What kept me interested, despite my irritation, is that this is simply one of the best written novels I have ever picked up. The prose flows brilliantly from page to page, the use of vocabulary often seems to sit perfectly in each situation, and the dialogue between the characters seems totally unforced. Added to this is the fact that Catch 22 is routinely hilarious and despite the fact that the characters are a collection of rogues and anti-heroes one finds oneself warming to their idiosyncrasies, however reluctantly.

For me this was well worth sticking with through to the end, but if you have a lack of patience then perhaps you should avoid Catch 22.


Catch 22 Review   September 6, 2003
 0 out of 6 found this review helpful

As petty as this may sound, this is one of the longest books I have ever read (and enjoyed). Although it could never be for the faint-of-heart or weepy - too 'realistic' for them, it has a very fictcious edge. You are left in no doubt that the lives of these men are surreal to the point of M*A*S*H style antics. And if you liked the TV series you will probably enjoy a longer, more adult version in this book. They have the same insane main character, nasty, depressing truth and impossibly crazed and desperate soldiers.
The whole book revolves around the idea that you cannot be insane enough to declare yourself insane...catch 22. The only way out is by not being able to leave. Of course it doesn't mean you stop trying...Being in the american air force you have more oppurtunities than foot soldiers or the navy, as is demonstrated in the last chapter. Be assured of a 'happy' ending folks...
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for something different and substantial. DO NOT sit down with it if you haven't the time to finish it as parts can be difficult. You will definitly struggle if you are female as it is a decidely male book, and only saved from militant feminists by the time it's set in and it deep psychological edge. I could never recommend it to anyone who had lived through, or lost someone to the US air force as parts may seem disrespectful or painful to a sensitive person. But it is all to be taken with a pinch of salt in the end as it is, effectively a rather dark, comedy.
Good Luck!


KEEP READING IT   May 10, 2003
 6 out of 9 found this review helpful

This was the third time I read Catch-22 by Joseph Heller and everytime I read it I understand it better and better. The first time I read it, I was about 17 years old living in Russia. Anything American was good. The book was translated into Russian but somehow was not very popular. No one could really understand what it was all about. If it was about the WWII, it was at least strange. If it was an American humor, there was nothing to laugh about. People did not like it.
Than I came to America and a few years later, I saw this book used, somewhere, and I could not resist. I read it again. I could speak some English back than but I guess it was not enough to understand the full depth of Catch-22. I liked it better than before, in Russia, but still not enough. It was just OK.
A month ago, I was making more room for books in my house. Books, I did not care much about were destined to end their lives in the local library, as my donation. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller... I opened it again. What a mistake. What a surprise. I was stunned. It was one of the best books ever written. One has to know not only the language but the life in America and the Americans as well to understand this book completely. This book is not about the war. This book is about us and our lives and our regular affairs. This book is perfect and has to be an American classic. No, Catch-22 did not go to the local library. It is destined now to end its life on my shelf. I will have to read it again and, only than, again and again. Have you read it? You have to read it.


The ultimate exploration of the human condition   November 20, 1998
 12 out of 13 found this review helpful

On the surface, Catch-22 is a fine novel about the U.S Army Air Force in Europe during the 1939-45 war. You do not have to scratch the surface hard to find a classic, timeless novel of the fine line between sanity and total madness. Is Yossarian, the 'hero', totally sane, or utterly, irredeemably insane? You tell me. Catch-22 is unique in its ability to thrust confusion, frustration, despair, insanity, death and plain old fashioned misery in waves - and yet repeatedly surprise you with its sidesplitting humour. When you laugh, you are not laughing at Heller's finely crafted characters, with all their idiosyncrasies, but at yourself, your friends and relatives. Because Heller's situations mirror the daily stupidities that we all put up with, laugh about and cry about. Reading Catch-22 is like sitting through the main feature a second time - you know exactly what will happen next; you know that nothing can change it. You cannot help hoping that it won't be so bad. But, of course, it's worse.