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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
If my hubby hadn't suggested I read this, I would have missed out on a rather hilarious anti-war war novel. I'm glad I read it.
The main character is hell bent on not dying & some of the things he does to try and avoid battle are very ingenious. And that's where the Catch 22 comes into play.
The main character is hell bent on not dying & some of the things he does to try and avoid battle are very ingenious. And that's where the Catch 22 comes into play.
Reminded me of waiting for godot and the catcher in the rye. I think a lot of the humor and meaning was lost on me because I disliked the main character Yossarian so much.
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A very funny, witty horrifying critique of capitalism and war.
adventurous
challenging
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Absolute cinema
(Up to pg 98)
Although humourous, I found some parts felt unnecessary and confusing. Often characters say contradictory things that also adds to the confusion (though perhaps this mirrors the Catch-22). Can't see where it's going, may read again another time.
Although humourous, I found some parts felt unnecessary and confusing. Often characters say contradictory things that also adds to the confusion (though perhaps this mirrors the Catch-22). Can't see where it's going, may read again another time.
Personally, I think this is one of those books that tried something new for the time period and was placed on a pedestal for it that just hasn’t aged well because now a hundred other authors have done the same thing in a better way.
Everyone either hates it (for being repetitious, hard to follow, and irritating, not to mention how unlikable most of the characters are) or loves it (for being innovative and carrying the illustrious tag of “classic”) and the ones who love it attack anyone who disagrees with a snobby “you obviously aren’t sophisticated enough to GET it” attitude, which is horrible and almost made me not pick it up in the first place and will probably mean that both camps will hate my review because while I didn’t think it was terrible, I certainly didn’t think it was great either. My strongest impression of it is simply relief that it’s finished and I never have to come back to it again.
The first five chapters are torture. Truly. It’s extremely repetitive and full of incomplete ideas that bounce around a timeline you won’t be able to understand until you get about halfway or more through the novel. I get that it was written that way on purpose and used to make a point, but it’s so over the top and in your face that it’s painful and immediately turned me off. If I hadn’t been listening to the audible reading, which had a great narrator but occasionally jarring and irritating snippets of music that I suspect were added to make this version as trying as the original text, I probably wouldn’t have made it any farther, but once you do get past those beginning chapters the writing starts to level out and you get more of a cohesive story, or at the very least you start to understand where each chunk of story telling goes in the overall plot.
Everyone either hates it (for being repetitious, hard to follow, and irritating, not to mention how unlikable most of the characters are) or loves it (for being innovative and carrying the illustrious tag of “classic”) and the ones who love it attack anyone who disagrees with a snobby “you obviously aren’t sophisticated enough to GET it” attitude, which is horrible and almost made me not pick it up in the first place and will probably mean that both camps will hate my review because while I didn’t think it was terrible, I certainly didn’t think it was great either. My strongest impression of it is simply relief that it’s finished and I never have to come back to it again.
The first five chapters are torture. Truly. It’s extremely repetitive and full of incomplete ideas that bounce around a timeline you won’t be able to understand until you get about halfway or more through the novel. I get that it was written that way on purpose and used to make a point, but it’s so over the top and in your face that it’s painful and immediately turned me off. If I hadn’t been listening to the audible reading, which had a great narrator but occasionally jarring and irritating snippets of music that I suspect were added to make this version as trying as the original text, I probably wouldn’t have made it any farther, but once you do get past those beginning chapters the writing starts to level out and you get more of a cohesive story, or at the very least you start to understand where each chunk of story telling goes in the overall plot.
dark
funny
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A