I first read this book in the 1970s, I think, and I was impressed by it then, but I wasn't much inclined to reread it; maybe I read it two or three times in the 1970s and then left it on the shelf.

Trying it again in 2022, my initial reaction was that it was funnier than I remembered, to the extent that it reminded me of [b:The Importance of Being Earnest|24949945|The Importance of Being Earnest|Oscar Wilde|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522220520l/24949945._SY75_.jpg|649216], which I was reading just recently. Both Wilde and Heller write dialogue that seems crazy and yet makes a strange kind of sense.

However, Wilde's play is concise and remains funny throughout. Heller's novel goes on and on and gradually becomes more depressing than funny. I was glad to reach the end at last, and put it down with some relief.

How to evaluate it? I still think it's a good novel of its kind, but it's not really my kind of novel, and I'm not sure whether I'll ever read it again. On that basis, I might give it two stars: my normal rating for a book that I'm unlikely to reread. However, the early chapters are funny, and the book has made a lasting impression on me, so I'll be generous and give it three stars.

21st century readers should be aware that this novel was written in the 1950s, published in 1961, and is set in the early 1940s. The characters are all male or female without complications, and heterosexual—despite the misleading first two sentences. Almost all the women are regarded and treated as sex objects, and many of them are in fact prostitutes; I suppose this is the traditional military view of women encountered in wartime. ( )

This character-driven novel exposes the absurdities of war through a group of men thrown together in a World War II aerial combat unit in Italy. Catch-22 describes the predicament of the protagonist, bombardier Yossarian, who needs to be relieved from combat duty for psychological reasons, but his self-recognition of his psychological unfitness for duty is paradoxically considered as proof of his sanity. Although the characters are fictional, I get the sense that the characters and situations are drawn from the author’s experience. The novel has a familiar feel thanks to the TV series MASH, which explores the same themes in a Korean war setting. ( )

I have wanted to read this book for a long time, because I had heard nothing but good things about it. Perhaps I had built it up in my mind, or perhaps there is a reason this is generally read by young adults. I found the book funny in some spots and over all it was an interesting story, but it was repetitive and with so many characters it felt unwieldy. ( )

I thought I had read this when in high-school (late 1970s), and there were some passages that seemed familiar, but the overall sense as I came to the end of my read of this was that No, I had never read this.
Anyway, I can see why it's on list of books recommended that everyone should read at least once in their lives and lists of top 100 novels of the 20th century, and also why it has been sought out in some districts to remove from circulation in high-schools. ( )

a funnly little book that made me laugh out loud a couple of times. the middle sort of drug a little, but I loved the banter and the style of writing. ( )