Catch-22 is, without a doubt, the most entertaining, school-assigned novels I have read throughout my entire high school experience. Many of my friends know that I love subtle humor and that my personality and actions are very comical. Catch-22 is a book that falls right under my brand of humor. I loved how Heller managed to integrate some brand of comedy, whether it be right in your face or hidden deep beneath actions and words, into nearly every page of Catch-22. With so many little spots in the book that kept you laughing and intrigued, it became very hard for me to put the book down and kept me wanting to actually keep reading late into the night.
That being said, I did find some one tiny issue with the novel. The problem I had with it was the confusion between the numerous characters Heller wrote chapters about, or even mentioned. There were so many characters that appeared that remembering everyone's past, personalities, actions, and descriptions were very tough. In addition, the style in which Heller wrote the novel was very unusual. There didn't seem to be a main plot and the novel wasn't written in chronological order. Rather, Heller referred back to actions from the past right in the middle of his book and ended up dedicating several chapters to the stories.
Overall, I thought that Joseph Heller's Catch-22 was a book that I was actually glad was assigned to read. To me, the complicated timeline and the vast quantity of characters hardly bogged down the novel at all while the hilarious stories and actions told within the pages had me laughing every time I picked up the book.
Although I did not find this book as entertaining as McLaren, I did think its style was very different and bold. After reading this book I went to a writing camp where many things the teacher’s taught directly contradicted attributes of Catch 22. One of the main things was- don’t have lots of confusion, and, more in depth, too many characters for the reader to follow, because most readers will get confused instead of hooked, and then put the book down. The first third or so of Catch 22 was chapters and chapters of introducing characters, whether or not they showed up again later in the book, a prime example being Major Major Major. Another attribute was placement of scenes in a book. The teachers’ at camp encouraged the inclusion of flashbacks and such, but they again emphasized not confusing the reader with what time period in the story it was unless it added meaning to the novel, which I feel Heller did a lot, minus the meaning. Sometimes it was obvious that he was taking the reader back to a different setting but other times it wasn’t as clear like with Snowden’s death. Personally I don’t believe that I would have had a different interpretation of Heller’s work if he hadn’t written things so out of order. Third I was taught at the camp to simply take out scenes in a piece that don’t add much to the overall story and I can recall some passages that didn’t add a whole lot to Heller’s big messages and felt a little random. One that comes to mind is when the officers are having a meeting and a general decides he wants to kill an inferior for doing something on accident that annoys him. (Sorry for the vagueness, I listened to the book a few weeks ago so I have no idea where to refer back to in the book.) This scene showed the cavalier nature of the superior officers during the war but there were many other scenes that showed the same thing and had more to offer the reader.
Having just spent a week with knowledgeable authors who say to do one thing, just after I finish a very famous book that doesn’t follow these “guidelines” makes me wonder whether the published authors are wrong, there was something in the beginning that I missed in the confusion that made the more intellectual people want to keep reading, or if Heller uses these “don’t” in a new and particular way that works and makes his book a prodigy.
John Lorenz said... I agree with Lauren that Catch-22 was very, very different from conventional books. However, that might just be what makes it so special. Authors are an odd group, and they apparently like doing things differently than readers expect. As HTRLLP's author says, nothing about writing is an absolute truth, because as soon as you start thinking it is, some new author will come along and write something just to prove you wrong. Heller certainly writes with a different style, but just being different doesn't detract from it.
On another note, I rather enjoyed the tons of contradictions that Catch-22 contained. Wherever you look in the book, you're likely to find something or someone contradicting itself. These contradictions not only made the book humorous and enjoyable to read, they also made great points about the world and effectively got Heller's points across.
A reader doesn't need to understand EVERY single reference or symbol in his book to get the main ideas, because Heller pretry much throws them at you. He fills Catch-22 with subtle humor as he points out different failings in our society over and over again, so many times that even the least careful reader would be able to get the message. Though the book is certainly not for an inexperienced reader, I enjoyed it a lot.
I believe that Catch-22 is a very good book. Not only is it really funny in multiple aspects but it has meaning hidden in between. This book is probably one of my new favorite books. It is also one of the few books assigned from school that I enjoyed reading.
One of my favorite parts of this book is the wide range of characters and personalities. The craziness of Hungry Joe to the curiosity that comes with the Soldier in White just adds to the uniqueness that this book has. Which in fact is my favorite part. Just the fact that this book had more interesting things to offer than most other books makes it a great book in my eyes. Also I like how this book was written, in third person. This way reading it does not make reader feel so attached to one specific character and makes the reader not have a bias. I really enjoyed that aspect of the book and will probably re-read it later this year.
I love the way heller uses humor to get his major points across as well. He points to them so many times through humor that he does not have to plainly point them out, which I really enjoy. Overall the book kept me wanting to read on and find out what happens next in the book, I really enjoyed it.
I enjoyed the shift in persona of what a main character in most books usually adheres to. Rather than a valiant, noble, and un-fearing champion, Heller presents us with Yossarian who is consistently plagued with paranoia, overwhelming pessimism and a generally gruff demeanor towards his fellow soldiers (outside his selected few companions). This refreshing and arguably more realistic protagonist kept me interested throughout the twist and turns of the plot.
However, I would have to agree that the staggering number of supplementary characters that were added throughout the book somewhat effected the overall continuity of the story. I believe Heller could have portrayed the same messages using a fewer number of characters and instances; I felt as though I was introduced to a brand new character time and time again and that the same soldier was discarded pages later never to be seen again, leaving me feeling a little numb to each new addition.
On a lighter note I did rather enjoy Heller’s infusion of humor as was mentioned by Scott, John and Dawson. In a book with, at times, extremely somber topics, Heller does well to distract readers from falling too far away from the issues with which he wishes to highlight. Humor keeps the reader from throwing the book down after each depressing and frustrating experience after another. Instead, such depictions are separated by clever sequences of impossible and hilarious occurrences. From Clevinger’s trial to Yossarian and Major Major jumping in and out of an office building window for no real apparent reason other than the officer’s own choosing Catch-22 is a novel that addresses real and still applicable social criticisms all the while retaining the attention of most every reader that begins reading it.
Honestly I found Catch-22 to be disappointing though this could have to do with the numerous amount of people telling me it was really good. The book really is not bad (especially when compared to other required books) but there are some things Heller could have done without. As mentioned before the abundant amount of characters can be a nuisance. The frequent amount of characters being introduced in chapters slows down the overall plot of the book.
The excessive amount of bad words in general isn’t really necessary. An example is having the word nigger mentioned three times on one page within the first five pages of the book. This bothered me to the point where I actually stopped reading after the first chapter for a few days thinking it might be like Huck Finn (thankfully I was wrong). I also couldn’t help but feel a strong sexual undertone in the book, from Yossarian setting naked in trees to the plentiful physical details of whores and women in general. Such descriptions just didn’t seem needed to further the plot along.
I will admit that I did like some of the humor (though not as much as Scott) and as Lauren mention how bold and different the book is, however the only real time I enjoyed the book was when the plot really picks up which was mainly in the Milo chapters and towards the end of the book.
I may be the only person who feels this way (or possible the only one to admit it), but the book felt extremely difficult to follow. First of all, there seemed to be a hundred characters. Also, the story seemed to skip around between scenes. Lastly, this could've had to do with the unavoidable outlook with which I attacked the book--that I really did not want to be spending my summer this way.
That being said, once the characters started dying off, and each chapter explained the answer to a couple questions I had from chapters before, the plot became intriguing. Although the story was funny throughout, I found the tone of the humor change nearing the end of the story. At first, the scenes provided literal LaughOutLoud laughter, and the story felt lighthearted. Later, as I became emotionally attached to a few characters, and as they continued to suffer and die, I could not help but be frustrated. I found it hard to continue reading the book when I new I would only find several more futile attempts at humor under the umbrella of depression and death.
Yes, I loved the ending, but there are several things that, admittedly, I still do not understand. I feel that there are nuances that could only be picked up and understood if I read the entire book over again. I'm sure I would get more out of it, because it seems fruitful as any other, or even moreso. Maybe in a few years, I will be able to truly appreciate and enjoy the story as it deserves. For now, I will continue to dig through it to get to the heart of the themes and styles, and I will save myself the pain of reading through the gory parts again.
I agree with Hannah on the fact that the book was hard to understand. For me it was the constant time zone jumping. One moment it would be the present then a memory then the present again. Also what I thought was interesting about the book was that there was little conversation but numerous amounts of narration and descriptive details which was a refreshing change from other novels.
Another thing that confused me though about the layout of the book was how each different chapter was about another character in the book. It wasn't until the end that I finally became more familiar with certain characters and felt like I knew them which took a while but I finally got there.
Overall I liked the ending because the Chaplain finally gets his courage but and Yossarian finally finds a way out of the army without hurting himself or others and it was a well executed ending but like most books I do feel as though I should re-read this time in the future to really better understand it and to pick up previously missed details.
Just a side note but it really confused me on how Yossarian admits he is in love with the Chaplain in the first two lines of the novel but then it isn't referenced again.....
Aside from the fact that there were too many characters to count and the book seemed to skip scenes, Catch-22 was a pretty good read. Like Lauren, I instantly took note that Heller’s style was very bold and unforgettable—it was interesting because it differed so much from most books that I have read before.
Like everyone else, I enjoyed the humorous scenes that Heller threw into the chaos, for they seemed to break the seal and distract the reader from the horrors in previous chapters. Intended for both the reader and the characters themselves, humor is a way of releasing tension that comes with the package of war. From Yossarian and another soldier creating a panic in the hospital by shouting “I see everything twice!”, to Orr saying that Appleby has flies in his eyes, to Major Major running out of his office whenever anyone comes to visit, the reader is always hit s good laugh every now and then.
I agree with what many others mentioned above about the overwhelming number of characters was a bit tough to keep track of. I did, however, like how Heller introduced them-- he went into great detail on the characters’ different pasts and lifestyles. For example, with characters such as Major Major, Heller tells us that he “had been born too late and too mediocre… Even among men lacking all distinction he inevitably stood out as a man lacking more distinction than all the rest, and people who met him were always impressed by how unimpressive he was”, and the reader is instantly hit with a sense of pity towards him. With these detailed backgrounds, the reader is able to predict the actions and outcomes of the different characters; with Major Major, the reader knows that he is not a great war hero and probably never will be— he will most likely die being just as mediocre as he was when he was born. Many authors do not take this approach and, instead, indirectly reveal the character’s traits to the reader through only their actions within the story.
I believe that Catch 22 attempted to create a focus on different characterizations and trying to bring a new aspect to books in which it concentrated on different stories and meshed them together to create an unconventional, but interesting and unique structure. Although Heller made the story really confusing with the introduction of many characters which made it more difficult to follow the book was quite enjoyable but, I believe it could’ve been better with more precision on his plot. However, I agree with Hannah that the story did get increasingly better when the plot began killing off characters to make a more concise, focused plot and made the novel easy to follow. I enjoyed the change of scenery as well as Heller was able to smoothly change from Rome to Pianosa with ease and to differentiate the plot of the novel to have a different element that gives more in depth analysis on each characters personality. I believe the ending was truly inspiring for Yossarian because he was showcased as the premier character in the novel. It was great that he was able to get the chance to escape the war and gave the reader a feeling of new inspiration to try and foreshadow his future journey of trying to eclipse freedom. However, I believe Heller could have made the story more concise in order for his readers to have to maintain a focus for all the minute characters and to really focus on making the main plot easier for people to read.
When I first began reading Catch 22 I was very apprehensive of whether or not the book would be good, bad, even entertaining. But after I adjusted to Heller’s writing style, I really began to enjoy the novel. I found it easier to detect his humor and his subtle criticisms. The novel is brilliant in its own domain and it stands out from all of the books that have been assigned to me in my years of schooling. Over all I am happy I read it and was pleased by the ending. Although I doubt I would have picked up this book fun. This does not mean that I didn’t have my share of difficulties with this book. There were a startling amount of characters, some of them unimportant to the overall novel. It was hard to keep up with the jumping timeline and there were parts where my attention span found other things to do. That being said, I think that Heller’s writing style is worth mentioning. He wrote it this way, I think, to keep the reader curious and possibly confused. The characters themselves are confused, and as the reader you follow their lead. I feel that there were some loose ends that don’t get tied up, like Dunbar, we never find out what “disappear” means to the generals doing the disappearing. And that was one thing that I would have liked to find out. The pros and cons of this novel neutralize each other for me in this book. But I enjoyed it and feel that Catch 22 is a great read to discuss due to the many ways to understand and interpret it.
I think that Heller's use of humor to keep Catch-22 from becoming just another tragic, gory war book was, as many have noted, a likable feature. We learned last year with Huckleberry Finn that satire is a way of poking fun at, or pointing out problems in society without making people feel defensive or too uncomfortable to handle the confrontation. It's the passive aggressive friend of authors everywhere and it is definitely at it's best here, critiquing the war game. Satire and humor were definitely needed. There were parts of Catch-22, for example, Snowden's death, that did make me very upset. Had it not been for the infusions of humor, however tragic they sometimes were, all of Catch-22 could have been as upsetting and sad as that single scene. It would have been a very long read had this been the case.
A lot of my fellow classmates (you excellent posters above and below this comment) have mentioned that Heller's detailed descriptions of so many characters made the book hard to follow and was possibly a bit excessive. While I would agree that the book was at times hard to follow (especially if one took a break for a vacation or multi-day nap), this unique setup did two things that I really enjoyed. Firstly, as Fiona mentioned in another post somewhere, all or most of Heller's characters bring to mind someone in my life. Obviously I don't know anyone as cripplingly timid as Major Major, but we all know someone whose behavior is mocked/apparent in his exaggerated behaviors. This fact is true for many of the "extras" of Catch-22, and made it easier for me to apply Heller's criticisms to the real world.
The second thing this unique characterization did for me was help me to see how others perceived Yossarian. As the protagonist of the story, we are generally expected to feel for Yossarian, and it is much easier to do so when you have chapter long accounts of how much other people hate him, or how few people understand him. Not only did every new character chapter reveal something new about the headlining character, it also revealed something new about Yossarian in a refreshingly unconventional way. For those reasons, even though it did make things hard to follow sometimes, I liked Heller's choices as far as characterization.
My last thought here is the same as my thought when I first started reading this novel. Catch-22 has SO MUCH STUFF. Like Hannah, I feel as though I would have to read it again, and maybe a third time to really get everything that this novel has to offer. At the end of the day, definitely a solid read.
I think that Catch 22 is my favorite school assigned novel, with the exception of The Giver. I feel that Catch 22 was very humorous and entertaining while still having a captivating story to tell. However, the style in which the book was written was something I didn’t particularly enjoy because at many times, especially in the beginning, I was left utterly baffled by what I was reading. Organization is the only problem I had with this book. With its numerous amounts of characters, along with all the personalities, past experiences, descriptions and actions, I was definitely left in complete confusion at many points and character profiling was something I struggled with to keep track of. Also, there didn’t really seem to be a main plot. Personally I felt that there were just several peoples stories chronicled within one book and occasionally those stories would intermingle. With catch 22 I enjoyed the fact that it was different and raunchier than other school assigned books I have read. This novel had no shortage of drinking, swearing or sex, and at first I was taken aback and definitely felt a little uncomfortable once I began reading all the swear words and the continuous references and appearances of whore’s and prostitutes. But, after finishing the book I believe that the explicit nature of the book adds to the realness of the situation these men were in, in regards to the war and their lack of appropriate female company. This definitely qualifies as one of the more interesting novels I have read for school. Most school assigned books, for example, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Kite Rider, and Macbeth I found myself rather bored with, and although with Catch 22 I repeatedly found myself confused, I have to admit it was a thoroughly entertaining book.
Heller's ability to intertwine sarcasm and satire throughout Catch-22 is astounding, and makes for a funny and entertaining read. It certainly takes talent to insult or tear down a plethora of public institutions without making one seem like he is just trying to be mean spirited. His extreme use of exaggeration, especially when detailing the logic used by some of army officials when attempting to "get to the bottom of things," and when Milo goes economy crazy over his M & M enterprises, makes the reader feel comfortable, while at the same time making them realize how ridiculous the real life situations are.
Many people also commented on the extreme number of characters in Catch-22; however, I feel like it ads realism to the novel without actually making it too confusing to follow. In any real life situation, especially in war, there is a confusing web of command chains that intertwine seemingly unrelated characters. I feel that Heller does a good job at showing this, and it is often humorous to see one character have an effect on character he has never had contact with.
Additionally, Heller spares no detail when describing the shenanigans of the soldiers when not in battle. He uses vulgar language, references to prostitutes, and numerous depictions of sexual encounters. This further ads realism to the story as well as provides another dimension of Yossarians life. The book does not only focus on Yossarian in war, but also his life outside of war, which contains meaning especially when Yossarian feels bad and goes looking for Nately's Whore kid sister.
All in all, I thought Catch-22 was very entertaining read that captured a realistic picture of war and the injustices surrounding it, without hurting the feelings of those that he is tearing down. Catch-22 is definitely one of my favorite school books.
Catch-22 was way more entertaining than I ever would have imagined. I remember first picking it up and thinking, "There is no way I am going to finish reading this!!" Here I am, five days later, with the entire book read. There were parts throughout that lost my interest, but overall, I did not want to put the book down and go to bed at night. There was something about it that kept me wanting to read on. It could have been the fact that it was all over the place, or that there was always something interesting going on, there never seemed to be filler words. I am not big on history and don't know much about armies, but Catch-22 was much easier to follow than anticipated. A few times while reading, I even laughed, there were even moments that I was crushed. At other times, I got antsy and peeked down to the bottom of the page, just to see what could have possibly happened by then. No book I have ever read has made my emotions come out, or unknowingly persuaded me to read on. It was a great experience!
I cannot say that Catch-22 had me at, “It was love at first sight”. However, I can say that it had me at, “The colonel dwelt in a vortex of specialists who were still specializing in trying to determine what was troubling him.” I found Catch-22 to be quite funny and engaging. It had funny moments like the marching procedures, and tragic moments like the whole chocolate cotton fiasco. Like everyone else, I found it fairly hard to get excited about the book after reading the first couple of chapters, but the introduction of characters was actually interesting to me. With each new chapter title, I wanted to know what sort of person Doc Daneeka or Lieutenant Scheisskopf was, and their place in the bigger picture of the story. Reading Catch-22 is kind of like doing a crossword. Heller gives you a starting word, Yossarian, and weaves a very twisted plot around that seed character. The introduction of a new character means another name to fill in the blank spaces in the plot, and greater clarity of the shape of the puzzle (or book) itself.
I will not pretend that I was deeply immersed in Catch-22 at all points in the book. Frankly, I was downright disappointed at times by the lack of action in the beginning of the book. Heller weaves his story in a similar fashion to Charles Dickens. The first time I tried starting A Tale of Two Cities, I was bored out of my mind. However, once I got through the best and worst of it, I really started to enjoy the multitude of characters and the complicated connections between seemingly unrelated lives during the war. The relationships between characters is about as complex as the rules keeping Yossarian, and everyone else, stuck in the war.
As Kevin commented earlier, we (the reader), have to give some respect to Heller. He certainly does not pull his punches when satirizing public institutions, the army, and even his fellow human beings. Heller makes us out to be complete buffoons at times. It takes a certain mastery of language to pull off such criticisms without completely offending the reader. Heller is certainly a Jedi Master of the English language. Overall, Catch-22 was an enjoyable, informative read.
For the most part, I agree with Hannah. I started this book already resenting it. It was a far cry from the books I normally read poolside and I wasn't looking forward to it in the least. On top of my negative outlook was the fact that it was a novel about a war, which as any of my friends could tell you, is my least favorite thing to learn about. The military references and sarcasm went right over my head and I feel like that hugely affected my ability to understand the book. This, combined with the mess of characters and scattered explanations led to a very bleak experience. Surprisingly, I started to really get into the book once all of the characters started dying off. Whether the novel got better at the point in time or if it was just easier to understand because of fewer characters, I don't know but following McWatt's death I really enjoyed the book.
Catch-22 is, without a doubt, the most entertaining, school-assigned novels I have read throughout my entire high school experience. Many of my friends know that I love subtle humor and that my personality and actions are very comical. Catch-22 is a book that falls right under my brand of humor. I loved how Heller managed to integrate some brand of comedy, whether it be right in your face or hidden deep beneath actions and words, into nearly every page of Catch-22. With so many little spots in the book that kept you laughing and intrigued, it became very hard for me to put the book down and kept me wanting to actually keep reading late into the night.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I did find some one tiny issue with the novel. The problem I had with it was the confusion between the numerous characters Heller wrote chapters about, or even mentioned. There were so many characters that appeared that remembering everyone's past, personalities, actions, and descriptions were very tough. In addition, the style in which Heller wrote the novel was very unusual. There didn't seem to be a main plot and the novel wasn't written in chronological order. Rather, Heller referred back to actions from the past right in the middle of his book and ended up dedicating several chapters to the stories.
Overall, I thought that Joseph Heller's Catch-22 was a book that I was actually glad was assigned to read. To me, the complicated timeline and the vast quantity of characters hardly bogged down the novel at all while the hilarious stories and actions told within the pages had me laughing every time I picked up the book.
Although I did not find this book as entertaining as McLaren, I did think its style was very different and bold. After reading this book I went to a writing camp where many things the teacher’s taught directly contradicted attributes of Catch 22. One of the main things was- don’t have lots of confusion, and, more in depth, too many characters for the reader to follow, because most readers will get confused instead of hooked, and then put the book down. The first third or so of Catch 22 was chapters and chapters of introducing characters, whether or not they showed up again later in the book, a prime example being Major Major Major. Another attribute was placement of scenes in a book. The teachers’ at camp encouraged the inclusion of flashbacks and such, but they again emphasized not confusing the reader with what time period in the story it was unless it added meaning to the novel, which I feel Heller did a lot, minus the meaning. Sometimes it was obvious that he was taking the reader back to a different setting but other times it wasn’t as clear like with Snowden’s death. Personally I don’t believe that I would have had a different interpretation of Heller’s work if he hadn’t written things so out of order. Third I was taught at the camp to simply take out scenes in a piece that don’t add much to the overall story and I can recall some passages that didn’t add a whole lot to Heller’s big messages and felt a little random. One that comes to mind is when the officers are having a meeting and a general decides he wants to kill an inferior for doing something on accident that annoys him. (Sorry for the vagueness, I listened to the book a few weeks ago so I have no idea where to refer back to in the book.) This scene showed the cavalier nature of the superior officers during the war but there were many other scenes that showed the same thing and had more to offer the reader.
ReplyDeleteHaving just spent a week with knowledgeable authors who say to do one thing, just after I finish a very famous book that doesn’t follow these “guidelines” makes me wonder whether the published authors are wrong, there was something in the beginning that I missed in the confusion that made the more intellectual people want to keep reading, or if Heller uses these “don’t” in a new and particular way that works and makes his book a prodigy.
John Lorenz said...
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lauren that Catch-22 was very, very different from conventional books. However, that might just be what makes it so special. Authors are an odd group, and they apparently like doing things differently than readers expect. As HTRLLP's author says, nothing about writing is an absolute truth, because as soon as you start thinking it is, some new author will come along and write something just to prove you wrong. Heller certainly writes with a different style, but just being different doesn't detract from it.
On another note, I rather enjoyed the tons of contradictions that Catch-22 contained. Wherever you look in the book, you're likely to find something or someone contradicting itself. These contradictions not only made the book humorous and enjoyable to read, they also made great points about the world and effectively got Heller's points across.
A reader doesn't need to understand EVERY single reference or symbol in his book to get the main ideas, because Heller pretry much throws them at you. He fills Catch-22 with subtle humor as he points out different failings in our society over and over again, so many times that even the least careful reader would be able to get the message. Though the book is certainly not for an inexperienced reader, I enjoyed it a lot.
I believe that Catch-22 is a very good book. Not only is it really funny in multiple aspects but it has meaning hidden in between. This book is probably one of my new favorite books. It is also one of the few books assigned from school that I enjoyed reading.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite parts of this book is the wide range of characters and personalities. The craziness of Hungry Joe to the curiosity that comes with the Soldier in White just adds to the uniqueness that this book has. Which in fact is my favorite part. Just the fact that this book had more interesting things to offer than most other books makes it a great book in my eyes. Also I like how this book was written, in third person. This way reading it does not make reader feel so attached to one specific character and makes the reader not have a bias. I really enjoyed that aspect of the book and will probably re-read it later this year.
I love the way heller uses humor to get his major points across as well. He points to them so many times through humor that he does not have to plainly point them out, which I really enjoy. Overall the book kept me wanting to read on and find out what happens next in the book, I really enjoyed it.
I enjoyed the shift in persona of what a main character in most books usually adheres to. Rather than a valiant, noble, and un-fearing champion, Heller presents us with Yossarian who is consistently plagued with paranoia, overwhelming pessimism and a generally gruff demeanor towards his fellow soldiers (outside his selected few companions). This refreshing and arguably more realistic protagonist kept me interested throughout the twist and turns of the plot.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I would have to agree that the staggering number of supplementary characters that were added throughout the book somewhat effected the overall continuity of the story. I believe Heller could have portrayed the same messages using a fewer number of characters and instances; I felt as though I was introduced to a brand new character time and time again and that the same soldier was discarded pages later never to be seen again, leaving me feeling a little numb to each new addition.
On a lighter note I did rather enjoy Heller’s infusion of humor as was mentioned by Scott, John and Dawson. In a book with, at times, extremely somber topics, Heller does well to distract readers from falling too far away from the issues with which he wishes to highlight. Humor keeps the reader from throwing the book down after each depressing and frustrating experience after another. Instead, such depictions are separated by clever sequences of impossible and hilarious occurrences. From Clevinger’s trial to Yossarian and Major Major jumping in and out of an office building window for no real apparent reason other than the officer’s own choosing Catch-22 is a novel that addresses real and still applicable social criticisms all the while retaining the attention of most every reader that begins reading it.
Honestly I found Catch-22 to be disappointing though this could have to do with the numerous amount of people telling me it was really good. The book really is not bad (especially when compared to other required books) but there are some things Heller could have done without. As mentioned before the abundant amount of characters can be a nuisance. The frequent amount of characters being introduced in chapters slows down the overall plot of the book.
ReplyDeleteThe excessive amount of bad words in general isn’t really necessary. An example is having the word nigger mentioned three times on one page within the first five pages of the book. This bothered me to the point where I actually stopped reading after the first chapter for a few days thinking it might be like Huck Finn (thankfully I was wrong). I also couldn’t help but feel a strong sexual undertone in the book, from Yossarian setting naked in trees to the plentiful physical details of whores and women in general. Such descriptions just didn’t seem needed to further the plot along.
I will admit that I did like some of the humor (though not as much as Scott) and as Lauren mention how bold and different the book is, however the only real time I enjoyed the book was when the plot really picks up which was mainly in the Milo chapters and towards the end of the book.
I may be the only person who feels this way (or possible the only one to admit it), but the book felt extremely difficult to follow. First of all, there seemed to be a hundred characters. Also, the story seemed to skip around between scenes. Lastly, this could've had to do with the unavoidable outlook with which I attacked the book--that I really did not want to be spending my summer this way.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, once the characters started dying off, and each chapter explained the answer to a couple questions I had from chapters before, the plot became intriguing. Although the story was funny throughout, I found the tone of the humor change nearing the end of the story. At first, the scenes provided literal LaughOutLoud laughter, and the story felt lighthearted. Later, as I became emotionally attached to a few characters, and as they continued to suffer and die, I could not help but be frustrated. I found it hard to continue reading the book when I new I would only find several more futile attempts at humor under the umbrella of depression and death.
Yes, I loved the ending, but there are several things that, admittedly, I still do not understand. I feel that there are nuances that could only be picked up and understood if I read the entire book over again. I'm sure I would get more out of it, because it seems fruitful as any other, or even moreso. Maybe in a few years, I will be able to truly appreciate and enjoy the story as it deserves. For now, I will continue to dig through it to get to the heart of the themes and styles, and I will save myself the pain of reading through the gory parts again.
I agree with Hannah on the fact that the book was hard to understand. For me it was the constant time zone jumping. One moment it would be the present then a memory then the present again. Also what I thought was interesting about the book was that there was little conversation but numerous amounts of narration and descriptive details which was a refreshing change from other novels.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that confused me though about the layout of the book was how each different chapter was about another character in the book. It wasn't until the end that I finally became more familiar with certain characters and felt like I knew them which took a while but I finally got there.
Overall I liked the ending because the Chaplain finally gets his courage but and Yossarian finally finds a way out of the army without hurting himself or others and it was a well executed ending but like most books I do feel as though I should re-read this time in the future to really better understand it and to pick up previously missed details.
Just a side note but it really confused me on how Yossarian admits he is in love with the Chaplain in the first two lines of the novel but then it isn't referenced again.....
Aside from the fact that there were too many characters to count and the book seemed to skip scenes, Catch-22 was a pretty good read. Like Lauren, I instantly took note that Heller’s style was very bold and unforgettable—it was interesting because it differed so much from most books that I have read before.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else, I enjoyed the humorous scenes that Heller threw into the chaos, for they seemed to break the seal and distract the reader from the horrors in previous chapters. Intended for both the reader and the characters themselves, humor is a way of releasing tension that comes with the package of war. From Yossarian and another soldier creating a panic in the hospital by shouting “I see everything twice!”, to Orr saying that Appleby has flies in his eyes, to Major Major running out of his office whenever anyone comes to visit, the reader is always hit s good laugh every now and then.
I agree with what many others mentioned above about the overwhelming number of characters was a bit tough to keep track of. I did, however, like how Heller introduced them-- he went into great detail on the characters’ different pasts and lifestyles. For example, with characters such as Major Major, Heller tells us that he “had been born too late and too mediocre… Even among men lacking all distinction he inevitably stood out as a man lacking more distinction than all the rest, and people who met him were always impressed by how unimpressive he was”, and the reader is instantly hit with a sense of pity towards him. With these detailed backgrounds, the reader is able to predict the actions and outcomes of the different characters; with Major Major, the reader knows that he is not a great war hero and probably never will be— he will most likely die being just as mediocre as he was when he was born. Many authors do not take this approach and, instead, indirectly reveal the character’s traits to the reader through only their actions within the story.
I believe that Catch 22 attempted to create a focus on different characterizations and trying to bring a new aspect to books in which it concentrated on different stories and meshed them together to create an unconventional, but interesting and unique structure. Although Heller made the story really confusing with the introduction of many characters which made it more difficult to follow the book was quite enjoyable but, I believe it could’ve been better with more precision on his plot.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I agree with Hannah that the story did get increasingly better when the plot began killing off characters to make a more concise, focused plot and made the novel easy to follow. I enjoyed the change of scenery as well as Heller was able to smoothly change from Rome to Pianosa with ease and to differentiate the plot of the novel to have a different element that gives more in depth analysis on each characters personality.
I believe the ending was truly inspiring for Yossarian because he was showcased as the premier character in the novel. It was great that he was able to get the chance to escape the war and gave the reader a feeling of new inspiration to try and foreshadow his future journey of trying to eclipse freedom. However, I believe Heller could have made the story more concise in order for his readers to have to maintain a focus for all the minute characters and to really focus on making the main plot easier for people to read.
When I first began reading Catch 22 I was very apprehensive of whether or not the book would be good, bad, even entertaining. But after I adjusted to Heller’s writing style, I really began to enjoy the novel. I found it easier to detect his humor and his subtle criticisms. The novel is brilliant in its own domain and it stands out from all of the books that have been assigned to me in my years of schooling. Over all I am happy I read it and was pleased by the ending. Although I doubt I would have picked up this book fun.
ReplyDeleteThis does not mean that I didn’t have my share of difficulties with this book. There were a startling amount of characters, some of them unimportant to the overall novel. It was hard to keep up with the jumping timeline and there were parts where my attention span found other things to do. That being said, I think that Heller’s writing style is worth mentioning. He wrote it this way, I think, to keep the reader curious and possibly confused. The characters themselves are confused, and as the reader you follow their lead. I feel that there were some loose ends that don’t get tied up, like Dunbar, we never find out what “disappear” means to the generals doing the disappearing. And that was one thing that I would have liked to find out.
The pros and cons of this novel neutralize each other for me in this book. But I enjoyed it and feel that Catch 22 is a great read to discuss due to the many ways to understand and interpret it.
I think that Heller's use of humor to keep Catch-22 from becoming just another tragic, gory war book was, as many have noted, a likable feature. We learned last year with Huckleberry Finn that satire is a way of poking fun at, or pointing out problems in society without making people feel defensive or too uncomfortable to handle the confrontation. It's the passive aggressive friend of authors everywhere and it is definitely at it's best here, critiquing the war game. Satire and humor were definitely needed. There were parts of Catch-22, for example, Snowden's death, that did make me very upset. Had it not been for the infusions of humor, however tragic they sometimes were, all of Catch-22 could have been as upsetting and sad as that single scene. It would have been a very long read had this been the case.
ReplyDeleteA lot of my fellow classmates (you excellent posters above and below this comment) have mentioned that Heller's detailed descriptions of so many characters made the book hard to follow and was possibly a bit excessive. While I would agree that the book was at times hard to follow (especially if one took a break for a vacation or multi-day nap), this unique setup did two things that I really enjoyed. Firstly, as Fiona mentioned in another post somewhere, all or most of Heller's characters bring to mind someone in my life. Obviously I don't know anyone as cripplingly timid as Major Major, but we all know someone whose behavior is mocked/apparent in his exaggerated behaviors. This fact is true for many of the "extras" of Catch-22, and made it easier for me to apply Heller's criticisms to the real world.
The second thing this unique characterization did for me was help me to see how others perceived Yossarian. As the protagonist of the story, we are generally expected to feel for Yossarian, and it is much easier to do so when you have chapter long accounts of how much other people hate him, or how few people understand him. Not only did every new character chapter reveal something new about the headlining character, it also revealed something new about Yossarian in a refreshingly unconventional way. For those reasons, even though it did make things hard to follow sometimes, I liked Heller's choices as far as characterization.
My last thought here is the same as my thought when I first started reading this novel. Catch-22 has SO MUCH STUFF. Like Hannah, I feel as though I would have to read it again, and maybe a third time to really get everything that this novel has to offer. At the end of the day, definitely a solid read.
I think that Catch 22 is my favorite school assigned novel, with the exception of The Giver. I feel that Catch 22 was very humorous and entertaining while still having a captivating story to tell. However, the style in which the book was written was something I didn’t particularly enjoy because at many times, especially in the beginning, I was left utterly baffled by what I was reading.
ReplyDeleteOrganization is the only problem I had with this book. With its numerous amounts of characters, along with all the personalities, past experiences, descriptions and actions, I was definitely left in complete confusion at many points and character profiling was something I struggled with to keep track of. Also, there didn’t really seem to be a main plot. Personally I felt that there were just several peoples stories chronicled within one book and occasionally those stories would intermingle.
With catch 22 I enjoyed the fact that it was different and raunchier than other school assigned books I have read. This novel had no shortage of drinking, swearing or sex, and at first I was taken aback and definitely felt a little uncomfortable once I began reading all the swear words and the continuous references and appearances of whore’s and prostitutes. But, after finishing the book I believe that the explicit nature of the book adds to the realness of the situation these men were in, in regards to the war and their lack of appropriate female company.
This definitely qualifies as one of the more interesting novels I have read for school. Most school assigned books, for example, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Kite Rider, and Macbeth I found myself rather bored with, and although with Catch 22 I repeatedly found myself confused, I have to admit it was a thoroughly entertaining book.
Heller's ability to intertwine sarcasm and satire throughout Catch-22 is astounding, and makes for a funny and entertaining read. It certainly takes talent to insult or tear down a plethora of public institutions without making one seem like he is just trying to be mean spirited. His extreme use of exaggeration, especially when detailing the logic used by some of army officials when attempting to "get to the bottom of things," and when Milo goes economy crazy over his M & M enterprises, makes the reader feel comfortable, while at the same time making them realize how ridiculous the real life situations are.
ReplyDeleteMany people also commented on the extreme number of characters in Catch-22; however, I feel like it ads realism to the novel without actually making it too confusing to follow. In any real life situation, especially in war, there is a confusing web of command chains that intertwine seemingly unrelated characters. I feel that Heller does a good job at showing this, and it is often humorous to see one character have an effect on character he has never had contact with.
Additionally, Heller spares no detail when describing the shenanigans of the soldiers when not in battle. He uses vulgar language, references to prostitutes, and numerous depictions of sexual encounters. This further ads realism to the story as well as provides another dimension of Yossarians life. The book does not only focus on Yossarian in war, but also his life outside of war, which contains meaning especially when Yossarian feels bad and goes looking for Nately's Whore kid sister.
All in all, I thought Catch-22 was very entertaining read that captured a realistic picture of war and the injustices surrounding it, without hurting the feelings of those that he is tearing down. Catch-22 is definitely one of my favorite school books.
Catch-22 was way more entertaining than I ever would have imagined. I remember first picking it up and thinking, "There is no way I am going to finish reading this!!" Here I am, five days later, with the entire book read. There were parts throughout that lost my interest, but overall, I did not want to put the book down and go to bed at night. There was something about it that kept me wanting to read on. It could have been the fact that it was all over the place, or that there was always something interesting going on, there never seemed to be filler words. I am not big on history and don't know much about armies, but Catch-22 was much easier to follow than anticipated. A few times while reading, I even laughed, there were even moments that I was crushed. At other times, I got antsy and peeked down to the bottom of the page, just to see what could have possibly happened by then. No book I have ever read has made my emotions come out, or unknowingly persuaded me to read on. It was a great experience!
ReplyDeleteI cannot say that Catch-22 had me at, “It was love at first sight”. However, I can say that it had me at, “The colonel dwelt in a vortex of specialists who were still specializing in trying to determine what was troubling him.” I found Catch-22 to be quite funny and engaging. It had funny moments like the marching procedures, and tragic moments like the whole chocolate cotton fiasco. Like everyone else, I found it fairly hard to get excited about the book after reading the first couple of chapters, but the introduction of characters was actually interesting to me. With each new chapter title, I wanted to know what sort of person Doc Daneeka or Lieutenant Scheisskopf was, and their place in the bigger picture of the story. Reading Catch-22 is kind of like doing a crossword. Heller gives you a starting word, Yossarian, and weaves a very twisted plot around that seed character. The introduction of a new character means another name to fill in the blank spaces in the plot, and greater clarity of the shape of the puzzle (or book) itself.
ReplyDeleteI will not pretend that I was deeply immersed in Catch-22 at all points in the book. Frankly, I was downright disappointed at times by the lack of action in the beginning of the book. Heller weaves his story in a similar fashion to Charles Dickens. The first time I tried starting A Tale of Two Cities, I was bored out of my mind. However, once I got through the best and worst of it, I really started to enjoy the multitude of characters and the complicated connections between seemingly unrelated lives during the war. The relationships between characters is about as complex as the rules keeping Yossarian, and everyone else, stuck in the war.
As Kevin commented earlier, we (the reader), have to give some respect to Heller. He certainly does not pull his punches when satirizing public institutions, the army, and even his fellow human beings. Heller makes us out to be complete buffoons at times. It takes a certain mastery of language to pull off such criticisms without completely offending the reader. Heller is certainly a Jedi Master of the English language. Overall, Catch-22 was an enjoyable, informative read.
For the most part, I agree with Hannah. I started this book already resenting it. It was a far cry from the books I normally read poolside and I wasn't looking forward to it in the least. On top of my negative outlook was the fact that it was a novel about a war, which as any of my friends could tell you, is my least favorite thing to learn about. The military references and sarcasm went right over my head and I feel like that hugely affected my ability to understand the book. This, combined with the mess of characters and scattered explanations led to a very bleak experience.
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly, I started to really get into the book once all of the characters started dying off. Whether the novel got better at the point in time or if it was just easier to understand because of fewer characters, I don't know but following McWatt's death I really enjoyed the book.