This is an Online Internet Book Club on Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. Discuss this book, share your thoughts, make comments, ask questions, offer responses...
Description
There was a time when reading Joseph Heller's classic satire on the murderous insanity of war was nothing less than a rite of passage. Echoes of Yossarian, the wise-ass bombardier who was too smart to die but not smart enough to find a way out of his predicament, could be heard throughout the counterculture. As a result, it's impossible not to consider
Catch-22 to be something of a period piece. But 40 years on, the novel's undiminished strength is its looking-glass logic. Again and again, Heller's characters demonstrate that what is commonly held to be good, is bad; what is sensible, is nonsense.
Yossarian says, "You're talking about winning the war, and I am talking about winning the war and keeping alive."
"Exactly," Clevinger snapped smugly. "And which do you think is more important?"
"To whom?" Yossarian shot back. "It doesn't make a damn bit of difference who wins the war to someone who's dead."
"I can't think of another attitude that could be depended upon to give greater comfort to the enemy."
"The enemy," retorted Yossarian with weighted precision, "is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on."
Mirabile dictu, the book holds up post-Reagan, post-Gulf War. It's a good thing, too. As long as there's a military, that engine of lethal authority, Catch-22 will shine as a handbook for smart-alecky pacifists. It's an utterly serious and sad, but damn funny book.
Book Club Questions for Catch-22 (Fiction)
Suggested Book Club Questions for Catch-22 (Fiction)
The following book club questions provide a starting point for creating a reading group discussion on Catch-22:
- Did Joseph Heller emphasize any specific themes throughout Catch-22? What do you think Joseph Heller is trying to explain with this theme?
- What was unique about the setting of Catch-22 and how did it affect the storyline?
- Could you relate to any of the characters? If so, which ones and why?
- How do characters change or learn throughout Catch-22? What events caused these changes? Have you or someone you know experienced the same thing?
- How does Catch-22 reveal Joseph Heller's own perspectives about people and the world? For a lively discussion, describe why you think Joseph Heller is liberal or conservative.
- Did certain parts of Catch-22 affect you emotionally? Why did it evoke those emotions?
- Did Joseph Heller's point of view on things lend new perspective to your own view of the world?
Book Club Questions for Catch-22 (for Non-Fiction)
Suggested Book Club Questions for Catch-22 (Non-fiction)
The following book club questions provide a starting point for creating a reading group discussion on Catch-22:
- Did Joseph Heller make persuasive arguments in Catch-22? Did Catch-22 change or reinforce your opinion on the subject?
- What did you learn from Catch-22?
- How does Joseph Heller present the information and did you enjoy it?
- How is Joseph Heller biased within Catch-22? Is there a political slant to what is being discussed and how does it impact the book?
- What, if anything, does Catch-22 make you want to read next? Why?
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