This is one of my brother's favorite books and also well liked by some friends of mine. It was a pretty good read, but difficult. It has this interesting spiraling, not exactly linear story structure to it. It was almost like reading a collection of short stories, but as you go on you begin to see how they are all connected. Sometimes this meant I had no idea who someone was or what was going on. When that happened I trusted a friend's advice "Catch-22 makes a lot more sense when you just give up and realize that everyone in the book is crazy". Good advice. I wonder if it would work with other authors like say Dickens? Nevertheless when I did understand what was going on in those stories I often found them to be humorous. I actually laughed at a few things and books rarely get me to laugh as I am a very serious reader/individual. A few characters stand out more than others and all in all it was a satisfying read. The only downside is that all throughout the novel I knew I would need to read it again to really start to understand what all is in there. I hate it when I am reading a book and knowing that I am just not really getting it. Of course in reading it again I would find more and more that I don't understand so I would need to read it again and so forth and so forth. Its almost like its own little Catch-22. Brilliant! So all in all, its a funny read, just one who's full importance, like most novels on those "Must Read" lists, is probably over my head.Monday, December 15, 2008
Book Review "Catch-22"
This is one of my brother's favorite books and also well liked by some friends of mine. It was a pretty good read, but difficult. It has this interesting spiraling, not exactly linear story structure to it. It was almost like reading a collection of short stories, but as you go on you begin to see how they are all connected. Sometimes this meant I had no idea who someone was or what was going on. When that happened I trusted a friend's advice "Catch-22 makes a lot more sense when you just give up and realize that everyone in the book is crazy". Good advice. I wonder if it would work with other authors like say Dickens? Nevertheless when I did understand what was going on in those stories I often found them to be humorous. I actually laughed at a few things and books rarely get me to laugh as I am a very serious reader/individual. A few characters stand out more than others and all in all it was a satisfying read. The only downside is that all throughout the novel I knew I would need to read it again to really start to understand what all is in there. I hate it when I am reading a book and knowing that I am just not really getting it. Of course in reading it again I would find more and more that I don't understand so I would need to read it again and so forth and so forth. Its almost like its own little Catch-22. Brilliant! So all in all, its a funny read, just one who's full importance, like most novels on those "Must Read" lists, is probably over my head.
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Great book! An even better way to make sense of it is to, instead of realizing that everyone in the book is crazy, realize that you, the reader, are crazy. Catch-22 is a sort of simulated insanity for the reader. It’s like in that Simpsons episode where they put on those glasses that allow you to experience the world through the eyes of a drunk. Reading Catch-22 is like putting on crazy glasses and seeing the world through the mind of a lunatic. The trick is taking the glasses of when you are done reading.
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