Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Goodreads synopsis

At the heart of Catch-22 resides the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero endlessly inventive in his schemes to save his skin from the horrible chances of war.

His problem is Colonel Cathcart, who keeps raising the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempts to excuse himself from the perilous missions that he's committed to flying, he's trapped by the Great Loyalty Oath Crusade, the bureaucratic rule from which the book takes its title: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes the necessary formal request to be relieved of such missions, the very act of making the request proves that he's sane and therefore, ineligible to be relieved.

I'm reading this for Week 38 (A book about an anti-hero). I had already laughed by the second page, so I have a good feeling about this one. It's very wry, and I am definitely in the need of a funny book after the last few that I've read!

How was as it, Jody?

I'm still going! It was enjoyable, but not compelling, so I'm going to just chip away at it slowly.

Didn't realize this had a thread! I read it for the 2016 challenge, Week 39: A previous suggestion that did not make it into the list – A book with a number in the title.

The story is non-linear and a lot goes unexplained for most of the book. It then relies on the humor alone to hold the reader's interest.

Getting around to the missing information to put the plot together takes a long time, I seem to recall it just being the last 5 or 6 chapters. While I especially appreciate the humor and the message and enjoyed the characters and the plot, the means of story telling made it quite difficult to get through and that cost it a star from me.

Reveals should happen along the way, rewarding the reader for progress made.

I'm now reading this for 2017, Week 4 (A book with a title that doesn't contain the letter "E"). I am still enjoying the humour in it - is really is hilarious - but I can't take too much of it at a time.

I've changed this to my 2017, Week 5 (An historical fiction) book. Still battling with it ... I find it really difficult to read more than a chapter at a time.

I'm thinking of reading this book. Is it any good ? I googled the meaning of " catch-22" and I'm kind of intrigued..

It is, but it's far from a smooth, easy read. I still haven't finished it!

i read 4 chapters and EVERYBODY's crazy... it feels like there are too many characters and it' hard to fallow

Honestly, I'm struggling with that as well, plus the constantly changing perspective which gives me little opportunity to get a feel for the characters (which could very well be the point). It's very funny, but even the humour wears thin after a while - it feels like the same jokes with very slight changes.

Yeah, it's a tough push. Very little is explained until the very last 50 pages or so. I liked it, but it could have been shorter and its not a light read at all. This one is actual work.

It really is hard work - which surprised me, as I'd not previously encountered any mention of that before (unlike say Ulysses or The Sound and the Fury). There's certainly a lot to like about it, and it definitely is an excellent book, but man. I really can only do a chapter at a time. Sometimes when I finish one, I consider trying a second, but I just can't.

I have read this half-way at some point and I gave it up. I am planning on re-reading it this year, hopefully to the end. It sounds like I am not the only one who struggled with it.

I will slot it in as my "tough" book. I usually read that for a longer period while reading other, easier to read books on the side.

I feel better when I see other peoples struggling with it. the humor is always the same. I find it very hard to keep track on the characters. I'm on chapter 9. It's gonna be a veeery slow read.

I feel like I'm finally hitting my stride with this book - today, I actually read three chapters in a row! Hell, I might actually finish it this month at this rate!

I finished! Well worth the slog, it became really compelling with around 150 pages to go. I'll definitely need to re-read this in a few years.

Congrats Jody! I can't believe you've given it 5 stars after the ordeal you went through! ;) The end must really be compelling then!

I had such a love-hate relationship with it, but it really is a brilliant book. As soon as I finished it, I already knew that I wanted to re-read it - I think it's one of those books that gets better every time you read it.

I am currently "reading" this (which means listening to the audio 19+ hour version). I've picked this book up twice in the past and put it down after about 10 pages both times. I decided to do the audio and use my book to refer back to or read when I can't listen. The audio version is BRILLIANT. Whoever is reading it is absolutely fantastic and the entire thing is funny as hell. I'm in the last 7 hour home stretch, so I hope to finish it tomorrow. I'm tempted to read the last 150 pages because I know I could knock it out a lot faster than listening for 7 hours.

Tammy wrote: "I am currently "reading" this (which means listening to the audio 19+ hour version). I've picked this book up twice in the past and put it down after about 10 pages both times. I decided to do the ..."

I read this years ago when I was feeling brave and decided to try and tackle a classic. I thought that I would hate it, but it was hilarious!! I kept laughing out loud and trying to explain to my husband what was so funny..... You have to read it to get it, I guess.

I'm rereading this for book group- I read it in college and a couple times in my 20s (my graduate thesis was on the bombing campaign in Italy so I was very attached). I loved it back then, but 20 years later, I have less patience for such antics when its a war.

I found a space for it in Week 44. A book related in some way to a tv show/series or movie you enjo (same topic, same era, book appeared in the show/movie, etc.). And now I can watch the Hulu series but I'm already suspicious of the casting!