Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Catch-22

Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

bibliorama's review

challenging dark sad slow-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

3.0

This might change. The beast is done though.
Enjoyment - 2.5
Start - 2
Characters - 3
Atmosphere - 2.5
Plot - 3
Ending - 4
Style - 3.5

Overall - 3

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mahamsiddiqui's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

When the book first came out in 1961, the notion that war is bad might have been something new to the reader and awakening too. But, in this day and age, when there are so many opinions and lived examples available, we all know and can say with assurance that war is bad, except for fascists and dictators. So, as for the concept of 'Catch-22', it's not novel anymore.

I felt like the novel dragged in places, it also felt like I'm reading someone's diary instead of a novel, sometimes felt like a college student looked up the synonyms in a thesaurus and put every word that they could find in the book.

The book certainly is witty and funny. The characters are well written. Their humanness and fallibility and their complexities make you think or forces you to think, human beings are not black and white. War is evil. Human beings are mere pawns in it, and at the mercy of the fascists, who invoke wars to stroke their tiny egos. Through Yosarrian you see how a person in trying to do the right thing is always caught in exasperating circumstances. The skepticism of Yosarrian is something that I guess all of us go through after a certain point in life. It's relatable and quite understanding.

Moving on, I absolutely did not like and was quite frankly disgusted by the rape and sexual assault scenes. They were described jn graphic details, and I believe for which there was no need. The treatment of women as mere sex toys was very disturbing. And we know that, that's how men treat women especially those who go to war. Women and children and elderly suffer the most. Women and children are raped, brutally assaulted and all because the men who go to war think that it is their right for defending their country to gain sexual pleasures by hook or crook. I just wish that the sexual scenes were described to a minimum.

All in all, book is good, okay. 3.5 stars, .5 extra for Yosarrian. I loved him till the end. You cannot predict that the characters will have this human aspect to them when you first start the book but as you go by and the book explore similar scenes from different POVs you understand them and mildly condemn yourself for judging them too hastily.

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bellaklimperauge's review against another edition

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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

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c3liaiswhoiam's review against another edition

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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

1.5

This was shit. It doesn't hit my good spot at all. I'm a very character-driven person, you know? If the plot is bad, I can sometimes get by if the characters are still good, but these characters are so many, and they're all unlikeable, they're all the same, they do the same shit, and they know the same people. I can't read books like this! That's not interesting to me! It's so clearly satire, but it's not funny to me. It's just depressing and frustrating to read. I need hope! This doesn't give it. I need enjoyable characters (not necessarily likeable ones) but this doesn't give it. And finally, it's just such a fucking drag. There was absolutely no reason for this book to be longer than 300 pages. None. Silch. Nu-uh. It's too long, and it's hard to keep tabs on which character you're with, and it's entirely character-driven but without character development (because it's satire...), and I really wish I hadn't needed to waste my precious time reading a book that wasn't suited to my tastes whatsoever, when I'm busy enough as it is right now. Because all this book did was frustrate me. It was just. so. frustrating. Never again do I want to think about this book.

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numerous_bees's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.75

This is an incredibly slow book, with approximately the first two thirds feeling like setup. It's written in a meandering, stream of consciousness, style that, while not difficult to read, is often difficult to fathom the purpose of (though that, itself, may be purposeful).
The early chapters occasionally feel like reading an episode of M*A*S*H, but I'd call it humorous or wry rather than funny. It gets significantly less so as it goes on, culminating in a harrowing final third. There is no humour there, there is no purpose to the many deaths, there is only the naked desperation of a man trying to survive a brutal, senseless bureaucracy and a brutal, bloody war. Nothing is surprising any more, no matter how ridiculous, they just become just another awful thing about an awful situation. Of course,

Spoiler

Milo has removed and sold the morphine from the first aid kit when Snowden needs it

. Of course,

Spoiler

Nately's whore (who never gets a name) appears to teleport around the country to stab Yossarian

. Why wouldn't these things happen?
At the time of writing, 12% of people have tagged this book as "lighthearted", and frankly I hope they're okay.

This was not a fun read and, at the halfway mark, I had decided to pass the book on after I finished it, but now I have turned the last page, it's sitting with me. I think, on balance, I would recommend it but it was not enjoyable.

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