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Catch-22
 
 
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Catch-22 (Paperback)

by Joseph Heller (Author) "It was love at first sight ..." (more)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (624 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 18.99
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Product Description

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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 predicament, 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 strength is its looking-glass logic. Again and again, Heller's characters demonstrate that what is commonly held to be good, is bad; 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 think is more important?"
"To whom?" Yossarian shot back. "It doesn't make a damn bit of difference who wins the war to someone who's dead."
"I can't think of another attitude that could be depended upon to give greater comfort to the enemy."
"The enemy," retorted Yossarian with weighted precision, "is anybody 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 good thing, too. As long as there's a military, that engine of lethal authority, Catch-22 will shine as a handbook for smart-alecky pacifists. It's an utterly serious and sad, but damn funny book.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. It would be difficult to imagine richer material for an audiobook reader, comedically speaking, than Joseph Heller's classic novel of wartime madness. Sanders is the lucky actor chosen to read Heller's masterpiece, and he does well by it, proceeding gamely through the novel's staggering array of comic set pieces and deliriously woozy dialogue. Heller's humor is straight-faced, requiring little more than a steady, sure voice, and Sanders offers just that. Line by line, joke by joke, Sanders reels through the marvelous phantasmagoria of Heller's World War II, tongue planted firmly in cheek. Caedmon's impressive package includes a 1970s-era recording of Heller reading selections from his book. Heller is a delightful contrast to Sanders, his slight lisp accentuating a marvelous Brooklyn accent. Heller reads as if with cigar perched on his lip and turns his novel into an extended borscht belt comic's riff.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
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Customer Reviews

624 Reviews
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 (87)
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2 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (624 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A classic for the ages, Mar 7 2006
By Franny and Z. (Fort Selkirk) - See all my reviews
Classic. That's all that needs to be said. But there's more:
Catch 22 is the greatest Masterpiece of the 20th century. It is the greatest ethical novel yet written. The themes that drive the novel are all moral dilemmas in nature, refined so purely to a degree that few other books ever achieve, specifically: if i'm better off not doing what everyone would be better off doing if everyone did it, then why should i? Yossarian's rationales for things are exactly what ethicists are talking about! but Yossarian's complete strategy for behavior is so complex that many of the things in the book come as a complete surprise to the reader, even at the end. Yossarian is often misunderstood to be an Antihero, but we learn that he is perhaps one of the greatest moral heros of any major literary work, in the process, turning all of our ideas about what is right on their heads. The structure of the book is so insanely intelligent it is simply mind-boggling to begin to list the attributes of it. the way certain things are revealed, and in what order, maximizes enjoyment for the reader who is intelligent enough to keep the whole story in his head at once. The book is not merely funny it is a moral masterpiece with an unexpectedly good ending--an ending whose importance may not dawn on the reader for weeks after finishing the book. The impeccable description and use of extremely clever illogic as humor just add huge dimensions to the enjoyment of this great work. Must also recommend McCrae's -----"Katzenjammer"----- for another great and fun read, along with -----"Choke"----- by Chuck Palahniuk.
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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Catch it now, Mar 7 2006
By Farnold Arnsworth (Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
Few books that I've read really opened my eyes to something: Politics, human injustice, or idiotic ideology. Bradbury's "F 451" was one such book, and McCrae's "Katzenjammer" was another. So was Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Enter Catch 22. Catch 22 takes to the extreme many of the American archetypes of World War II. Yossarian, the unwilling patriot; Milo Minder-bender, the ultimate in the capitalistic ideal; Snowden, the mostly forgotten victim; and Colonel Cathcart the ambitious officer. Cynical behaiviour abounds as the pilots try to reach the ever increasing number of missions needed to be flown in order to go home. Peppered with vivid and intense scenes, Catch 22 is one of the funniest and amazing books that exist. It is an emotional and cynical tale that reveals Heller's genius as he turns the reality of World War II into important commentary. One of the best ways to examine why we as a society do some of the things that we do is through humor and Catch 22 does exactly that. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. You must also try -------"Katzenjammer" by Jackson McCrae------- FANTASTIC read!
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1.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't take it, Dec 12 2009
Regarded as a classic, the nagging implication is that if you don't enjoy this one, you just might be cursed with a dreary mind. I will agree with a handful of readers who, although they didn't like it, will respectfully acknowledge the impact of this book in its time.

However...if you don't like this book, I for one won't accuse you of being stupid.

I'd heard Catch-22 was a wry, dark and humourous social commentary set in the grim theatre of World War Two. Perhaps this is what you've heard as well. It may be that I just don't think the purpose of reading anything - fiction or not - should be principally in order to appreciate the complexity of its structure. Or lack thereof... or whatever.

Fine. But I also thought Catch-22 was supposed to be funny.

After reading only a few chapters, I suddenly felt like I was reading a joke with no punch line. Or like I was listening to the really smart kid at the undergrad party rambling on with sophisticated witticisms while everybody else is hanging off each other, slobbering "I love you, man." The preface compares Catch-22 to Kurt Vonnegut. But Catch-22 did not make me laugh. On the other hand, Kurt Vonnegut can make me laugh. Out loud sometimes.

I skipped absently through this one, looking for the good parts near the end. I slowed down a bit and then, it was mercifully over.

It's not that Heller isn't a talented writer. Here is a passage of uncharacteristic clarity.

"The B-52s they flew in were stable, dependable, dull-green with twin rudders and engines
and wide wings. Their single fault, from where Yossarian sat as a bombardier, was the
tight crawlway separating the bombardier's compartment in the plexiglass nose from the nearest
escape hatch... The crawlway was Yossarian's lifeline to outside from a plane about to fall,
but Yossarian swore at it with seething antagonism, reviled it as an obstacle put there by
providence as part of the plot that would destroy him."

So maybe it's just a question of style. Or taste. Or something to that effect. But I figure that if you're looking for weird, wonderful and cynical but WITH humour AND a deep sense of humanity thrown in for good measure, you should just read Vonnegut. If you're looking for human courage set in the world of pilots and adventure, maybe read Antoine de Saint-Exupery. I don't know. But not this. The New York Times review on the back cover claims that Catch-22 is "Wildly original... for those who can take it." Original, I suppose. But I couldn't take it.

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 		 Most recent customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars mentally ill army men "babies"
I have to agree with the other low star raters out there. I wanted to rate 0 but it's not allowed. It doesn't even deserve 1 star. Read more
Published 2 months ago by A. Jacques

5.0 out of 5 stars More Than Just A Satire
Heller's satirical plot is interlaced with genuine tragic moments. There is a particular event in the story (Snowden) that is told and retold several times - Heller keeps... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Erin

2.0 out of 5 stars I'd take a pass on this one
I read this novel because for years people have been using the term "catch-22" in their everyday speak. Read more
Published on Mar 19 2008 by NorthVan Dave

3.0 out of 5 stars not among my favorite novels
I never really got into this book, and I'm not quite sure what all the fuss is about. It's at least semi-creative, and it is well written, but I didn't find it all that funny. Read more
Published on Dec 2 2007 by Paul J. Fitzgerald

5.0 out of 5 stars A Timeless Classic!
The greatness of Joesph Heller's Catch-22 cannot possibly be overstated. It is simply one of the finest books ever written, and one can only hope that it will continue to be read... Read more
Published on July 22 2005 by Max Schmidt

5.0 out of 5 stars Rings True...Regarding Life in General
Catch 22 is a classic.

No book has more viciously exposed the way logic can be a false, coercive tool, or the way men can be coerced by society into fulfilling roles they are... Read more

Published on July 11 2005 by Jimmy Taylor

5.0 out of 5 stars A Timeless Classic!
The greatness of Joesph Heller's Catch-22 cannot possibly be overstated. It is simply one of the finest books ever written, and one can only hope that it will continue to be read... Read more
Published on Jun 23 2005 by Max Schmidt

5.0 out of 5 stars Rings True...Regarding Life in General
Catch 22 is a classic.

No book has more viciously exposed the way logic can be a false, coercive tool, or the way men can be coerced by society into fulfilling roles they are... Read more

Published on Jun 1 2005 by Jimmy Taylor

5.0 out of 5 stars A Timeless Classic!
The greatness of Joesph Heller's Catch-22 cannot possibly be overstated. It is simply one of the finest books ever written, and one can only hope that it will continue to be read... Read more
Published on May 3 2005 by Max Schmidt (Chicago, IL)

5.0 out of 5 stars Top of my list
There are only a handful of books that refuse to fall into pre-determined "categories." CATCH 22 is one such book. Read more
Published on Feb 4 2005 by Starkweather,

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