addictedtoanntations's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
absolutely adored this book. It takes risks, is raw, dark, satirical, funny, with the wittiest dialogue I’ve ever read. It doesn’t shy away from showing grit, and morally questionable sides of war, from violence, to how institutions are run, to prostitution. To this day it draws parallels to flaws in today’s society which was refreshing, eye-opening, and terrifying all into one. Phenomenal.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Cursing, Racial slurs, War, and Sexual content
Minor: Terminal illness and Sexual assault
whoischels's review
dark
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Probably the most chaotic book I've ever read. I can't say I've read a book that ignores sequential time so thoroughly. Heller jumps between events gracefully. You'll often find that the narrator begins to recount something that happened quite far in the future or past of the camp on Pianosa, but you don't quite develop an understanding of how distant future and past are until you've reached the end and various The manipulation of time is breathtaking and exciting once you look back and think about what you've read. I'm surprised I haven't heard this book being discussed in the context of other time bending books, like To the Lighthouse, perhaps I just haven't been listening closely enough about why people read this book.
As the classic comedy of war book, it's a very comedic read. The comedic style throughout the whole thing undergoes its own character development in a way that is quite satisfying. It works to keep the horror of the experience of war at arm's length for the majority of the book and then slowly brings it closer for the end. Heller captures the comedic dichotomy between the very visceral body horror that people experience at war and the slow machine of bureaucracy.
My only complaints are that it's a behemoth to read. Heller can be describing an event that is comedic in its conception, but do so in a way that obstructs feeling, particularly in the first 2/3. I understand this to be intentional, but was still a bit frustrated with the masculine boringness of the prose. It's an odd experience to read something that has these features but still manages to be so dynamic and flexible in its plot structure.
Spoiler
characters have died off and been replaced by new, untrauma-ed characters.As the classic comedy of war book, it's a very comedic read. The comedic style throughout the whole thing undergoes its own character development in a way that is quite satisfying. It works to keep the horror of the experience of war at arm's length for the majority of the book and then slowly brings it closer for the end. Heller captures the comedic dichotomy between the very visceral body horror that people experience at war and the slow machine of bureaucracy.
My only complaints are that it's a behemoth to read. Heller can be describing an event that is comedic in its conception, but do so in a way that obstructs feeling, particularly in the first 2/3. I understand this to be intentional, but was still a bit frustrated with the masculine boringness of the prose. It's an odd experience to read something that has these features but still manages to be so dynamic and flexible in its plot structure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Death, War, Medical trauma, Injury/injury detail, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Sexual assault and Misogyny
nnannanna's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I get the point of the book. I finally liked what I was reading at chapter 39. The book is a satiricak telling of men fighting in a fictional war in a fictional island. It goes to detail on how ridiculous the war and the people in the war is and shows us a good deal of sides and views on the matters. However this makes the book extremely repetitive and slow paced. Same stories are told again and again, through so many characters I stopped being able to keep track of them. I didn't need 38 chapters to finally like one.
The way Joseph Heller writes isn't to my liking in the slightest. The explanations of events are verbose, jumping from place to place and character to character. You start a chapter from a plane in the middle of a war and end it in a fully unrelated story that happened 10 years prior. Finally I gave up on trying to understand everything and just plowed through to reach the end.
Lastly the role of women in the book was just... Not? Every single female character is somehow connected to sex. Either they're a sex worker, a nurse that gets sexually assaulted or somehow sex is written into their description. Maybe there is a point to this and it belongs to the satire but I did not catch that.
The way Joseph Heller writes isn't to my liking in the slightest. The explanations of events are verbose, jumping from place to place and character to character. You start a chapter from a plane in the middle of a war and end it in a fully unrelated story that happened 10 years prior. Finally I gave up on trying to understand everything and just plowed through to reach the end.
Lastly the role of women in the book was just... Not? Every single female character is somehow connected to sex. Either they're a sex worker, a nurse that gets sexually assaulted or somehow sex is written into their description. Maybe there is a point to this and it belongs to the satire but I did not catch that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexism, War, and Injury/injury detail
bellaklimperauge's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death, War, Murder, and Sexism
Spoiler
rape and sexual assault as well as Prostitution as means of survival are mentioned several Times, women are Seen by many characters as sexual objectsseanml's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
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? Yes
3.25
Reading anything called a ‘classic’ is a gamble; you don’t have to go too far back for them to be super problematic. In this instance, Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 ended up being a mixed bag. It’s a comedy novel that takes place during World War II, and was written in the 1960s. It is very much a product of its time. The book is “clever,” but clever in the way that a high school freshman would ask you “Is water wet?” and then once you answer they’re prepared to argue the complete opposite point in order to confuse you. In Catch-22 the military is basically run by the Marx Brothers: misunderstandings are frequent, and nothing is safe from being a gag to the point of death. Each chapter is in a way a skit focusing on a soldier or a commander, one of the handful that the book revolves around. They range from entertaining to infuriating. Luckily our protagonist is a soldier named Yossarian who happens to be the only sensical character throughout the entire thing. So as I went crazy from the never-ending chapters, Yossarian was right there with me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t relate to him in the chapter when he sexually assaults a nurse out of the blue. Yeah, this is the 1960s and every female character has at least one line about the shape of their breasts. This does not in any way pass the Bechdel test. In any case, the book does a good job at portraying the mania-fueled spiral of someone told to die for the good of their country again and again and again. Did I misunderstand most of it? Maybe. Should I read it again? Maybe, it depends on if it was good. Was it good? I’d have to read it again. Catch-22. 6.5/10.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Injury/injury detail, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Gaslighting, Grief, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Murder, Racism, Vomit, War, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, and Torture
Minor: Cannibalism
cgreg's review
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and War
Moderate: Misogyny and Sexual assault
bekahhinson's review
3.0
Oh my god this book would be like 4.5 stars if it wasn’t so fucking disgusting towards women. Why the hell was it necessary to include SO MANY scenes of the men groping women in public sexually assaulting/raping them? Not to mention there’s no justice, no return to that narrative to assert that those types of actions are wrong, and all of them do it so it’s not like you can claim an unreliable narrator situation. Additionally I don’t care if it’s not the authors true opinion on the matter because it happened so much that is felt like he was writing it because he doesn’t think it’s wrong. Fuck you joseph heller. Next time you write a good book simply exclude women if you can’t resist writing in an SA scene.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Misogyny
Moderate: Rape and Gaslighting
beiiadonna's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Violence, War, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Racism
baba4yaga's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
People will often talk about the dark humor, the political commentary. What has confused me is that so rarely do people talk of the sheer beauty of the writing. The intricate structure, the prose itself, one of the most lovely I’ve ever seen. I’ve forgiven much worse books for much less.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Sexual assault
lauramcc7's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
sad
slow-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
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Rape, Murder, Medical content, Gun violence, Grief, Death, Cursing, Blood, War, Violence, and Sexual content