Catch 22

A great book well read.

An excellent story expertly read. Catch 22 is a classic stream-of-thought black comedy detailing the absurdity of war. It is my favourite book that I come back to reread every few years but this audiobook will change all that - now I can have the book read to me every few months.

This reading is excellent. It is clear, easy to understand and the character voices are mostly the same as I hear in my head.

Catch 22 is a classic. If you know the book and love it, you will love the Audiobook.

If you don't know the book, it details the story of Yoissarian's attempt to stay alive in a world that doesn't make sense, where people are trying to kill him and the rules are against him. The narrative jumps about through time. Scenes jump in the middle of conversations. No-one acts rationally except Yossarian (and he's crazy). It contains all the absurdity and horror of war. And it's the most hillarious book you'll ever have read to you.

This is a great book well read. I recommend this Audiobook very highly.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Fantastic listen

The best audiobook I have heard. It refeshed my memory of my reading of the book 20 years ago. The narration is excellent and illuminates the text.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Don't think the reader got it

Catch-22 is a sparklingly funny book, but it needs a deadpan delivery to pull it off. Trevor White seems to think that he is reading a bloody, amoral and unpleasant war tome. He is, of course, but the genius of the book is that its wit makes its dark subject matter accessible and so much more heart-wrenching for catching you unaware. White reads like he's spitting out the words and glad to be rid of them. A disappointment.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

MASH on Acid!

Decided to check this out given its iconic nature and it is a crazy ride. Really good account of the absurdity of war and the mind bending circumstances for its combatants. I struggled at times with this just the crazy logic (or lack of it) but it always brought me back. you can see this as the forerunner for some of the great war stories such as MASH and even Full Metal Jacket.

A classic and deservedly so.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Satire Still Sings and Zings

I returned to this modern classic not really expecting it to live up to my memory of its bite, cleverness and the inventive use of the absurd. I was pleasantly disappointed (a contradiction that might have pleased Heller). The bite is as sharp as it was in the early 80's, when I first read the book. The years, the wars and the cynicism of the last 20 years have not dulled the edge of the humour or the social criticism of the war, victors and who really gets the spoils. In fact, it is probably more pogninant today when more and more young people side with Yossarian to opt out of military service. As he reminds us, we would be crazy not to do the same!

I listened and re-listend to numerous passages (just as I would re-read a book with a clever passage) to dwell in the comic wit and cleverness. I had forgotten Milo Mindbender's explanation for the Syndicate buying at 7c and selling at 5c for a profit. It is Abbott and Costello genius of a "Who's on First" level. I have "marked" passages for the future, too.

As for the narrator, I have to say I oscillated from huge fan to disappointed. His Col. Cathcart and General Dreedle are outstanding, as is his pidgeon Italian. But Yossarian just didn't hit it for me until the 2nd part (by which time I had become accustomed to it). Unfortunately, (or fortunately), I still hear Alan Arkin. Maybe the general narration was too close to Yossarian - I'm not sure. Another reader might not suffer from this limitation, so perhaps my view is a bit unkind. Still, I liked the performance enough to keep going (like Nately's whore). I suspect you will too.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Are You Crazy? A Most Hilarious & Horrible Book

Set on a US air base on an Italian island during WW II, Catch 22 comically exposes the insanity of war, from commanding officers who prove their bravery and patriotism by volunteering their men to fly dangerous and unnecessary missions, to the "heroes" who don't mind having to kill or avoid being killed by strangers and the "cowards" who are traumatized by having to do that. The enterprise is so full of bullies, schemers, and rationalizers that finally both sides are trying to kill you, yours and the enemy's.

General P. P. Peckem waging war against General Dreedle, Captain Black reveling in his loyalty oath campaign, Major Major Major Major trying to play basketball in disguise, mess officer Milo Minderbinder bombing his own base to make a profit for his syndicate, Col. Cathcart trying to get in the Saturday Evening Post via condolence form letters, the chaplain being interrogated as Washington Irving, the soldier in white (body cast) returning to the hospital. . . The novel is a series of funny and appalling scenes that cohere with an insane logic like that of Lewis Carroll, as when Alice asks, "How do you know I'm mad?" and the Cheshire Cat replies, "You must be . . . or you wouldn't have come here."

Trevor White reads the narration with irony, compassion, and clarity and the dialogue of the weak strong kind sadistic neurotic calm clever moronic characters with verve and apt voices.

Heller's novel is a biting satire of American culture: capitalism, patriotism, medicine, Indian land taking, and more. And it explores the meaning (or meaninglessness) of life and death. After all, aren't we all passengers on a flimsy airplane flown through layers of flak by a reckless pilot guided by an incompetent navigator? With danger all around, what can we hold to? Integrity: Yossarian's refusal to conform is inspiring. And Love: Yossarian caressing Nurse Duckett's flesh with desperate sensuality and falling in love with Italian prostitutes (who say, "Tu sei pazzo!") are oases of sanity.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A classic that makes a good audio book

Classic book that is great in audio book. Well read and good quality. Really enjoyed it.

Superb

Great classic
Sarcasm and black humor surrounding
WW2 American pilots stationed in Italy
Superbly narrated

Best Reader ever

The story itself is extremely witty, and deserves its status as a classic fully.

The reader brought the story to life. Every character had a different voice and accent, bringing the characters to life. This was the first time that an audiobook was actually better than reading the book myself.

Great story, not so great reader.

In the end, I really did enjoy this book. It was witty and humorous, but at the same time shocking, sad, and horrible.
Admittedly it took me quite some time to wrap my head around the story, and the way it was told. For a while I was convinced the author was mad. Eventually I came around to realise that the author was really conveying the madness and illogic of war, through the very method of his writing.
My only gripe with *this particular version* was the narrator, Trevor White. I feel that his portrayal of some of the characters was sometimes at odds with the words he was reading. Sometimes he would seem to forget which character he was talking as, and the tone and accent would melt from one to the next in dialogue.
Overall, this book was a good experience. Anyone who wants to read this book and is not too bothered by minor slips by the narrator, go right ahead and get this book. It's gud.