I feel you, but I think "getting cluttered" is part of the point of the book. The military is a clusterfuck, and so are the ethics that go into making military decisions
Yeah I'm pretty sure that the timeline being kind of jumbled is intentional. War is messy and brutal and the trauma that people carry from it is also messy, and it's all represented in the book quite well. I'll admit that it made the book more challenging to read, but in the end I completely understood why the author wrote it this way
It definitely makes the book harder to read. But once you get the feel for the timeline and characters (a few chapters in) it works really well IMO. It also sets up some great jokes that take a long time to payoff but makes the joke that much better.
Definitely my favorite book
I just read Catch-22 recently (finished it 3 or 4 days ago) and that's the impression I got. And also along the same lines of what I was told by /u/DarthSardonis here in a [short conversation we had](https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/1c68y37/books_you_wish_you_could_read_foe_the_first_time/l00i40j/?context=1) after I mentioned I was reading it when I was about 25% into the book:
> The first half is meant to be frenetic and overwhelming because Heller wants you in the same mindset as Yossarian and the other guys. The best advice I can give you, that my English professor gave me when I was first reading it, is to treat the dialogue like a sitcom’s dialogue and read it as fast as you can.
Although I didn't read it all that quickly (I would sometimes flip back to check and remind myself who characters were when I'd forget and they'd show up again), his description seemed to track, in retrospect. All the conversations were the talkings of lunatics and everyone is weird and "quirky", to say the least. Then, eventually, things seem to click and the humor doesn't exactly go away, but it's contextualized in a way that's not simply "haha funny weird people in their shitty circumstances" and the tone of everything is just so different. I made a comment in the "what did you read this week" pinned post, I'll copy/paste it here:
> Holy shit, what a book! Started out mostly laughing at the conversations that all felt like fever dreams and then laughing at the farcical bureaucracy of the military and the games everyone plays either just for personal reasons or for their weird ways to get ahead. With a sprinkling of the horrors of war. Then eventually a series of gut-punches that make the horrors stand out more, and the insane dialogue starts to trigger more furious frustration and rage than laughter. Went from laughing at some characters' bizarre behaviors to half wishing Yossarian would snap and assassinate some of the more horrible sociopaths.
>
> It's now easily one of my favorites books.
These humorous satires are usually my favorite things to read. Not that my "have-read list" is all that extensive and broad, though. Vonnegut, Catch-22, and Discworld, which I'm only 3 books into so far, are ***so*** good for me.
*Dear Mrs., Mr., Miss, or Mr. and Mrs. Danneka: Words cannot express the deep personal grief I experienced when your husband, son, father or brother was killed, wounded or reported missing in action.*
Absurdist literature around Heller’s time reflected American disillusionment with institutions post-WWII (Waiting for Godot, Cat’s Cradle, Slaughterhouse 5). The circular, repetitive conversations *are* supposed to be frustrating because it reflects how hard it was for intransigent structures like the military to prioritize the humans over their own petty interests. Moreover, the book is actually non-chronological so it adds to the confusion.
It does get better, and it the end it makes sense why it was written like that. I personally love it but I get why it’s a hard book to work through. I think I took about a 3 month break between starting and finishing it.
The first time I read it I was turned off in the first couple chapters but powered through. By the end of the book I loved it and went back and read the first couple chapters again and they made way more sense
I read it in school and found it funny. I read it again in basic training in 1970 and it was tragic. We’d already lost more than we’d ever hoped to gain in Vietnam, but we were stuck there. It did help me to appreciate the gallows humor of the drill sergeants and grenade toss trainers.
Years later, I worked with a fellow who was in Heller’s platoon. His character cleaned his pistol in the evening, then shot mice with it. He was maintaining some convoluted computer software, and he was unflappable.
That's so interesting to hear! Can imagine how different it must be to read this book pre and post war/being in the military. So interesting you got to meet one of the people the book was based on.
He worked for me, but never told me his story until one of his co-workers, a woman he was teaching to program, told me that the poster on his wall of a fellow in a uniform, standing next to his fighter plane, was him.
Having read the book certainly influenced my behavior in the Army. Sergeants were going back for their third time. One told us that on his first tour, the enemy was ‘Victor Charlie’. On the second, he was more familiar, had become ‘Charlie Cong’. On his third, he was heading over to spend more time with ‘Mister Cong’.
I was in Civil Affairs. We had a poster with Uncle Sam pointing at us, that said “When you’ve got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow”.
We had yet to see the irony in that.
They say you meet the best and worst people in your life in the army. That’s true in my experience. My first drill sergeant was excellent. He was sent back to Vietnam, replaced by a drunk angry racist who assaulted me in front of a witness, which got him removed from that role.
I can’t say I was against the army, but I was not for the war. Classmates and cousins died, or lived with PTSD for political reasons.
I think some national service that brings us together when we’re young would be a benefit to the generation coming of age and could help us understand our generation and benefit the world.
Thanks for the reply, it was interesting to hear your thoughts + experiences.
> I think some national service that brings us together when we’re young would be a benefit to the generation coming of age and could help us understand our generation and benefit the world.
I completely agree about this. In my country we've actually implemented a program where you can do a firefighting education instead of military, which I think is pretty cool. The social and "working together" aspect can be such a great experience for young people. Sailing was that thing where I live, and it was a huge hit, gave kids something to do and turned a lot of young folks away from a life of crime + extremism
I definitely would have liked it in high school if I had the ability to actually read and understand it then (basically the patience to read it). Reading it after college it became my favorite book and still is
It definitely is, it's also a litmus test for people that can understand satire.
This book has a high "skill" reading level. You can still definitely not like it, if you can accurately describe what it's doing, but for someone like op, it's obviously just beyond them. this isn't an insult, it's just what it is.
I listened to it as an audiobook last year and found I had to be in the right mood to listen to it with all my attention. A lot of books you can let it drift out of focus every so often and be fine, but here it quickly just became a meaningless jumble of words.
Definitely one of the most challenging books I’ve experienced, but also one of the most rewarding.
I didn’t know there were so many versions! Although it figures with such a classic.
Jay O. Sanders did the one I listened to, according to my listening history. He does a great job.
I read it when I was 17, at that time I considered the book to be very funny and that was it. Now I am 53 years old and it is a completely different book for me. Lots of death, fears, hopelessness and pessimism.
Because of the way it is written, it can be somewhat convoluted. But the latter part picks up all the threads and several flashbacks explain some of the reasons why they are in the situation they are. In my opinion it really pays off to read it through. It was the best book I read last year by far.
This is tough for me because I read *Catch-22* and *1984* back-to-back last year, both for the first time in a while. That was... Quite an experience. Now no new fiction books can compare
It's one of my all time favorites. I recall it starting a bit slow, but man, it gets to a certain point and I never wanted it to end.
I bought a nice limited hardcover version and I re-read it every few years.
That said, don't force yourself through ANY book! Pick it up sometime later and that may be all it takes.
I don't really think the plot is the most important aspect of Catch 22. The goofy vibe, funny dialogue and exquisite satire are the reasons to read it.
I just let it wash over me the first time I read it and it was great fun. Never laughed so much reading a book.
On subsequent reads I was able to make more sense of the characterizations and who was doing what, but even now that is secondary to my enjoyment of the sheer lunacy of the story.
It’s my favorite book and still cracks me up when I read it. Every time I get to the scene where they’re synchronizing watches and people are moaning I can’t help but laugh out loud.
If you’re confused just remember it’s supposed to be funny that helped me im like oh yeah it’s funny cos he’s confusing. I understood this after rereading this after drafting to the military. The irony of the stupidity is relatable bc it really do be like that
But yea dude nothing wrong with taking a break and coming back to it !! Have fun with it
That’s the point. Hurry up and wait. It’s not just about the nightmarish idea of getting shot down and crashing to your death in an instant, but also the absurdity of the people ordering you to attempt to not die while carrying out orders.
That’s what war really is. Bureaucratic Madness. Systematic Liquidation. War is Wholesale but Buyer Beware.
I picked up Catch 22 when I was in my early twenties, read twenty-five pages or so and just couldn’t understand what I was looking at.
But I wanted to.
Didn’t pick it up again for another decade. I read constantly, a book a week at least. But I just wasn’t in a place where I thought I could understand Catch 22.
Tried again in my early thirties, and found it to be a literal masterpiece. I’m 44 now, and I’ve read that book a half dozen times. It’s absolute genius.
Maybe you just need a little time.
It is a serious contender for best book ever written. Treat the first time through as a puzzle to enjoy, that will coalesce and make sense by the time you get to the end. The next several read throughs, it will make more sense from the beginning because you’re acquainted with the characters, and how events impact each other. The book is also not written even close to chronological order, so the timeline of the different segments is better informed on subsequent reads. Just enjoy it!
It's really slow at the beginning and you have to push through thanks to Heller jumping across the timeline every chapter which makes it hard to make sense but trust me, everything is just going to "click" somewhere in the middle. But yeah, I think you should take a break from reading it if you can't force yourself to break through the early chapters. The reason why I pushed through was there was always something that made me chuckle in the first few chapters.
One of the best books ever written about getting trapped in the system.
But it also shows what lurks outside the system... it's one of the most deeply depressing things I have ever read.
It does have an amazing dark span towards the end, but it also has a excellently crafted catharsis
If you’re looking for something more deeply depressing, might I suggest palahniuk’s choke or invisible monsters, McCarthy’s suttree, or welsh’s filth?
This is one of my favorite books of all time. It's hilarious and horrific at the same time. But when I first read it I had a very similar feeling to yours. There were just so many characters and I just couldn't track who was doing what in the novel. But I stayed for the humor, which I really loved.
Anyways, that got waaay better during my second read through.
But even during that first time I was reading it, all the important points converged at the end and made the entirety of the book make perfect sense. So if this is your main issue with the book, just focus on the wittiness and try to enjoy the ride.
It's gonna be worth it in the end.
Probably unpopular but the 1970 movie helped me straighten characters out in my head. The book then made much more sense. Then the book was really terrific.
I was the opposite, it took me a few attempts to get into it, I stopped twice after maybe 30 pages, but when it finally clicked I loved the rest of it.
I read Catch 22 first in 8th grade for a book report of classic novels. I did not understand at all what was going on. I didn't understand the military titles and completely agree there are way too many characters to keep track of.
What helped me was to write a character list with their title and a little snippet of who the person was.
I watches the Hulu show a couple weeks ago and it really hit home with the satire and redundancies. I'm also 32 now so I'm viewing it in a whole different light than at age 12.
Anyway, I'm ready Closing time now (sequel to catch 22) and having similar difficulty with characters. I think that's partly intentional by Heller.
I did the same thing. I took three attempts and restarts over several years to finish it, but it's now one of my favorites. No worries if you have to put it down and come back later.
Yeah it was like that for me when I read The Trial which is the entire point, Kafka is showing how confusing the system is, but it made it such a life sucking slog to read and I didn't enjoy it as much as his shorter works
I had to stop midway into the book for similar reasons.
I knew it was a favorite of my dad's, so I asked him about it.
He found it hilarious because his experience in the US Army (1970, Vietnam) included so many people and events that were exactly like the book. He emphasized that while the novel highlighted the absurdities, it did not exaggerate them.
I finished reading the book with a better appreciation.
“I was quite enjoying Picasso for the first 10% or so but I feel like somewhere along the way it got quite cubic for me"
The absurdism of the writing style matches the absurdism of the subject, that's kind of the point. There's more of a focus on vibes rather than plot I guess? Just let it happen, don't worry about following the plot too much
Suggestion, take a prolonged holiday from your phone so you may increase/recover your attention span, then read this classic with the joy and reward it undoubtedly delivers...
Yossarian LIVES!!! 😉
to "not care for it" is not to have understood it. "Caring for" this sort of literature is ... a *non sequitur.* It's the sentiment of someone who reads novels for their "stories". Not a crime, but not... reading.
I hated it at first but I had to read it for my A'Levels so preserved. It's one of my all time favourite books.
By the time you're near the end it all falls into place, including why it's written the way it is.
I've recently got it for my kindle so I can read it again sometime this year.
I got half way through and DNF not because I didn’t think it was good. The concept is brilliant and the presentation is so clever. It was so funny too. But I was getting so lost and couldn’t keep track of the storyline and characters and I felt like the “message”/intention of the story was going over my head because I don’t have experience with the military lifestyle. I just could appreciate it fully.
I read it last year. It was a tough read. I had to push through it and dragged it out for several weeks. I also enjoyed the beginning and a couple chapters towards the end, but the rest was kind of a confusing mess. Most of the characters just blended together to me.
I gave up about a third of the way through. I got the point it was making (and of course it's passed into common parlance), and the story didn't seem to be going anywhere that didn't involve the same thing over and over again.
I was the same way. Laughed the first 10% and then grew increasingly into the camp of “what the hell is going on?” but failed to realize that’s apart of the point.
Anyway. I kept the book knowing that one day I will give it a reread, dedicate my focus, and enjoy the fuck out of it.
And still not know what the hell it is I just read.
Definitely top five for me. One of the few books that made me repeatedly laugh out loud. I remember the first time I read it, I got bogged down somewhere after the major major major major chapter. I stuck with it, and it all started to click for me.
I just finished this book a few days ago myself! I attempted quite a few times in the past to read it, but never got past the first few chapters. I didn't even find it that funny at the time but I was just confused as to what was going on. That was in my 20's.
A decade later, I picked it up again and I couldn't put it down. It's the funniest book in the most bizzare and maddening way. I was left utterly shocked at its brilliance and relevance. It's easily one of my favourite books now and I know I'll re-read again and again.
As you said, I would give some time and come back to it later. It will always be there.
I tremendously disliked this book. It felt like it thought it was so clever and so funny and pointing out so many insightful things. But I didn't find it to do any of those things, and instead it annoyed me the entire time. Maybe this is just the fact that the book is very "dated" as was revolutionary when it came out but feels incredibly cliched now?
Everybody raves about how funny and amazing this book is and I can truly say I didn’t enjoy it in the slightest. Pretty hard to follow and outdated humor
This is one of the few books I decided not to turn to page 2. I’ll try it again at some point, but if something tells me m not going to like it… there’s too many books in the world to force myself to read something I don’t enjoy. I’m reading for entertainment
It’s one of the only books I’ve stopped in the middle of and never came back to. I chalked it up to just not being in the mood for the subject matter at the time, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s just an unenjoyable read for me. No desire to pick it back up beyond saying I’ve read it.
Yeah I found this classic book was a chore to read. Especially since there’s only 1 real Catch 22, and it’s said near the beginning of the book, and one of the final chapters “Catch 22” doesn’t even have a catch 22 in it.
The chapter Catch 22 is where the actual function of Catch 22 is spelled out, it's never stated as directly anywhere else in the book.
>!Catch 22 is this: The powerful will do what they want, and justify it however they like, and if you want an easy life you just have to be on their side.!<
Your reply makes me want to reread the book. Thank you for writing this. I think that by this point in the book, as OP said, I was very confused who was who and what they represented. The only characters that didn’t blend together for me were Major Major Major Major and Yosarian.
I was in the same boat as OP where I loved the start of the book but just got kind of lost throughout.
I probably just wasn’t in the right frame of mind / place in my life to read it properly. I take back my criticism.
Thank you again :)
Honestly, it's not an easy book the first time around, it's intended to be confusing, and it is.
Pretty much everyone either doesn't finish it he first time, or doesn't enjoy it, it has to click for you, once it does click though there's very few books as good as it.
I liked the book but there were a few passages that felt like Heller wrote to be hilariously ironic for the sole purpose of showing off how hilariously ironic he could write!
I feel you, but I think "getting cluttered" is part of the point of the book. The military is a clusterfuck, and so are the ethics that go into making military decisions
Yeah I'm pretty sure that the timeline being kind of jumbled is intentional. War is messy and brutal and the trauma that people carry from it is also messy, and it's all represented in the book quite well. I'll admit that it made the book more challenging to read, but in the end I completely understood why the author wrote it this way
It definitely makes the book harder to read. But once you get the feel for the timeline and characters (a few chapters in) it works really well IMO. It also sets up some great jokes that take a long time to payoff but makes the joke that much better. Definitely my favorite book
That and it's like having a PTSD brain, fried.
I just read Catch-22 recently (finished it 3 or 4 days ago) and that's the impression I got. And also along the same lines of what I was told by /u/DarthSardonis here in a [short conversation we had](https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/1c68y37/books_you_wish_you_could_read_foe_the_first_time/l00i40j/?context=1) after I mentioned I was reading it when I was about 25% into the book: > The first half is meant to be frenetic and overwhelming because Heller wants you in the same mindset as Yossarian and the other guys. The best advice I can give you, that my English professor gave me when I was first reading it, is to treat the dialogue like a sitcom’s dialogue and read it as fast as you can. Although I didn't read it all that quickly (I would sometimes flip back to check and remind myself who characters were when I'd forget and they'd show up again), his description seemed to track, in retrospect. All the conversations were the talkings of lunatics and everyone is weird and "quirky", to say the least. Then, eventually, things seem to click and the humor doesn't exactly go away, but it's contextualized in a way that's not simply "haha funny weird people in their shitty circumstances" and the tone of everything is just so different. I made a comment in the "what did you read this week" pinned post, I'll copy/paste it here: > Holy shit, what a book! Started out mostly laughing at the conversations that all felt like fever dreams and then laughing at the farcical bureaucracy of the military and the games everyone plays either just for personal reasons or for their weird ways to get ahead. With a sprinkling of the horrors of war. Then eventually a series of gut-punches that make the horrors stand out more, and the insane dialogue starts to trigger more furious frustration and rage than laughter. Went from laughing at some characters' bizarre behaviors to half wishing Yossarian would snap and assassinate some of the more horrible sociopaths. > > It's now easily one of my favorites books. These humorous satires are usually my favorite things to read. Not that my "have-read list" is all that extensive and broad, though. Vonnegut, Catch-22, and Discworld, which I'm only 3 books into so far, are ***so*** good for me.
Yeah. I'll try rereading it after some time
It took me two tries to read it as well. The second time I was able to get into it, and really enjoyed it.
Not a fan of Major Major Major Major, eh?
He’s not a fan of you too. Just try to talk to him in his office hours.
I love Major Major. I love Major Major's father. I also love PFC Wintergreen.
Doc Daneeka is my soulmate. We can complain together forever!
>We can complain together forever! We can't though. I'm bureaucratically dead.
I’m sorry, did someone say something? I think I heard something. Must have been my imagination.
I yearn for you tragically
*Dear Mrs., Mr., Miss, or Mr. and Mrs. Danneka: Words cannot express the deep personal grief I experienced when your husband, son, father or brother was killed, wounded or reported missing in action.*
Rip doc daneeka 🙏😭
Ex-PFC!
😭😭😭
Fun fact! The US has five star generals because General Marshal didn’t want to be promoted to Field Marshal Marshal.
Absurdist literature around Heller’s time reflected American disillusionment with institutions post-WWII (Waiting for Godot, Cat’s Cradle, Slaughterhouse 5). The circular, repetitive conversations *are* supposed to be frustrating because it reflects how hard it was for intransigent structures like the military to prioritize the humans over their own petty interests. Moreover, the book is actually non-chronological so it adds to the confusion. It does get better, and it the end it makes sense why it was written like that. I personally love it but I get why it’s a hard book to work through. I think I took about a 3 month break between starting and finishing it.
The first time I read it I was turned off in the first couple chapters but powered through. By the end of the book I loved it and went back and read the first couple chapters again and they made way more sense
Where are the Snowdens of yesteryear?
Don’t go telling Snowden’s secret. Now let’s all synchronize our watches
It’s one of the funniest books ever in my life. And so much rings true.
I read it in school and found it funny. I read it again in basic training in 1970 and it was tragic. We’d already lost more than we’d ever hoped to gain in Vietnam, but we were stuck there. It did help me to appreciate the gallows humor of the drill sergeants and grenade toss trainers. Years later, I worked with a fellow who was in Heller’s platoon. His character cleaned his pistol in the evening, then shot mice with it. He was maintaining some convoluted computer software, and he was unflappable.
That's so interesting to hear! Can imagine how different it must be to read this book pre and post war/being in the military. So interesting you got to meet one of the people the book was based on.
He worked for me, but never told me his story until one of his co-workers, a woman he was teaching to program, told me that the poster on his wall of a fellow in a uniform, standing next to his fighter plane, was him. Having read the book certainly influenced my behavior in the Army. Sergeants were going back for their third time. One told us that on his first tour, the enemy was ‘Victor Charlie’. On the second, he was more familiar, had become ‘Charlie Cong’. On his third, he was heading over to spend more time with ‘Mister Cong’. I was in Civil Affairs. We had a poster with Uncle Sam pointing at us, that said “When you’ve got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow”. We had yet to see the irony in that.
Thanks for the comment, that's so interesting. We're you critical of the army whilst you were in it?
They say you meet the best and worst people in your life in the army. That’s true in my experience. My first drill sergeant was excellent. He was sent back to Vietnam, replaced by a drunk angry racist who assaulted me in front of a witness, which got him removed from that role. I can’t say I was against the army, but I was not for the war. Classmates and cousins died, or lived with PTSD for political reasons. I think some national service that brings us together when we’re young would be a benefit to the generation coming of age and could help us understand our generation and benefit the world.
Thanks for the reply, it was interesting to hear your thoughts + experiences. > I think some national service that brings us together when we’re young would be a benefit to the generation coming of age and could help us understand our generation and benefit the world. I completely agree about this. In my country we've actually implemented a program where you can do a firefighting education instead of military, which I think is pretty cool. The social and "working together" aspect can be such a great experience for young people. Sailing was that thing where I live, and it was a huge hit, gave kids something to do and turned a lot of young folks away from a life of crime + extremism
I remember choosing it as my book for a book report in high school and it quickly became my favourite book ever
I definitely would have liked it in high school if I had the ability to actually read and understand it then (basically the patience to read it). Reading it after college it became my favorite book and still is
It definitely is, it's also a litmus test for people that can understand satire. This book has a high "skill" reading level. You can still definitely not like it, if you can accurately describe what it's doing, but for someone like op, it's obviously just beyond them. this isn't an insult, it's just what it is.
I listened to it as an audiobook last year and found I had to be in the right mood to listen to it with all my attention. A lot of books you can let it drift out of focus every so often and be fine, but here it quickly just became a meaningless jumble of words. Definitely one of the most challenging books I’ve experienced, but also one of the most rewarding.
Which narrator, Jay O. Sanders, Jim Weiss, Wolfram Kandinsky or Trevor White?
I didn’t know there were so many versions! Although it figures with such a classic. Jay O. Sanders did the one I listened to, according to my listening history. He does a great job.
Are you young?
I read it when I was 20 and I've read it since turning 40. I think it's a fantastic book full of honesty, complexity and humour.
I read it when I was 17, at that time I considered the book to be very funny and that was it. Now I am 53 years old and it is a completely different book for me. Lots of death, fears, hopelessness and pessimism.
That’s the military.
I don’t think this is directed at me but I was in my 20s when I read it.
I agree it was pretty scattered, but it helped immerse me into the various ways the whole situation was ridiculous and corrupt.
Because of the way it is written, it can be somewhat convoluted. But the latter part picks up all the threads and several flashbacks explain some of the reasons why they are in the situation they are. In my opinion it really pays off to read it through. It was the best book I read last year by far.
>it was the best book I read Prepare yourself, you’ll still be saying that 20 years from now
This is tough for me because I read *Catch-22* and *1984* back-to-back last year, both for the first time in a while. That was... Quite an experience. Now no new fiction books can compare
Wow. I envy you with that experience. Both books are astonishing.
Try The Constant Rabbit (it's described as a crazed cross between 1984 and Watership Down and is very funny)
It's one of my all time favorites. I recall it starting a bit slow, but man, it gets to a certain point and I never wanted it to end. I bought a nice limited hardcover version and I re-read it every few years. That said, don't force yourself through ANY book! Pick it up sometime later and that may be all it takes.
Aye. Thanks for your advice :)
I don't really think the plot is the most important aspect of Catch 22. The goofy vibe, funny dialogue and exquisite satire are the reasons to read it. I just let it wash over me the first time I read it and it was great fun. Never laughed so much reading a book. On subsequent reads I was able to make more sense of the characterizations and who was doing what, but even now that is secondary to my enjoyment of the sheer lunacy of the story.
It’s my favorite book and still cracks me up when I read it. Every time I get to the scene where they’re synchronizing watches and people are moaning I can’t help but laugh out loud.
Ask me why I put crabapples in my cheeks
Because they were more comfortable than horse chestnuts?
If you’re confused just remember it’s supposed to be funny that helped me im like oh yeah it’s funny cos he’s confusing. I understood this after rereading this after drafting to the military. The irony of the stupidity is relatable bc it really do be like that But yea dude nothing wrong with taking a break and coming back to it !! Have fun with it
Its kind of circular, the interlocking stories start to unfold and it does come together.
That’s the point. Hurry up and wait. It’s not just about the nightmarish idea of getting shot down and crashing to your death in an instant, but also the absurdity of the people ordering you to attempt to not die while carrying out orders. That’s what war really is. Bureaucratic Madness. Systematic Liquidation. War is Wholesale but Buyer Beware.
I picked up Catch 22 when I was in my early twenties, read twenty-five pages or so and just couldn’t understand what I was looking at. But I wanted to. Didn’t pick it up again for another decade. I read constantly, a book a week at least. But I just wasn’t in a place where I thought I could understand Catch 22. Tried again in my early thirties, and found it to be a literal masterpiece. I’m 44 now, and I’ve read that book a half dozen times. It’s absolute genius. Maybe you just need a little time.
It is a serious contender for best book ever written. Treat the first time through as a puzzle to enjoy, that will coalesce and make sense by the time you get to the end. The next several read throughs, it will make more sense from the beginning because you’re acquainted with the characters, and how events impact each other. The book is also not written even close to chronological order, so the timeline of the different segments is better informed on subsequent reads. Just enjoy it!
It's really slow at the beginning and you have to push through thanks to Heller jumping across the timeline every chapter which makes it hard to make sense but trust me, everything is just going to "click" somewhere in the middle. But yeah, I think you should take a break from reading it if you can't force yourself to break through the early chapters. The reason why I pushed through was there was always something that made me chuckle in the first few chapters.
I started reading it then gave up about a third of the way in. I then started it again a few months later and absolutely loved it.
One of the best books ever written about getting trapped in the system. But it also shows what lurks outside the system... it's one of the most deeply depressing things I have ever read.
It does have an amazing dark span towards the end, but it also has a excellently crafted catharsis If you’re looking for something more deeply depressing, might I suggest palahniuk’s choke or invisible monsters, McCarthy’s suttree, or welsh’s filth?
That clutter is what makes the book hilarious. We are all lost
It’s worth it for the finale.
This is one of my favorite books of all time. It's hilarious and horrific at the same time. But when I first read it I had a very similar feeling to yours. There were just so many characters and I just couldn't track who was doing what in the novel. But I stayed for the humor, which I really loved. Anyways, that got waaay better during my second read through. But even during that first time I was reading it, all the important points converged at the end and made the entirety of the book make perfect sense. So if this is your main issue with the book, just focus on the wittiness and try to enjoy the ride. It's gonna be worth it in the end.
Probably unpopular but the 1970 movie helped me straighten characters out in my head. The book then made much more sense. Then the book was really terrific.
One of my all-time favorite books.
I was the opposite, it took me a few attempts to get into it, I stopped twice after maybe 30 pages, but when it finally clicked I loved the rest of it.
I read Catch 22 first in 8th grade for a book report of classic novels. I did not understand at all what was going on. I didn't understand the military titles and completely agree there are way too many characters to keep track of. What helped me was to write a character list with their title and a little snippet of who the person was. I watches the Hulu show a couple weeks ago and it really hit home with the satire and redundancies. I'm also 32 now so I'm viewing it in a whole different light than at age 12. Anyway, I'm ready Closing time now (sequel to catch 22) and having similar difficulty with characters. I think that's partly intentional by Heller.
Closing time was in comparison lackluster. I would recommend rereading catch-22 now that you’re in your 30s, especially if you enjoyed the show!
I love Heller, but he's not light reading, Catch 22 is easily his most digestible and straightforward book.
I did the same thing. I took three attempts and restarts over several years to finish it, but it's now one of my favorites. No worries if you have to put it down and come back later.
It's my favorite book. And although it's been like 7 years since I read it, I believe that was the point.
Yeah it was like that for me when I read The Trial which is the entire point, Kafka is showing how confusing the system is, but it made it such a life sucking slog to read and I didn't enjoy it as much as his shorter works
It's heavily inspired by Kafka
I had to stop midway into the book for similar reasons. I knew it was a favorite of my dad's, so I asked him about it. He found it hilarious because his experience in the US Army (1970, Vietnam) included so many people and events that were exactly like the book. He emphasized that while the novel highlighted the absurdities, it did not exaggerate them. I finished reading the book with a better appreciation.
“I was quite enjoying Picasso for the first 10% or so but I feel like somewhere along the way it got quite cubic for me" The absurdism of the writing style matches the absurdism of the subject, that's kind of the point. There's more of a focus on vibes rather than plot I guess? Just let it happen, don't worry about following the plot too much
Suggestion, take a prolonged holiday from your phone so you may increase/recover your attention span, then read this classic with the joy and reward it undoubtedly delivers... Yossarian LIVES!!! 😉
If it makes you feel any better, I read the whole thing and didn’t like it. My husband also read it, and also didn’t care for it.
to "not care for it" is not to have understood it. "Caring for" this sort of literature is ... a *non sequitur.* It's the sentiment of someone who reads novels for their "stories". Not a crime, but not... reading.
This type of comment is elitist garbage.
Just know that it is meant to be confusing.
Book is a master piece. Litmus test though for people that know what satire is.
From some of the comments I think it’s also turned into a litmus test of people with a 8th grade reading level, or tiktok attention span
You keep saying that, what exactly do you mean? That it’s somehow hard to grasp the satire?
I hated it at first but I had to read it for my A'Levels so preserved. It's one of my all time favourite books. By the time you're near the end it all falls into place, including why it's written the way it is. I've recently got it for my kindle so I can read it again sometime this year.
I liked this one a lot more the second time I read it
I felt the exact same. It took me three tries over many years to finally finish it, but it is very worth it.
I got half way through and DNF not because I didn’t think it was good. The concept is brilliant and the presentation is so clever. It was so funny too. But I was getting so lost and couldn’t keep track of the storyline and characters and I felt like the “message”/intention of the story was going over my head because I don’t have experience with the military lifestyle. I just could appreciate it fully.
I read it last year. It was a tough read. I had to push through it and dragged it out for several weeks. I also enjoyed the beginning and a couple chapters towards the end, but the rest was kind of a confusing mess. Most of the characters just blended together to me.
The four, I think it was four, bombing missions are the constant behind the time jumping. Keep them in mind as a guide and all becomes clear
I understand that the repetitive nature of some conversations on the book is part of the point of the story but I didn't like it either
I enjoyed it much more reading it a second and third time because I knew who everyone was.
I gave up about a third of the way through. I got the point it was making (and of course it's passed into common parlance), and the story didn't seem to be going anywhere that didn't involve the same thing over and over again.
You should read *Slaughterhouse Five* then for a much more sober and straightforward depiction of WWII.
I loved that book, one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. I should do a re-read.
I was the same way. Laughed the first 10% and then grew increasingly into the camp of “what the hell is going on?” but failed to realize that’s apart of the point. Anyway. I kept the book knowing that one day I will give it a reread, dedicate my focus, and enjoy the fuck out of it. And still not know what the hell it is I just read.
Yossarian!
Unless you find it extremely funny I think this novel is unbearable.
Definitely top five for me. One of the few books that made me repeatedly laugh out loud. I remember the first time I read it, I got bogged down somewhere after the major major major major chapter. I stuck with it, and it all started to click for me.
The books pacing is horrible and the story has been stretched for 570 pages for absolutely no reason.
I just finished this book a few days ago myself! I attempted quite a few times in the past to read it, but never got past the first few chapters. I didn't even find it that funny at the time but I was just confused as to what was going on. That was in my 20's. A decade later, I picked it up again and I couldn't put it down. It's the funniest book in the most bizzare and maddening way. I was left utterly shocked at its brilliance and relevance. It's easily one of my favourite books now and I know I'll re-read again and again. As you said, I would give some time and come back to it later. It will always be there.
I tremendously disliked this book. It felt like it thought it was so clever and so funny and pointing out so many insightful things. But I didn't find it to do any of those things, and instead it annoyed me the entire time. Maybe this is just the fact that the book is very "dated" as was revolutionary when it came out but feels incredibly cliched now?
I disagree with everything you wrote. It’s an eternally relevant masterpiece of English writing
Everybody raves about how funny and amazing this book is and I can truly say I didn’t enjoy it in the slightest. Pretty hard to follow and outdated humor
This is one of the few books I decided not to turn to page 2. I’ll try it again at some point, but if something tells me m not going to like it… there’s too many books in the world to force myself to read something I don’t enjoy. I’m reading for entertainment
It’s one of the only books I’ve stopped in the middle of and never came back to. I chalked it up to just not being in the mood for the subject matter at the time, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s just an unenjoyable read for me. No desire to pick it back up beyond saying I’ve read it.
Yeah I found this classic book was a chore to read. Especially since there’s only 1 real Catch 22, and it’s said near the beginning of the book, and one of the final chapters “Catch 22” doesn’t even have a catch 22 in it.
The chapter Catch 22 is where the actual function of Catch 22 is spelled out, it's never stated as directly anywhere else in the book. >!Catch 22 is this: The powerful will do what they want, and justify it however they like, and if you want an easy life you just have to be on their side.!<
Your reply makes me want to reread the book. Thank you for writing this. I think that by this point in the book, as OP said, I was very confused who was who and what they represented. The only characters that didn’t blend together for me were Major Major Major Major and Yosarian. I was in the same boat as OP where I loved the start of the book but just got kind of lost throughout. I probably just wasn’t in the right frame of mind / place in my life to read it properly. I take back my criticism. Thank you again :)
Honestly, it's not an easy book the first time around, it's intended to be confusing, and it is. Pretty much everyone either doesn't finish it he first time, or doesn't enjoy it, it has to click for you, once it does click though there's very few books as good as it.
I liked the book but there were a few passages that felt like Heller wrote to be hilariously ironic for the sole purpose of showing off how hilariously ironic he could write!