| | SOMETHING HAPPENED |  | Author: Joseph Heller
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Category: Book
Buy Used: £2.73
Avg. Customer Rating:  30 reviews
Media: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 0345288564
EAN: 9780345288561
ASIN: 0345288564
Publication Date: November 12, 1979
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 25 more reviews...
 The collective meninges. October 12, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
One is inevitably going to make comparisons with this and `Catch 22' and `Something Happened' is not a classic but it is very good. Bob, the first person, is a philandering executive in a narrative of disturbing honesty. It is a long book and sometimes reads like one is exploring every dark facet of his head. Indeed, Bob feels inside pressure against the linings of his brain where things bubble and shove against it as though they might explode - it reminds him at times of a cheese fondue. With head like a cauldron he feels the trappings of his personality as a middle class, upwardly mobile useless family guy with issues. Typical Catch 22 style and a book for big boys maybe.
 Relentless and honest March 6, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
There are a lot of reviews here saying that nothing happens, which I can't understand because something does definitely happen. However this is a novel that realistically reflects the type of events, and the pace they occur at, in the real world. It is also a book that is told through the thoughts of the main protagonist rather than through the events that are unfolding. If you are more used to John Grisham style plots then this probably isn't for you.
If you haven't read any Heller before I'd read God Knows or Catch 22 first as they are lighter reads and have more laughs. If you enjoy them then do read this. Some of Heller's books I just couldn't get on with but this is brilliant and it is well worth reading.
I've read it three times now and I'm not sure if I could pin down exactly what it is about. The blurb on the back doesn't really do it justice. There is a great line in it: "I got everything I ever wanted but I didn't get to be who I wanted to be." and I guess I would say that the story is of his past and present failures to be who he wants to be.
Scarily Good July 31, 2005
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is absolutely amazing! It tells the story of Bob Slocum who has lived the life that most people hope for, yet daily contemplates ending it.Granted, after a gripping beginning it becomes a bit taxing in the section about his son, and it is absolutely elbow chewingly depressing, as it challenges and shows disgust for everything that is taken for granted in suburban life, however it is incredibly moving, wise, provocative and sometimes even funny.
Also, I don't understand how people claim that nothing happens in this book. As the pages go on there is a subtle build of tension in all of Bob's relationships, and the stage is set for the most heart breaking ending to any book I've ever read (the paragraph on Bob's mother's last words is so , I don't know, emotional that I had to reread it several times before I could really take it in). Read it soon if you know what's good for you
 Funny in parts October 19, 2004
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Has the Heller humour and yes, something does happen. It is not a surprise and it did not make me suddenly appreciate what I had read before. I like his humour in the book but it is repetitive and I ended up rushing to the end to get the whole process over with.I found the style hardest - he hates paragraphs and he loves using brackets. This is very difficult to read, for example a sentence may start My daughter is unhappy (then he tells a long winded story, that he has already told 5 times previously, about a time he has been unhappy) because she is. She is what? You have to flick back to remember what the start of the sentence is. The lack of breaks and the long chapters make this heavy going and can only encourage the reader to skim. I would only recommend this for Heller fans (which I was). It will burst the bubble.
 You wouldn't want to take it on holiday. September 10, 2004
3 out of 8 found this review helpful
Other reviewers will tell you what it's about. I found it quite long, it's very boring, nothing does acually happen (how clever!)and it's quite depressing. It's contrived and I just don't get why anyone would spend time reading this book when there are hundreds of much better books out there. It doesn't work.
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