Scan barcode
cgibson25's review against another edition
Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism
elmewhy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
*rounded to 3 stars
I think it’s fair to say that this review is a modern Gen Z take on a classic that was not written for me or for people of my time. This book was just not for me. While I appreciate that this book was written at a different time, I couldn’t forgive some parts of it. I decided to split my review into a pro and con list.
Pro
It’s a classic for a reason. The origins and concept of the term ‘Catch 22’ is genius. After researching this book, I can see why it was so popular, especially with young people during the Vietnam War.
War Representation. I did appreciate the insanity of war portrayal and the desperateness this led to. I’ve not seen a lot of portrayals of this in classic or modern media, and it was an interesting take to see.
Format. Polarising, but I enjoyed the format. It is disjointed with sporadic short stories mentioned, which are revealed later in the book, the re-read ability is huge, and you can reread parts with a brand new understanding. There are many characters, but this format taught me whos who much more quickly. Although not comparable, I did get a Grand Budapest Hotel vibe from the format/humour/visualisation.
Con
Misogyny. There’s a lot of this; in fact, I don’t believe a female character is mentioned in a way that wasn’t sexual or perverse or made them out to be less than deranged. Here are some examples:
One character is named “Nately’s Whore”, who is a prop prostitute for a character until they get mentioned more and becomes a psycho stalker killer. Lots of inappropriate touching, mostly sexual assault and the women don’t always seem to care?! Mentions of underage women (as young as 12) and virgins are sexualised - although we never see this, it is idolised heavy. **Trigger!** A very heartless and glossed-over mention of a rape where the female dies from it and gets thrown out of a window, with no consequence even though the police turn up, but they chose to focus on other topics rather than the raped and murdered women lying in the street.
Racism. N-word usage - only really in the beginning. Again, something which is more prominent in older books as it was the norm during this time but does not hold up in the modern day.
Humour. I just did not get the humour, there were parts in which I thought ohh I get why people think it's funny, but I definitely wouldn’t call this hilarious. The humour was repetitive (the same word play humour beat to death), the context was just not funny, and, for me, the misogynistic, classism and racist overtones overshadowed the book for it to be funny.
If you’re a fan of adult-level pantomime jokes, you’ll be fine.
Ultimately, while you get to say you’ve read this notorious classical book and boast to all your friends that you’re smart and read more than YA/fantasy/preferred genre, you actually have to put yourself through it - so how’s that for a Catch 22?
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Medical content
Minor: Suicide and Vomit
southcarolina's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and War
Minor: Racial slurs, Rape, and Sexual harassment
haleyd's review against another edition
- 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
2.25
Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Excrement, Trafficking, and Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Classism
A sometimes humorous, sometimes depressing classic full of paradoxes and contradictions that only prove themselves true, this take on WWII was a bit difficult for me to get through. Once I knew the writing style was to intentionally include these opposites, I became bored and would fall asleep after a few pages. It went more quickly toward the end, but then it was just so sad in some of the final pages, it was that what became the challenge for me. I'm reading this as part of a goal to get through several lists of "banned books" I've found. While I don't think any books should be truly banned, this one made me think several times, "Eek. This is part of the reason this was banned." Most of that is because it is so repulsive and very graphic. But also, things were quite different when this book was written which is evidenced by some of the behaviors wherein described. It could possibly be argued that children's minds are too vulnerable, but I would personally argue that I'd be confident letting my own teenage child read this, knowing that I've raised her well. However, I would definitely warn her that she likely wouldn't want to.impeachnixon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape and Sexual violence
Minor: Antisemitism
esttorhe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Moderate: Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Racism