Explosive, subversive, wild and funny, 50 years on the novel's strength is undiminished. Reading Joseph Heller's classic satire is nothing less than a rite of passage. Joseph Heller's bestselling novel is a hilarious and tragic satire on military madness, and the tale of one man's efforts to survive it.
'The greatest satirical work in the English language' - The Observer
There was only one catch and that was Catch-22
Captain John Yossarian, reluctant US army bombardier, is stuck on a Mediterranean island in the dog days of the Second World War. Spinning giddily amidst a morass of specious rules and pointless regulations he attempts to maintain a tenuous grip on his sanity, whilst not losing his life on another fruitless mission. But with the warped logic of Catch-22 ringing in his head and a cast of eccentric, deluded and just plain crazy comrades snapping at his heels, he begins to wonder whether he is ever going to be allowed to go home again.
One of the great satirical novels in Western literature, Catch-22 is an absurdist condemnation of armed conflict and a rallying cry against the arbitrary authority of those in power. A television adaptation, co-directed by and starring George Clooney, aired on Channel 4 in June 2019.
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
ISBN: 9780099529125
Number of pages: 544
Weight: 372 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 33 mm
Never has a book been laughed and wept over so many times - Guardian
To my mind, there have been two great American novels in the past fifty years. Catch-22 is one - Stephen King
Catch-22 is the only war novel I've ever read that makes any sense - Harper Lee
The war novel to end all war novels - Independent
Blessedly, monstrously, bloatedly, cynically funny and fantastically unique. No one has ever written a book like this - Financial Times
Go on, ask why she was hitting him over the head...This is one very good book.The story revisits events again but from the point of view of the other characters. Events move onwards but the sheer madness of the... More
I picked this book up at University as it was thoroughly recommended. The size of it meant that I did not come to read it until later when I had time to focus upon it. And this book requires focus as it has many... More
I read this book when I was a student in the early 70s and my memory of it was that I thought that it was wonderful. Recently I had to read it again for my book club and I was overcome by utter irritation. The... More
Please sign in to write a review
Would you like to proceed to the App store to download the Waterstones App?
