Great Reading: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Well, here’s another book I did re-read which I did finish end of last month but haven’t posted anything on my blog yet! It’s most likely something like, maybe in my top five novels of all-time, if I did really think about it and come-up with something like that? So I was trying and trying to come up something cleaver or just plain OK to say about it? I totally give-up about that right now, sorry I’m not that smart!

I’ve tried to book blog before and always give-up after a while because all the ones I’ve try to do are such great books and I’m very disappointed about my useless words about them! This one is the now third running of my all-time faves, the other two were: The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat and The Castle by Franz Kafka plus I did put together my top 50 fave books list which all these three did make the cut. I’m repeating myself, right? Anyway about a few weeks or month ago, I don’t know why? I did promise, I would blogged about every book I read but because I don’t want to give away the whole story, plot, everything so I never know what to say? I think, this is going to the very last book blog post I’m going to do, sorry I’m going to pass doing this again, OK? One of my very silly idea for my Catch-22 write-up here was just re-create the censored war letters that feature very early in the book and I was even going to sign them with Irving Washington or Washington Irving. I figured almost everyone looking/reading this will have no idea what the hell is going?

My intro to this novel was way back in the 90’s by a much older friend of mine. Who gave it to me for my birthday, saying something like: I think, you might enjoy this? Couldn’t be more right! Can’t come more highly recommend by me now! It’s not the first time re-reading it because done that already. My copy’s pages are so yellow with age and silver/grey/gun metal color front cover has been wearing away. A couple of years ago when in Sydney, N.S.W. I did get an army camouflage jumper with the original book cover printed on it, if you know it? It’s got big bold white letters of the title at the top and then author with red person outlined but it’s minus the blue background color because of the army camouflage, I remember seeing blue ones but I got that one because I liked it better!

Basic facts of Joseph Heller’s novel Catch-22 are: it’s setting is in World War II on an air field base but was first published in 1961 so it was perfect timing for the Vietnam War. The main character is Captain Yossarian who after flying something like 60 missions really doesn’t want do this anymore but can’t get sent home! It’s 570 pages long so we do met everyone else which are the titles of each chapter. I don’t think I’m giving to much away, right? It’s most likely the most well-known novel I’ve ever typed about here so I should really ask, who else has read it then?

My copy looks like this but this image is very pixelated, I should really found a better one!

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Song of the day is: Yo-Yo Man by Eddy Current Suppression Ring from the self-titled debut album of 2006:

It’s on bandcamp so I might as well included the whole album too, if anyone wants the listen to it in full?

Cheers 🙂