Catch 22 - Joseph Heller Reviews

A winding war story this novel is sheer chaos, which the key underlining concept being about a soldier who ultimately does not want to serve and takes the concept of conscientious objector to the extreme, An example of the books insanity is that in order to be grounded from a flight mission if you were crazy you would have to ask to be. ...  Read the complete review

If asked what the most influential book in modern literature is, I would have to answer Catch-22. It has had a huge impact on both the popular culture and literary circles. It introduced the post war world to the concept of 'Black Humour' and taught generations about the sheer absurdity of war. This book also gives us the first true ...  Read the complete review

I love to read, and this is quite simply my favourite book. It is not however an easy read. The story can be difficult to follow, it's not linear, it's not even quadratic. This can be frustrating. I gave up on it three times before I got to the end the fourth time, then I turned around and started reading it from the beginning again, ...  Read the complete review

This is a difficult book to read. At least for me. It is meant to be humourous, but I struggled to finish it. It is a book I had heard a lot, and surely it has the privilege of being one of the very few novels I know whose title is now an expression we use in our daily life (at least myself, I find many catch 22 ...  Read the complete review

i know that many people have written opinions on this book before me and yes this is probably going to be pretty much the same as the rest of the opinions you have read, but i feel so strongly about this book that i felt i just had to tell you all about it. I wont tell you the story in any detail, it basically set in italy during the second world ...  Read the complete review

"There was only one catch…and that was Catch-22" How can a novel that portrays the reality of war in such horrific detail be so hilarious? Joseph Heller shows the incongruity of war through the experiences of a fictitious American Air Base in the Mediterranean. Yossarian, the anti-hero, is desperate to survive the war, and ...  Read the complete review

Catch-22 is a caustic, sarcastic and satirical look into the hierarchy of power, war, business and sanity. Heller paints a picture with his words which brings the harsh realities of life into both clear and fuzzy focus. The text is frequently run-on, repetitive and wrap-around, but that is by design and only enhances the experience. The ...  Read the complete review

If asked what the most influential book in modern literature is, I would have to answer Catch-22. It has had a huge impact on both the popular culture and literary circles. It introduced the post war world to the concept of ‘Black Humour’ and taught generations about the sheer absurdity of war. This book also gives us the ...  Read the complete review

____________________________________________________ Yossarian slumped with disappointment. 'Then I really have to fly the fifty missions, don't I?' he grieved. 'The fifty-five,' Doc Daneeka corrected him. 'What fifty-five?' 'The fifty-five missions the colonel now wants all of you to fly.' ...  Read the complete review

I found it depressingly masculine. Yes, actually depressing. The portrayal of women is sickening. - Advantages: lovely and atmospheric - Disadvantages: annoyingly masculine

I'm sorry. I bought this in great anticipation of a great book. In my experience, if a book achieves the status of a classic 80% of the time it is. There are a few exceptions, Robinson Crusoe being one of them, and now Catch 22. This book is far from great. OK it's mildly amusing for the first 100 or so pages but it's ...  Read the complete review

Catch 22 is easily one of my most favourite books of all time. It is a totally insane piece of work from the pen of Joseph Heller detailing the exploits of a squadron of pilots on the ficticious Italian island of Pianosa. The story focuses upon Yossarian, a pilot who spends most of his time trying to devise ways to escape from the war and never ...  Read the complete review

This book is without a doubt a contemporary classic.It is based in an aviation base in Pianosa and follows,on the whole, the life of Captain Yossarian.It is a comedy book for those whose sense of humour is slightly warped-e.g. my father recommended that I read the book but let's not go there.It is absoultely hilarious and continues to get ...  Read the complete review

Humorous and interesting at first, Catch-22 makes the perfect start then lets itself be overtaken by the field. The book’s dust jacket bills Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 as, “One of the Great Novels of the Century” whilst various British and American newspapers have been persuaded to sing it’s praises on the back cover. ...  Read the complete review

This book has had a profound effect on my views of life. It is based around a Bombardier called Yossarian in WW2, who will do anything to avoid flying missions and putting himself at risk of being killed. From creating phoney illness to get him grounded (and getting caught and forced to pretend to be the dying son of a visiting family) ...  Read the complete review

... "This fish you dream about. Let's talk about that. It's always the same fish, isn't it?" "I don't know," Yossarian replied. "I have trouble recognizing fish." "What does the fish remind you of?" "Other fish." Read Joseph Heller’s ...  Read the complete review

There's a definite style to Catch 22. It's a style they tried to copy straight from the book to the film and failed miserably. I'll just state the obvious for a second - the reason Catch 22 is written in a haphazard and non-linear way is to make it more plain to the reader that war is a neurotic crazy s**t-scary experience that's bound to do ...  Read the complete review

Written by Joseph Heller and published in 1961 after eight years of writing, Catch 22 is the story of one man’s experiences of the Second World War. However, this is unlike any wartime novel, straying away from the seriousness and sacrifice the book is a satirical exploration of the madness of the war and one man’s attempts to survive ...  Read the complete review

I read this book over about a month before I went on holiday. I was most relieved when I realised I could finish it totally when I went on holiday. This book was worth every ounce of effort that you have to put into it. The writing style is a bit of a challenge to get into, but as you read more it becomes second nature and you find yourself ...  Read the complete review

Catch 22 is one of those few books that can be appreciated even by people who haven't experienced war at all. I haven't been involved with WWII, however, this irreverent look at the absurd nature of all bureaucracies still affected me powerfully. Written like stand-up comedy, this continuous punchline takes the reader on a trip ...  Read the complete review