Catch 22

By: Joseph Heller

Narrated by: Trevor White

Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

At the heart of Joseph Heller's best-selling novel, first published in 1961, is a satirical indictment of military madness and stupidity, and the desire of the ordinary man to survive it.

This is the tale of the dangerously sane Captain Yossarian, who spends his time in Italy plotting to survive. Yossarian is a bombardier in the 256th Squadron of the US Army Air Forces during World War II, stationed on Pianosa, a fictionalised island in the Mediterranean between mainland Italy and Corsica. The squadron's assignment is to bomb enemy positions in Italy and eastern France. Yossarian's mission is simply to stay alive.

©1961 Joseph Heller (P)2008 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"The greatest satirical work in the English language since Erewhon. ( Observer)
"Wildly original, and brutally gruesome, a dazzling performance that will outrage as many readers as it delights. Vulgarly, bitterly, savagely funny, it will not be forgotten by those who can take it." ( The New York Times)
"An apocalyptic masterpiece." ( Chicago Times)

What the 2x reading speed button was designed for.

Catch 22 is listed as an American classic, and the sheer amount of critical acclaim and 5 star reviews suggests to me that there must be something to this book. However, I simply cannot see what that "something" is, as to me this is one of the most tedious books I've ever read/listened to. For reference, I tried to read this once before, and gave up. There are only two books which I have given up on, this being one, Gravity's Rainbow being the other. The audiobook I feel is the only reason I was able to finish, and the reasons for this i will make clear later. I won't go into what the book is about, as the description here pretty much sums it up, but I do need to mention some things to any prospective reader.

Firstly,

The Plot:
So a lot of people will mention that there is no plot in this book. That is not strictly true; there is a plot, but it takes incredibly long to actually get to it. The book could in fact have its entire middle removed, without much really being lost in terms of plot. The non chronological nature makes it difficult to follow, and events jump randomly between various scenes. The entire thing feels a little bit like a sitcom, albeit one that is movie length, and in which very little happens. To be fair, the ending is not too bad, and those last 5 or so chapters are actually somewhat emotional, and readable. Overall though, it feels that the entire plot is just a ruse in order to cram as many "witty" conversations as possible into the (not unsubstantial) pages on this book. Indeed, probably the most important bit to cover is...

The Dialog:
In order for you to properly understand my issue with this novel, it is mandatory to demonstrate the general format of conversation used. The overwhelming amount of these involve the protagonist Yossarian, and a representative of one of the other (numerous and unilaterally absurd) characters on the semi-fictional island of Pianosa. This is how it usually goes down:

Random: I'm doing X. (X = something ridiculous)
Yossarian: X?
Random: Yes X?
Yossarian: Why X?
Random: Because Y.(Y = something related, but also invariably ridiculous)
Yossarian: Y?
Random: That's right, Y.
Yossarian: You're crazy!
Random: I'm crazy? Maybe you're crazy!?
Yossarian: If you're not crazy, why are you doing X?
Random: Because Y.
(Repeat in endless loop for 3 pages)

The point here is, is that these pages of dialog occur constantly, and are actually physically exhausting to read (I hear this book is one of the most frequent books that are not finished). This is what's great about the audiobook version, as it is possible to sit and just grind through it. It's worth noting that the reader is quite good, and if one cranks this up to 2x speed, its very much possible to understand it with a bit of practice. Because conversations are so repetitive, very little needs to be processed most of the time. Let me be clear, that some of the little scenes (remember how I said this was like a sitcom) are actually quite funny. There are indeed quite a few, though they are vastly outnumbered by the unfunny repetition nonsense described above. It would almost be worth publishing another book, with these "highlights" pulled out. Most of the conversations try and illustrate some sort of point, which brings me to the final section.

The Themes:
Bear in mind that I am no literary critic, so this is just my basic analysis. All of the little vignettes will generally fall into one of three themes.
1. War is Hell: Usually illustrated by people dying senselessly, and Yossarian's constant need to "survive".
2. The Military is Bureaucratic: Evidenced by the complete lack of logic in any of Yossarian's superiors. While initially funny, this gets tiresome fast, as no one in this fictional version of the military does ANYTHING that makes ANY sense.
3. Capitalism/Greed: This is generally one of the better parts of the book, and Milo's various exploits with the Syndicate are quite inspired. Definitely worth reading these parts.

All well and good. What's not good is having these concepts smashed into your skull at every possible turn. It's funny the first 2/3 times, after that you can see it coming miles off.

Ultimately the book is just too damn long! If cut down to a short novel or story, it could be quite readable. But as it stands, the only reason to finish it for me was to not allow it to beat me (again). Overall there are definitely good bits, but to get to them is just such a chore. Few times have I had to force myself to sit there and listen to a book. Perhaps the book has dated quite badly, or I just "don't get it". I don't know, but I would suggest to any potential reader to think long and hard, if 450 pages of the aforementioned conversations and plot points is something you can handle. So that's it, if you need to have this classic ticked off your list, load it up, grab some red bull, crank that bad boy to 2x speed, and have at it.

Don't think the reader got it

Catch-22 is a sparklingly funny book, but it needs a deadpan delivery to pull it off. Trevor White seems to think that he is reading a bloody, amoral and unpleasant war tome. He is, of course, but the genius of the book is that its wit makes its dark subject matter accessible and so much more heart-wrenching for catching you unaware. White reads like he's spitting out the words and glad to be rid of them. A disappointment.

Maybe a classic but dated.

Didn’t enjoy. Dated, neurotic and super over enthusiastic performance. Not a fan. Couldn’t get into it. Couldn’t even finish.