părut incredibil de dinamic. În a doua jumătate a cărții au fost cam 100 de pagini care mi s-au părut aproape intolerabile, dar finalul a fost excelent. Pare că o construcție pe alocuri îndoielnică se leagă în cele din urmă ca să ne dea un final care rezumă perfect cartea: sardonic, absurd, deplorabil. 

Parcă aș fi vrut ceva mai multă perseverență de la Heller și pe parcursul cărții - a fost genul de roman pentru care e nevoie de multă, multă răbdare, care este însă, în cele din urmă, răsplătită. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and War

Moderate: Rape

ronanmcd's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Ok, first off, this book is hugely problematic in its depictions of women. They are there for relief and using. They aren't allowed feelings of expression.
Aarfy's coerced rape back home, then rape/murder in Rome, and Yossarian's sexual assaults on Nurse Duckett maybe date the book, or were maybe always shocking. These are not comic actions by sympathetic heroes, as they seem to be presented, with the exception of the violence in Rome which is intended to shock.
Apart from that, and it took some doing to read the book with those concerns aside, the book is spot on with its lampooning of war and business. Ostensibly about the military complex in WW2, it hits much harder when read in the post WW2 era of globalised commerce, undeclared wars and covert operations, and the relentless and unquestioning pursuit of prosperity. Anything is ok, as long as you are in the clique and making profit.
Milo Minderbender is the perfect character. Anything is allowed, even treasonous acts, as he pursues personal gain, painting his profit as beneficial for all. It doesn't take a genius to see this in our world of billionaires, voters fooled in voting against their best interests, and politicians aided to the top by foreign enemies. The creation of his character may seem prescient, but it's more likely these things were always there, but just not as exaggerated as now.
Likewise the military police disappearing people, questioning them on unknown charges, finding the evidence tells the opposite of the truth, and ruling they are right anyway because they say they are. In a world that has seen Guantanamo, this no longer feels like satire.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual violence, Violence, and War

littlefish's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

It took me about 100 pages of being confused before I got properly into this but very much worth it in the end. Great study on pointless bureaucracy and power-seeking rich guys, it really made me angry at points!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, and War

Moderate: Sexual violence

obczytane's review against another edition

funny inspiring lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Blood, Murder, and War

lynxalot26's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, and War

Moderate: Rape

imaginefishes's review against another edition

dark emotional funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Was difficult to read at times because of the repetitions between chapters and non-consecutive storylines, but it had its funny and ironic moments which make you consider if the structures which hold us down (even in civil society) exist at all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Stalking, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, and Gaslighting