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A review by e11en
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
5.0
I haven't read this in more than ten years, and decided to re-read it before watching the new TV series. It's brilliant and brutal in equal measure. Hilarious and heartbreaking. Truly, satire at it's finest.
Just a warning, though: the treatment of women in this book is despicable. It's not just that it wouldn't pass the Bechdel test (which, by the way, it certainly doesn't!). It's that all the women are objects and all the men are entitled, disgusting and incorrigible. Even the nice(r) ones. There seems to be an assumption that women are irrational and 'crazy'. They're rarely (if ever?) named and are instead described using their relationship to the male characters, e.g. Nately's whore, Mrs Daneeka etc. All of this was so much more apparent to me reading on the second time around. And it's hard to stomach the trivialisation of assault, abuse and rape (even in the name of satire). The culmination of this in Aarfy's final scene was wholly terrifying and unfortunately, all to familiar to me. Many men believe they are entitled to women's bodies and that they can do what they want to them without consequence.
I don't think this book is perfect, but I certainly think it's powerful, disparaging and necessary view of war. It feels exciting to be having these conversations and approach 'classic' texts with a more critical (and inclusive) eye.
Just a warning, though: the treatment of women in this book is despicable. It's not just that it wouldn't pass the Bechdel test (which, by the way, it certainly doesn't!). It's that all the women are objects and all the men are entitled, disgusting and incorrigible. Even the nice(r) ones. There seems to be an assumption that women are irrational and 'crazy'. They're rarely (if ever?) named and are instead described using their relationship to the male characters, e.g. Nately's whore, Mrs Daneeka etc. All of this was so much more apparent to me reading on the second time around. And it's hard to stomach the trivialisation of assault, abuse and rape (even in the name of satire). The culmination of this in Aarfy's final scene was wholly terrifying and unfortunately, all to familiar to me. Many men believe they are entitled to women's bodies and that they can do what they want to them without consequence.
I don't think this book is perfect, but I certainly think it's powerful, disparaging and necessary view of war. It feels exciting to be having these conversations and approach 'classic' texts with a more critical (and inclusive) eye.