22, only partially caught

I won't have finished Catch-22 by month's end. I just finished reading chapter 19 of 42. I will finish it, however, even though I don't like it. As I have mentioned, I recall abandoning only 2 books without finishing them. It took me more than a year to read A Hundred Years of Solitude (felt like longer), but finish it I did! My goal will be to finish Catch-22 before its library due date. And I'll try NaNoReMo again next year.

I would blame my dislike for Catch-22 on postpartum hormones (yes, of course I'd rather be weeping at The Namesake or The Whole World Over), but honestly, I don't think I'd like it under normal circumstances. The "who's on first" style and circuitous logic are cute for about 1.5 chapters; after that, it just seems dumb. The style might not be so annoying if the characters and plot were more engaging. But, at nearly the halfway point, I haven't learned much more than War is crazy. Yossarian wants out. Here are some profiles of his zany sidekicks. If Joseph Heller wrote a blog, it would not be in my feed reader.

One good thing about Catch-22 is it's not a book that requires a lot of brainwidth. As I read, I will have realized that my mind has wandered for the past page and a half, yet I find that I haven't missed anything. I went back and reread a passage that I was going to excerpt here—one that I found rather clever—and realized that as I glossed over it at first read, I had altered the meaning. The actual passage wasn't as clever as the version my addled brain had filled in.

The book I finished just prior to picking up Catch-22 was the fantastic Sweet Land. (Thanks Pam!) Will Weaver manages to flesh out his disparate characters so well in these short stories. Heller's, by comparison, are flat and cartoony.

The one chapter I really liked was 9, "Major Major Major Major." Matthew Baldwin discusses it here.

I do like the way Catch-22 makes fun of the military. And I suppose it was pretty radical at the time it was written (1950s). I would write a longer review, but ultimately I'd rather catch 22 winks than devote any more time to this book.

Aaannd "publish."

Comments

[LetterB]

I concur. Catch-22 is one of those books whose genius lies in it's historical context. Many books like that just don't hold up. Imagine your grandkids reading Generation X, for instance.

If you haven't seen the documentary "Stone Reader" I totally recommend it. It is an absolute joy.

[MonkeyHateClean]

We're trying to get through the movie "The Manchurian Candidate" - same problem. It doesn't help that we sit down at 10:00 after a day of work and a second shift of parental responsibilities. Cue the "Important" movie and zzzzzzz.

Also, I cannot seem to get past the first Chapter of "The Shipping News" although I know it's a fine work of fiction. And I have never read "The Sound and the Fury." Life's too short.

I did like One Hundred Years of Solitude, though. You really have to plow through, revel in the atmosphere and enjoy the prose rather than worry about the circular plot. My husband could not get past the dirt-eating character in that one, so you can talk amongst yourselves.

Last good book I read was The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani. Strong feminist character situated in medieval Persia. Great character development, historical insight and appreciation for the fine art of carpet design/weaving. Anita is an Iranian Jumpa Lahari, if I may...

[Andrea]

Hey you, feel the same way on Catch 22. And I used to have this thing about finishing every book, if ONLY so I could accturately, and with no guilt, rip it to shreds in conversation! But now, I have a different attitude. Life IS too short to be reading what you don't enjoy because someone said it was worthy. Just my 22 cents! ;-) And--hey I love that plaid hat you're sporting down there to the right!