2025 Reading Challenge discussion

We will discuss Catch-22 in this thread. Please remember to mark your spoilers. :)

Same. I've started it numerous times but haven't ever gotten into it. I'm determined this month!

Got this from the library. I've never tried to read it before but really want to because it's on so many must-read lists!

I've got it in the house somewhere... Haven't yet tried it but once I've finished my current book I shall hop onto this discussion!!

I have 5 books to read before I can start this, but I plan on starting it before the end of the month. This book has come highly recommended to me by multiple people. Excited to start it!

Am half way to through this am determined to finish it soon

Read the first six chapters. It's funny in a weird way. There are so many characters, but at least each one has a major defining character trait. Hoping there will be more plot movement coming up.

Through chapter 20 now. I'm getting more into it. I love how it's piecemeal and plays with time - certain characters who died are talked about more after their deaths, etc. It's pretty dark but I appreciate the characters and all their strange interactions.

My favorite part so far was around chapter 17, when Yossarian was in the hospital with a man who shouted that he was seeing things twice. So funny.

I hope some other people are reading this! I just finished it and really liked it. It was hard to get into at first, but after awhile you get used to all the characters. It's funny, too, just not in the traditional way. And it's dark and sad, but so good!

I started reading this for the first time in January, made it to page 82 before I put it down to "take a break with something lighter" and didn't pick it back up. I also thought it was really funny (in the same way that the narrator in Wuthering Heights is funny) - not in a traditional sense, but in a you've-got-to-be-sarcastic-and-dry-humored-to-appreciate sense. I think it might have been easier for me to read if I had the Kindle version, as the sheer volume of the book makes me loathe to pick it up. :S

At what point - Kaitlin - does it get easier?

I don't have a very good short term memory, so the fact that every chapter is about a different person and the writing can be lofty enough at times that you'll read 2-3 pages and completely blank what happened, made me leary about reading it. I don't want to read it just to be able to say I've finished it, but then have no idea what it was about.

April Lyn wrote: "I started reading this for the first time in January, made it to page 82 before I put it down to "take a break with something lighter" and didn't pick it back up. I also thought it was really funny..."

I totally sympathize, April Lyn. It's a weird book with tons of characters.

It doesn't sound that encouraging, but about halfway through I realized I was into it and had gotten a hang of the characters. I think it's a good sign that you like the humor - I think a lot of people wouldn't get it. For that reason alone I would suggest pushing through! Don't expect to remember everything about everyone. You don't have to, either; he'll remind you.

I know if it's been awhile since I started a book, I just can't get back into reading it because I forget who everybody is and what happened. Maybe try starting over sometime when you feel like you're in the right mood? Of course, this is totally my opinion. I would hate for you to hate it :-)

And I totally agree - I don't finish books I really don't like, so it's odd for me to advocate this.

Finished this the other day and still don't know what to make of it. Some parts were darkly funny and I liked how stories were gradually expanded on as the book went on. At other times it drove me mad and I was constantly check % read on my Kindle praying I was close yo the end.