Is it worth reading

...

Everything is worth reading
If the soul is not too small
Who wants to go beyond Bojador
Needs to go beyond pain

It's a quandary. Some say yes, some say no.

Hence the title: Catch-22. There's no escape. Whether you read the book or not, you lose.

Absolutely. Something Happened is even better though

Yes, it's superb.

Also it's a really fun entertaining read so it's no big investment of effort.

When you finish it, read Something Happened. That is also superb.

Yeah
Really funny and helps breed a healthy contempt for the military (something no learned man should do without)

I'm a couple chapters in. Switched to all quiet on the Western Front. Been enjoying it more.

Harold Bloom hates it so no.

Can never get past the “My Wife is Unhappy” part in Something Happened cause the dude is so whiny. What am I actually missing? I loved Catch 22

>My Introduction amiably consigns Catch-22 to the vast heap of Period Pieces, a strange dumping-ground on the moon of a planet in another solar system. There Heller’s extended joke joins other celebrated fictions that will be forgotten, including On the Road, Beloved, and the sacred seven Harry Potter tediums.

Jeuss Christ.

Absolutely. It's a great read.

It's a fun read. The Milo chapters are the best.

Well, the book is essentially 576 pages of whining. But it's enjoyable to get into Slocum's head, the intensity of his feeling towards his family and co-workers, the way his thought processes bleed into each other and go off on tangents, and the way he continually circles back to crucial moments in his past. The book is essentially one man trying to reconcile himself to the man he's become and understand just how he came to be that man. I would call that the "plot", but it's certainly not a plot in a way you might say Catch-22 has a plot. Not for everyone, I guess, but definitely Heller's masterwork.

Do I have to read the other 21 books first?

That is the catch

...

you're trying too hard.

wtf I love Harold Bloom now

Good post good job

It's great. A joy to read.

It's great for the first few hundred pages but it runs out of things to say.

I mean, he's not wrong about On The Road and Harry Potter

It's about 200 pages too long.

You're not alone user. I loved Catch 22 after it started making sense, but Something Happened just bored me to death.

jim rich

Yes It's fucking hilarious.

Yes, it's one of my favorites. If you like picaresques, you'll love it. The novel is essentially what would happen if you threw a few handfuls of distinct and mentally unstable picaros into a camp together and gave them top of the line military equipment. It's full of schemes, scams, oxymorons, absurdity, and the grim realities of mortality.