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nadia's Reviews (587)
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was nervous when I started this reread of a book that for the last 15 years or so I've been calling an all-time favourite.
The beginning was great, but then I felt a little dip in my excitement and enthusiasm. It started to feel a little too slow and I was impatient for it all to kick off.
And then before I knew it, I was hooked. Sucked in. And I realised that the slow build-up was all necessary for me to really appreciate everything once we got into the mix.
I'm delighted that my love for this book has stood the test of time. As I was reading the final pages I thought I started to feel a dull ache in my heart...and I'm pretty sure I still feel it now an hour and a half later.
Oh, and the writing was incredible. Just enough detail and lyricism to make the characters and scenery come alive, and I'm not one for complicated, flowery language at all.
I love this book so much and I'm so glad I can keep recommending it to people, wholeheartedly and with renewed confidence.
The beginning was great, but then I felt a little dip in my excitement and enthusiasm. It started to feel a little too slow and I was impatient for it all to kick off.
And then before I knew it, I was hooked. Sucked in. And I realised that the slow build-up was all necessary for me to really appreciate everything once we got into the mix.
I'm delighted that my love for this book has stood the test of time. As I was reading the final pages I thought I started to feel a dull ache in my heart...and I'm pretty sure I still feel it now an hour and a half later.
Oh, and the writing was incredible. Just enough detail and lyricism to make the characters and scenery come alive, and I'm not one for complicated, flowery language at all.
I love this book so much and I'm so glad I can keep recommending it to people, wholeheartedly and with renewed confidence.
challenging
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm so disappointed I didn't love this as much as the first time I read it. This time around, I found a lot of the humour a little too silly and I got impatient with it. I guess I also just wasn't in the mood for this — younger me had far fewer worries and a lot of patience!
Also, it hit me that I ultimately just didn't care enough. About what was happening, about the characters...though my lack of caring definitely waned in the latter chapters where the book gets more serious, more dark, and has more of an emotional pull.
I still chuckled out loud a few times, often in public, and I've never had a book make me laugh in the way this one does. The humour is unique and it's so unbelievably clever in a multitude of ways. I appreciate the book's existence and admire Heller's work.
Fun trivia: The phrase 'catch-22' — a difficult situation from which there is no escape because it involves mutually conflicting or dependent conditions — originated from this book. I always forget that and think Heller named his book 'Catch-22' because it features such an impossible situation.
And more trivia: The book was originally going to be called ‘Catch-18’, but a book with similar themes by a best-selling author was coming out at the same time, Mila-18, so Heller and his team wanted to change the title.
Despite my struggle getting through the book on second reading, I wholly understand why this book is a classic and why some people say it's the greatest novel of all time.
Also, it hit me that I ultimately just didn't care enough. About what was happening, about the characters...though my lack of caring definitely waned in the latter chapters where the book gets more serious, more dark, and has more of an emotional pull.
I still chuckled out loud a few times, often in public, and I've never had a book make me laugh in the way this one does. The humour is unique and it's so unbelievably clever in a multitude of ways. I appreciate the book's existence and admire Heller's work.
Fun trivia: The phrase 'catch-22' — a difficult situation from which there is no escape because it involves mutually conflicting or dependent conditions — originated from this book. I always forget that and think Heller named his book 'Catch-22' because it features such an impossible situation.
And more trivia: The book was originally going to be called ‘Catch-18’, but a book with similar themes by a best-selling author was coming out at the same time, Mila-18, so Heller and his team wanted to change the title.
Despite my struggle getting through the book on second reading, I wholly understand why this book is a classic and why some people say it's the greatest novel of all time.
