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Catch-22

Author: Joseph Heller
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book

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New (31) Used (25) from Ł2.98

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

122 reviews
Sales Rank: 174

Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 576
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5 x 1.4

ISBN: 0099477319
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780099477310
ASIN: 0099477319

Publication Date: October 6, 1994
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Creasing to covers and spine. Shipped next working day from UK. Delivery within 2-3 working days. International shipments will take 7-10 working days. Heavy books will be sent via Surface Mail.

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Customer Reviews: Read 117 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant March 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Im amazed at some of the criticism here, to be honest. The books is brilliant, funny, and extremely clever. Todays 'absurd humour' seems to consist of saying random words accompanied with random adjectives at random times, completely wittless, this book oozes wit on every page. This humour doesnt feel dated at all and i am 24. As for those saying 'war is not funny', i think you are massively missing the point. The book is long and i think the first half of the book is more engaging, but overall, one of the best books i have read. As for people saying the humour is adolescent, would you really give this to kids and think they would enjoy it?

A superb book deserving of its reputation, and a shame for those that havent enjoyed it here.

And i agree, funnier than Catcher in The Rye.

5 out of 5 stars

The best book for a holiday March 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I can't think of a better book to take with you on a holiday. I find incredible that some people considered Catch-22 rather monotonous. It's anything but. The book structure is arranged by characters which means the story never gets boring or monotonous. I can't help laughing every time I think of Milo Minderbinder, he is definitely my favourite. The fact that the 500+ pages of this book are arranged in more than 40 chapters also helps a great deal in getting you through the story, as you can always take a breath between chapters before moving on. I've been reading both A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby and Yes Man by Danny Wallace since I've finished with this one and they look just like silly comedy books for teenagers compared to this masterpiece by Joseph Heller.

5 out of 5 stars

the great American novel February 13, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This really is my favourite book of all time.
Heller uses the novel as a playground to flex his storytelling muscle with the result that the readercan only do his best to keep up.
Heller's masterful hold of chronology is present in every chapter and his humour is splashed over every page. I read this book first a year ago and i've read it again since, it still remains the only book that has made me laugh enough that i couldn't read the next line for the tears. This said do not assume that the book contains only comedy; death, insanity and fear are also tackled throughout to devastating effect.
Catch 22 acts not only as a narrative but as an allegory for the lunacy, bureaucracy and inexplicable will to survive in World War Two told by one of the greatest writers of all time.
Truly great American literature is thin on the ground but there is hardly anything written anywhere in the world as good as this, including England.

5 out of 5 stars

You've gotta love it. January 20, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

I picked this up as a discarded book at my place of work and, having nothing to read, took another look at it after thirty years or so. What a lovely surprise - it's just as good as it was the first time round, perhaps, given the present state of affairs in the world, even better. It tells the story of Yossarian, "Yo-Yo" to his friends, who simply doesn't want to die fighting for something he has no direct interest in. It is both a savage indictment of international big-business and of war, while, at the same time, it presents the reader with a splendid, if somewhat surrealistic, view of human psychology.

Funny and depressing at the same time, it is still a must-read for anyone who has been given the gift of conscious thought in the last 100 years.

5 out of 5 stars

A HELL OF A CATCH! December 5, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

The sharpest, funniest, most tragic and satirical novel to come out of the seond world war - after Heller war books could never be the same again - the greatest achievement of a great writer - that`s some catch that catch 22!

Mick Drake author of the comic novel All`s Well at Wellwithoute