Catch-22

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.