Book info

• Title
• Author Joseph Heller
• Year
• Genres

Thoughts

My prior knowledge of Catch 22 was simply the phrase. The beautifully circular nature of unfortunate incidents. I didn’t know it was a book, or a film, and so I was keen to learn.

I can’t honestly say that I enjoyed the book, but there were bits of it I liked. Just like the concept of Catch 22 itself, Joseph Heller’s writing was repetitive and full of riddles. Sometimes I wasn’t sure I knew what was going on, and I’d have to read a conversation several times to make sure I could follow it. Other times it was easy to keep up.

The overriding plot started out as more of a character study, introducing each new person in turn and adding to the story as each name popped up. Towards the end of the book, things turned a lot darker, with death and depression becoming key factors.

At first I couldn’t reconcile the two in my head, they seemed like completely different stories, but ultimately I guess that is what war was like. Time split between idling and trying to cling on to sanity, before a burst of action, and‚ unavoidably‚ death.

It’s not a book I would start recommending, but it’s something I am happy to have read; and at least partially understood.

Rating: Unrated