The Catch With Catch 22

Published on by theorangutanlibrarian

catch 22Well this is nigh on impossible to review. I guess, the catch is that when you read a good book you want to review it, but when the book’s too good, you can’t.

Kafkaesque at times, hilarious at others, and baffling in the extreme- I just don’t feel like I can put words to paper for this one. I mean what do you say about a book that turns you in circles, addles your brain and captures the futility of war in its rather bizarre pages. I guess there are no words.

As far as rating- what banana rating can I possibly give? I mean, especially as according to the logic of this book they will most likely be swapped for a handful of peanuts somewhere along the way (at a loss, for a profit) So I here’s a peanut I guess.

peanut

And in the spirit of my Get To Know You tag week coming to an end, what book did you find impossible to review?

42 thoughts on “The Catch With Catch 22”

  3. Sometimes I read a book that really rubs me the wrong way, but I can’t quite put my finger on why. That would be hardest to do a review on. For example – I was among the few who didn’t really like The Hunger Games – and yet I did – but I won’t read them again. I got engaged in the characters and the story, but the author’s writing style drove me batty with its confusion on world-building and lack of allowing growth of her narrator. The movies definitely provided a lot more explanation on aspects that I couldn’t follow from only the 1st person POV in the books. And yet, while I didn’t like the ending, I can understand why a lot of people are caught up in this series and still fans of it. So, yeah, how could I rate it?

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    1. Yeah that’s a good reason not to be able to review something- I’ve been like that before too! I quite liked the hunger games, but I’m not a huge fan or anything, so you’re safe with me 😉 I did enjoy the movies- and I felt the books just felt like watching a movie- they’re fun for a quick read I guess. I totally get that. I often can be indecisive with ratings- with this though I can’t even put a number down to change it!!

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      1. I tried to write a review for THG once, and just totally bombed. I was so indecisive. It’s one of those rare instances where I personally didn’t like it, but not because of plot holes, or bad writing, or unlikable characters (well, for the most part). But to me, the series just isn’t this totally amazing and awe-inspiring thing that I’d re-read every chance I got. (Sorry, any fans out there!)

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  4. I find pretty much every book I love impossible to review. Particularly when it’s a sequel in a series, or a twisty book and you’re trying to avoid spoilers 🙂

    Haven’t read Catch 22. Kind of tempted now

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    1. I know right!! Sometimes all I want to say is *the feels, the feels*- but in this case, it’s just a baffling, mind-stumping, twisty book that I can’t explain what was good/bad about it or put an actual rating on it!! Crazy!!

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  5. Haha. Now I’m curious about this book! My favorite books are a nightmare to review. All I want to say is “READ THIS NOW” and shove a copy in every passing hand.

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  9. I found brave new world impossible to review. Basically because I didn’t like it at all! I have to say, you come up with the BEST blog headings. Ever.

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  10. Haha, love the peanut rating. A book I found impossible to review was The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – hence the no review. It was such an awkward novel and funny and un-explanatory. There’s no way for me to express all of my feelings and such into a review. Love this Catch of Catch 22! I’ll be reading this this year 🙂

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  13. This book was recommended to me by a friend who had attempted to read it thrice but never managed to pull through. I finished it in two days. I guess she dislikes the many many characters or something. Either way, nearly impossible to review, for sure. Actually, I recenly read ‘A line in the sand’, about imperialism of the Middle East by France and England and that one turned out to be pretty hard to review as well. (Of course I tried anyway haha).

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      1. About British-French imperialist politics in the Middle East – basically, they secretly divided the land between them (rather arbitrarily) by drawing a line on the map. The rest of the book explains the RICH history of bickering between France and Britain over who really should own what, and what to do about the obviously angry Arabs. Very interesting read for sure, but also a little bit of a chore due to all the generals and politicians involved haha

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    1. Ahh that’s a shame! It’s really not a boring book- so I’m surprised (then again, I had tutors at uni that managed to make Shakespeare boring- which says everything you need to know about how bad they were. Thank goodness I liked Shakespeare anyway)

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      1. That same high school English teacher I had who assassinated Catch 22 also dealt to Shakespeare! Ouch. It took me ages to realise how brilliant his stuff is. The layers keep emerging – for me even just a few months ago when I discovered that if Shakespeare is spoken with period pronounciation his writing sudden gains a whole lot of mostly rude and always groan-worthy jokes and puns that he wrote into it, but which aren’t obvious today because of the changes in spoken English.

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        1. Ooh ouch- it pains me to hear whenever Shakespeare is taught badly! (even though I experienced that butchery too) ahh yes- that’s one of the reasons it’s always better to see it performed (although plenty of people can butcher that too) But for me, my love of Shakespeare has always come from his beautiful language, his phenomenal pathos that transcends time and his realistic characters (which are second to none!) (in case it isn’t obvious, I adore Shakespeare! 😉 )

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  15. Pingback: Beauty and The Beast Tag – Bookshelves & Biros

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