Catch-22
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- ISBN13: 9780684833392
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Catch-22 is like no additional novel. It is one of the most amusing books ever written, a keystone work in American literature, and even added a new term to the glossary.
At the heart of Catch-22 resides the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero endlessly inventive in his schemes to save his skin from the horrible chances of war. His efforts are perfectly understandable because as he furiously scrambles, thousands of people he hasn’t even met are trying to kill him. His problem is Colonel Cathcart, who keeps raising the number of missions the men must glide to perfect their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempts to excuse himself from the perilous missions that he is committed to flying, he is trapped by the Fantastic Loyalty Oath Campaign, the hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule from which the book takes its title: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to glide treacherous combat missions, but if he makes the necessary proper request to be relieved of such missions, the very act of building the request proves that he is sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.
Catch-22 is a microcosm of the twentieth-century world as it might look to some one dangerously sane — a masterpiece of our time.Amazon.com Review
There was a time when reading Joseph Heller’s classic satire on the murderous insanity of war was nothing less than a rite of passage. Echoes of Yossarian, the wise-ass bombardier who was too smart to die but not smart enough to find a way out of his quandary, could be heard throughout the counterculture. As a result, it’s impossible not to consider Catch-22 to be something of a period piece. But 40 years on, the novel’s undiminished might is its looking-glass logic. Again and again, Heller’s characters demonstrate that what is commonly held to be excellent, is terrible; what is sensible, is nonsense.
Yossarian says, “You’re talking about winning the war, and I am talking about winning the war and keeping alive.”
“Exactly,” Clevinger snapped smugly. “And which do you reflect is more vital?”
“To whom?” Yossarian shot back. “It doesn’t make a damn bit of difference who wins the war to a name who’s dead.”
“I can’t reflect of another attitude that could be depended upon to give greater comfort to the enemy.”
“The enemy,” retorted Yossarian with weighted precision, “is anyone who’s going to get you killed, no matter which side he’s on.”
Mirabile dictu, the book holds up post-Reagan, post-Gulf War. It’s a excellent thing, too. As long as there’s a military, that engine of lethal power, Catch-22 will shine as a handbook for smart-alecky pacifists. It’s an utterly serious and sad, but damn amusing book.
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First of all, the only part of the book that was worth reading was the end, but one thing that REALLY REALLY ANNOYED ME about this book is that is states:
1. The military is terrible and unorganized
2. Whoever is in the military is an idoit
3. Whoever opposes the military is heroic
THESE ARE COMPLETELY FALSE! I HATED THIS BOOK SO MUCH AND I THINK THAT IT SUMS UP TO….. MAIN POINT IN CATCH 22: Nothing is worth fighting for.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
I really don’t see what is the fun there except for the legendary Catch 22 definition.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
I despise books with lots of characters. And this one had a ton. It seems like every chapter had five new people id “meet”, then forget about a few chapters later. I kept reading it, but I just couldnt stand it. I stopped abut half-way through.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
I permanently wanted to read Catch 22 because it was a legendary book (and of course the term was used in a Metallica song). I started reading it three times but after 50 pages or so, I permanently lost interest. I never could learn a tale and the many dialogues and events are weird, to say the least. A name once told me it is a fantastic book after page 100 but I never got that far. So I can only say: don’t even try reading Catch 22′, read ‘1984′ by George Orwell and listen to Metallica.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
Tried it twice; couldn’t be bothered, really – life’s too fleeting! Only amusing if you thought war was a sensible career option for mankind. The book I really want to track down, also published in the 60s, was set amongst the postwar occupation force in Japan (a lot of haiku writing went on, I remember) – can anyone help?
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5