Victoria Reads Books

Catch-22 is a clever, clever book. Yet, as many other reviewers have stated, there is so much cleverness that it gains a feeling of repetitiveness, and renders it remarkably difficult to read. Despite the brilliant writing and the uniquely absurd nature of the scenarios, I felt like I had to drag myself through about three-quarters of the book. It was hard to juggle the characters that were continuously introduced; the significance of some characters were lost on me because I simply could not recall who they were. The fragmented plotline was also difficult to follow at times. However, the paradoxes were delightful, there were some truly hilarious moments, and the author did an excellent job demonstrating the absurdity of bureaucracy and war. The end definitely helped to redeem the book for me; the pace picked up in the final quarter, and it came to a satisfying conclusion. Overall, this book is brilliant in its satirical nature and style of writing; however, I would be reluctant to reread it (at least in the near future), as the majority of this 463 page book was a struggle to get through.

Favourite quote:

"Morale was deteriorating and it was all Yossarian's fault. The country was in peril; he was jeopardizing his traditional rights of freedom and independence by daring to exercise them."