Catch 22 by Joseph Heller | How to Read It

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Күн бұрын

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (recently the subject of a television adaptation with George Clooney in the role of the ruthlessly ambitious Colonel Cathcart for US streaming service Hulu) is one of the classic books of the twentieth century. In this Catch 22 summary and analysis video, I take you through a book report which outlines some of the background and context surrounding the book (and its author Joseph Heller) as well as discussing its style and (without spoilers) providing a brief plot summary.
A biting satirical novel set in the Mediterranean theatre of the Second World War (yet more accurately approached as a response to the Korean War and Vietnam War), I moreover unpack the absurdist influences behind Catch 22 such as the Czech author Franz Kafka whose novel The Trial bares numerous similarities with Heller's novel.
My initial plan had been to stick with slightly older works of literature for my How To Read It series and so I'd be interested to know what you think of me covering twentieth century novels such as Catch-22. A well as wanting to tie in with the Hulu series, however, I was keen to cover something slightly more accessible for Episode Two having looked at Ulysses in the last!
If you'd like to support my channel and my efforts to create high-quality, humanities-based educational content here on KZfaq then please check out my Patreon page at / tomnicholas
Further Reading
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
US: amzn.to/32x4fJ0
UK: amzn.to/2NYNTW2
The True Story of Catch 22 by Patricia Chapman Meder
US: amzn.to/2xMDhyA
UK: amzn.to/2NQ4ziK
The Trial by Franz Kafka
US: amzn.to/2Y101tB
UK: amzn.to/2XFCdY9
[The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.]
If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing.
Thanks for watching!
Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Пікірлер: 207

@Tom_Nicholas 5 жыл бұрын

Hey all, thanks for watching! I hope you enjoyed the video (particularly if you might currently be looking to sit down with Catch-22 sometime soon). As always, if you'd like to support what I do here then please do consider checking out my Patreon page at patreon.com/tomnicholas

@magentaMegi 3 жыл бұрын

Tom Nicholas, I think patronus.com is a good site.

@darthsardonis 3 жыл бұрын

I’m reading it right now and it’s hysterical. The fact that Heller beats you over the head with the same joke over and over again and it never gets old is pure genius.

@christopherjohnson5748 2 жыл бұрын

Yes. The whole thing is pure genius. Reminds me of The Big Lebowski in that I mostly don’t care what it’s “about.”

@paradoxinmotion 2 жыл бұрын

well stated

@brainwashalpha5495 Жыл бұрын

@@christopherjohnson5748 YESS! Im sure the coen brothers would have drawn from the meandering plot and how all sorts of people, lunatics G-men rich pricks etc. are out to get the dude

@Poopchute 3 жыл бұрын

I almost woke up my entire dorm floor with fits of laughter when I first read the chapter that explains the origins of Major Major Major Major. Such a brilliant novel!

@yashdahiya2369 4 ай бұрын

You mean Henry Fonda?

@bobayey 3 ай бұрын

You mean the Communist?

@CitrusUprising 3 жыл бұрын

The one thing that always got me about Catch-22 was how aspects of the book that seemed purely comical in the beginning, slowly through the repetition and changing conditions becomes, as you said, Kafkaesque. That lense shift itself was what really hooked me

@feanorian21maglor38 Жыл бұрын

I've just finished it and that's what struck me too. I was laughing aloud at the start, and then it becomes darker- his search for the young girl through the streets is a horrific Kafaesque nightmare.

@draxbrady1535 Жыл бұрын

It shifts to insanity in a sense, not only fitting in with the themes of the novel but also commenting on what war truly is - insanity.

@disgruntledpedant2755 4 жыл бұрын

Catch 22 is the ONLY novel to make me actually laugh out loud

@alexkane6736 4 жыл бұрын

I laughed out regularly. (It's a brilliant book.) But not as much as I did getting to the climax of A Prayer for Owen Meany. Do yourself a favour...

@reidwallace4258 3 жыл бұрын

It's a good book, but I damned near pissed myself reading Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, just sayin.

@jimbutler1189 3 жыл бұрын

over and over and over.

@darthsardonis 3 жыл бұрын

The court martial scene in chapter eight is my favorite part. The dialogue is genius.

@chloe102 3 жыл бұрын

Same. And a lot of the people in my AP class said the same

@gm2407 Жыл бұрын

To me Major Major is the funniest part of the whole book, completely had me in stitches.

@feanorian21maglor38 9 ай бұрын

Just reading your comments has reminded me of that episode and I started laughing aloud again. It's a brilliant book, but it's also extremely funny in parts.

@abhinandandutta2079 5 жыл бұрын

"Whatever happened to yesteryear's Snowdens" Catch 22 is one of my favorite books. Quite a funny coincidence that I had read it during a very low period of my life and perhaps sailed through it because of it. You have aptly put the experience of reading it. Thank you making this video.

@Tom_Nicholas 5 жыл бұрын

I've got a few books that I've read at lower points in my life (or albums that I've listened to, TV shows I've watched etc) and its funny the way they sit with you for a long time after. Glad you thought I summed up the novel well! Thanks for watching!

@pottboy3544 3 жыл бұрын

I know Heller didn't write many books and went into recluse. Catch 2 is unique.

@goldbergshekelwitz1596 3 жыл бұрын

I'm currently IV'ING fetty and squatting n im on my first reread near the end

@MorrisDugan Жыл бұрын

@@Tom_Nicholas Marx brothers films are also good for this.

@yair1010 4 жыл бұрын

Bravo on one of the most articulate explanations I've seen in a while!

@Tom_Nicholas 4 жыл бұрын

Cheers, really glad you thought so!

@catchtwenty22 3 жыл бұрын

Poetic snaps.

@paradoxinmotion 2 жыл бұрын

indeed! this is so well delivered

@reganjo1955 4 жыл бұрын

I first read catch-22 in the early 70s. I was last crop of American males to retrieve a ‘number’ in 1973. From 1968 to my graduation from high school I grew increasingly anxious about dying in Vietnam, but being a Boomer raised on the heroic deeds of our wars against the axis countries I was conflicted about my duty. I was attracted to read the book, perhaps coincidentally, but I think not by a report I did on Nikita Kruschev’s telling of the Nazi siege of Stalingrad in 1942. It outraged me that I had never heard of the Soviet role in the defeat of the Nazis so I was ripe for radical retelling of the war well outside the US propaganda model which persisted till the present day. So characters like Havermayer, the colonel and stories of business relations with German firms during the war were not fictional inventions in the least but we now know about the deep ties between American firms and the companies that collaborated with the Nazi regime. I also wonder if Heller had been affected by Hannah Arendt’s depiction of Eichmann. Ok - the man who made the trains run on time to Auschwitz is order of magnitude worse than the Americans depicted but the concern of banal men in a time of war for promotion and career advancement is right on the money.

@dwc1964 3 жыл бұрын

10:53 - "The absurdist influence present in _Catch-22_ can often make the novel a frustrating read..." - Unless you're into that sort of thing. ;-)

@nouryasser3345 4 жыл бұрын

The amount of effort you put into your videos is unbelievable; always top-notch. Because of this, you've convinced me to reread catch-22 once more, hopefully, with much more ease, after weeks of it sitting on my shelf untouched. Keep up the great work!

@samuelbohn1880 4 жыл бұрын

This is the best explanation I have seen on the internet of Catch-22, I really needed this. Thank you!

@laurenputnam5243 4 жыл бұрын

I read the first few chapters without context, watched this video, and then could finally appreciate the rest of the book. You give a perfect amount of information in a delightful way. Thank you!!

@Tom_Nicholas 4 жыл бұрын

Ahh, I'm really glad! Hope you enjoyed the book!

@latikakumar3446 4 жыл бұрын

Watching your commentary of sorts on books has reinstated or rather fired my inclination to start reading, which somewhere got lost after my college days. The romance with novels is in! And thanks to your enthused, articulate style as well as a balanced literary critique.

@erikalynnsorensen 3 жыл бұрын

Omg yes. This is exactly what I needed. I found a list of best novels resulting from a UK survey a few years ago, and decided to go looking at my local used book stores. Found a super old copy of catch 22 but only got a few chapters in before trying out another one. I now feel so much more ready and excited to read it. Hoping you have done one of these for pride and prejudice as well. Subscribed for sure. ❤️

@EnPassantChess 4 жыл бұрын

Absolutely sublime review! So many points and subtleties revealed. Cannot believe I haven't found your channel so far.

@archi8014 3 жыл бұрын

im just sitting here nodding my head continuously because of how accurate this review is.

@christopherjohnson5748 2 жыл бұрын

I’ve read Catch-22 multiple times; it’s my favorite novel. And, after watching this video, I plan to read it again, armed with your insights as I make my way through it. So, with that, nice work. Only one small note of criticism-and hopefully not too many people have already made this point. As a veteran of the US Air Force, I can tell you none of the characters in the novel were in the USAF as the Air Force did not become a separate branch of the US military until 1947. Instead, Heller, Yossarian, Doc Daneeka, and all the other characters in the novel were soldiers in the US Army, specifically, the US Army Air Forces. Again, only a minor detail.

@EmperorSmith 3 жыл бұрын

There are those books, that change the way you think and stay with you for the rest of your life. Catch 22 is one of those books.

@karolinaturynova5789 4 жыл бұрын

This is the most well done video analysis I've seen out there! Thank you!

@kermit3421 4 жыл бұрын

I have read it over 10 times...always fresh because of it's absurdity. I think the reason the novel jumps around in time is because Yossarian is dreaming all this while being operated on from the stab wound. Just a weird theory and the way I look at it...favorite novel!

@CelticYogi 4 жыл бұрын

Spot on! I’ve come here after finishing ch. 4, Doc Daneeka, to get some context. You’ve been ever so helpful in confirming my mild irritation with the circular dialogues and my pleasure in the novel’s absurdity thus far, ie, the T.S. Eliot scene! Thank you. I hope you do more like this.

@jayaybe1 Жыл бұрын

An excellent review. I think it's worth bearing in mind for new readers, it isn't a "comedy" book. Though it *will* make you laugh out loud countless times with truly unforgettable scenes and characters, it's far more than that. The descriptions of the character's idiosyncrasies and their interpersonal relationships is the real gold here 😁.

@musmodtos 2 жыл бұрын

I'm a Catch 22 nerd, to the point I version software by the name of the characters. This is the most perfect synopsis of the novel, well done Tom. You've taken the ostensibly least understandable novel of all time and so wonderfully described it. Well done sir.

@REEDRICHARDS2 3 жыл бұрын

THANK YOU SO MUCH, MAN! I just watched the movie and your pristine analisys - the source of the script - is the PERFECT complement!!!

@ondrejvasak1054 Жыл бұрын

Great video. However I slightly resent the implication, that Catch-22 is something that reader needs to be "set on the right foot before reading it". I know that's probably not the case for everybody, but for me Catch-22 directly describes the world exactly as I see it. It is actually the real world I have trouble comprehending and should have been "set on the right foot before living it".

@jesswilliams1436 4 жыл бұрын

One of my very favorite novels. Thank you for breaking it down as you do

@OffTheChuckyBaby 4 жыл бұрын

I'm gonna read this soon. Tom, could you do For Whom the Bell Tolls next? It's a favourite of mine but I'd love to hear your take on the Spanish Civil War.

@dashachirita8973 3 жыл бұрын

I'm currently reading Catch 22 and was looking for some context to better understand the novel. I think the book is brilliant and some insights you provide really echo with how I feel about it. Thanks!

@allypoum 5 жыл бұрын

Wow you *have* been busy! Great to be able to re-encounter this amazing & life-changing novel.

@shamusflynn9971 3 жыл бұрын

I've read this book twice. Easily one of my favorites. This analysis opened my eyes to things I hadn't seen such as the book actually being somewhat of a commentary on Vietnamization. Very cool. Thank you.

@Mottleydude1 3 жыл бұрын

Meh I don’t know if I’d go that far. Remember this was written and published before Vietnam was a thing in the US. Rather the absurdities described in Hellers book were all to apparent in the Vietnam war which made the novel just that more popular.

@shamusflynn9971 3 жыл бұрын

@@Mottleydude1 the term Vietnamization goes beyond the Vietnam war and can be used to describe that feeling soldiers may get; that the war is meaningless and that their is no reason to be there. It still applies in this case even if it is World War 2. I did a research paper on this book for my College Writing class and I found and used a university journal that spoke about Vietnamization, and they used multiple WW2 novels as examples.

@wonderwoman5528 3 жыл бұрын

Excellent review. You’re great at explaining the plot in a simple yet interesting Way. Thanks so much

@jenniferchapman6868 2 жыл бұрын

Reading this book as a keen history student with specialisations on the Vietnam war, I couldn’t get it out of my head that the events felt like the morally complicated and confusing experiences of the Vietnam war. Depictions of WW2 have always focused on the bravery of soldiers fighting in a conflict that was a good war in the sense it was fought for the right reasons. However Catch-22 depicts it so differently that I was left rather perplexed from the outset. I’m so glad I found this video to give a bit of clarity and help me preserve with the book!

@sportshighlightcentral4708 5 жыл бұрын

Hello Tom! Great work with catch 22! it is an interesting/different text and you did a good job covering the basics

@Tom_Nicholas 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks for saying so, really appreciate you taking the time to leave a little bit of feedback!

@ayadiwissal2835 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks a a lot for your brilliant explanation and I will read it as soon as possible .the book will help me a lot since I m studying Kafka's book The Trial .

@EmareeVA 3 жыл бұрын

Omg my dear Literature class, I am grateful there is so much information about this book out there! Thank you! Thanks mate this helps I’m reading it now for school and I saw this and was like “YES!”

@BubbleGendut 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for that. I was about to give up at chapter 4 but now I understand the aim of the book I will continue.

@mikep1556 7 ай бұрын

Very well done. I read Catch 22 a long long time ago and I have always keep my copy close by.

@tazkhan556 Жыл бұрын

An incredible video, just what I was looking for before picking up the book. Thankyou!

@Siarczynka 3 жыл бұрын

I'm doing a presentation at uni about this novel, and your video helped so much!! thank you!!!!

@destine1547 3 жыл бұрын

I love that I found this!!! I loved the book so much.

@user-ce7ri3yn9c 10 ай бұрын

Tom, As one who served with the Air Force in Vietnam as a non career officer and commander of a small 25 man air terminal (passenger and cargo) while I didn't see the movie version at the time and not until many years later, I was highly entertained about the spoof on bureaucratic reasoning. In actuality I found that there was a good deal of common sense applied and accountable approaches to getting the job done. I insisted upon it with respect to carrying out assigned duties and I think that was common with many others. I was at a tactical fighter base of single crew member planes and several other tenant units at a very safe base on the South China Sea much like the locale in the film, So it was a more positive experience for me and others than at normal duty stations around the world where there was often far less real work to be done each day and more "mickey mouse" functions prevailed.

@mollyellis04 4 жыл бұрын

I’ve been struggling to get through this book because of the way it’s written with stream of consciousness. This video helped me understand why it’s written this way- hoping to get through it now!

@hodan8905 3 жыл бұрын

the audiobook helps a lot!

@tacosux691 2 жыл бұрын

Great video. Read it in high school 21 years ago and wasn’t mentally initiated for it. The Hulu show got me into it. Wish I could read it now without knowing the show

@birarakisarap 4 жыл бұрын

thats a nice catch tom! i came across catch 22 and its on my read list for a year.

@marwanelmounajjed 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks I needed that, I do get lost with character names and this helped me gain crucial informations to remember them

@isabellast.andrews2490 2 жыл бұрын

I hope you'll make more videos reviewing classic novels! A Farewell to Arms is next on my list.

@omersohail95 4 жыл бұрын

Brilliant commentary! Thank you

@grmpEqweer 4 жыл бұрын

Now I'll have to reread it. I remember loving it. Good video!

@Tom_Nicholas 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks, hope you enjoy your re-read!

@bcl8260 4 жыл бұрын

I wish there was so much more How to Read It!!

@Maria-xn8hw 5 жыл бұрын

Excellent video! I really love this series, I just read Ulysses there in June and your How To Read It video on that was so so helpful! I hope you keep adding to this series! 😊

@Tom_Nicholas 5 жыл бұрын

Oh, I'm really glad the Ulysses video did the trick! I don't think I've heard back from anyone whose watched it and then read the book yet so that's great to hear. Did you enjoy reading it?

@Maria-xn8hw 5 жыл бұрын

@@Tom_Nicholas Some of it did go over my head, but on the whole I did! I found Oxen of the Sun was particularly torturous, but some of the other chapter styles were fantastic and I really enjoyed them. I wouldn't have stood a chance without footnotes and videos like yours! I'm from Ireland myself and I'd just finished Uni in Dublin so I recognised a lot of the places (same with reading Dubliners) so that was a lovely experience. I definitely think I'll have to reread it though to get more out of it, but at the moment I feel very proud if myself for actually finishing it! Thank you so much for your introduction to that beast!

@Maria-xn8hw 5 жыл бұрын

I actually have a copy of Catch-22 on my shelf, sitting there unread... I might be tempted now 😂

@Tom_Nicholas 5 жыл бұрын

Oh goodness, yeah, Oxen of the Sun is a treat. Dubliners is much more accessible as a book-I LOVE so many of the stories in there. Did you ever go to Sweeney's? I was in Dublin a little while back and popped in for a reading which was fun but infinitely bizarre!

@Maria-xn8hw 5 жыл бұрын

@@Tom_Nicholas I haven't been there actually, I must check out some of their events 😊

@AlyssaLeavitt 4 жыл бұрын

This was amazing and really widened my perspective!! Love this book

@Laocoon283 2 жыл бұрын

How so?

@gm2407 Жыл бұрын

I love this book and absurdist books in general. Life has such great travesties and calling them out in absurdist works is even better than satire and parody as truly everyone is the tragic straight man to the joke of society.

@minty2733 4 жыл бұрын

Really great and detailed analysis! Opened my eyes to how to structure of Catch-22 reflects the military environment. Thank you so much for this video! *Subscribes vigorously* :)

@Tom_Nicholas 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks, really glad you took something from it!

@lawrencesmeaton6930 3 ай бұрын

I count Catch-22 along with Slaughterhouse 5 as two of the best war satire's written.

@stephencrowe739 Жыл бұрын

This book has been one of the best books I've ever read. The show adapts it to a more dramatic point of view which I think makes everything flow better.

@Welcome2Jackieland 4 ай бұрын

When Yossarian pretends to be the dying soldier and the family comes in and the dads like “I can’t get over how bad he looks” was the funniest scene I’ve read in my life

@jonniebyford 4 жыл бұрын

It's undoubtedly a very clever book, but I'm past page 100 of the 500 or so pages and haven't laughed once. Some books NEED to be read more than once, I'm aware of that. An example is Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry. If you read that and dissect it Tom, then I shall be back to hear your opinion. Imho, one needs to have experienced alcoholism to understand and appreciate Lowry's book, which like Heller's Catch-22, is based on Lowry's own experiences in Mexico in 1934. Like Catch-22, it was also voted one of the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels. But some people just can't get along with it and I can see why. I've read it three times and can appreciate its brilliance, but it's not for everyone. I honestly think that in some cases a book's difficulty, as well as its appreciation being based to a large extent on subjectivity, as well as their evident high-brow allure, gives some books a kind of cachet they don't deserve. What I think I'm trying to say is that the man in the street, of which I'm one, finds them hard to read and comprehend, which gives them all the more appeal to the more obvious literary types.

@Laocoon283 2 жыл бұрын

I always had a theory on people who say that can't see the humor in the book is because they take it too literally and don't embrace the absurdity of the situations being described.

@herohoistsaustralia4502 Жыл бұрын

@@Laocoon283 Agree completely. It's a little like those who find no humour or can't relate to Seinfeld... I feel these folks just gotta get 'out' more… :P

@robertvaughan4915 3 жыл бұрын

I first read this book sometime back in the 90s and recently decided to read it again. The first time I read this book I though it was hilarious for all the crazy antics, illogic, stupidity, incompetance, etc.. Hence I got a big laugh out of it. Reading it now was still hilarious to me but looked at it more philosophically. I guess age made me think a little deeper. Though I still laughed at Milo's syndicate activities, such as fulfilling a contract with the Germans to bomb his own base or trying to offload the overbought Egyptian cotton by thinking he can get the men in his outfit to eat like candy. Nonetheless, I found the concept of not being deemed crazy if you want out of the mission but those who want to perform the mission are crazy. Essentially a no-win scenario in my opinion.

@shoulderoforion115 7 ай бұрын

Only book where I genuinely find a majority of the pages making me laugh. Not a smirk, an actual laugh. One of my favourite books.

@dinahnicest6525 10 ай бұрын

I love this book. Read the whole thing 2 or 3 times, and parts of it countless times.

@stephenvizinczey438 4 жыл бұрын

Enjoyed watching your video, it is like a history lesson

@Tom_Nicholas 4 жыл бұрын

Cheers, hope you found it interesting!

@sobertillnoon 3 жыл бұрын

The axes, you say? The XYZ gang. Some say there's a fourth one, W, lurking in the shadows. I don't don't believe in it though I should say I love your videos. They are great. I just wanted to comment something to feed the algorithm and this was the best I could do.

@catlady8324 2 жыл бұрын

1:00 He finally gets to the point.

@hodan8905 3 жыл бұрын

Yay one of my favorite books!

@paradoxinmotion 2 жыл бұрын

amazing thanks !

@PravdaSeed 3 ай бұрын

💚 thanks 22 billion times Joseph 💚

@lomiification 3 жыл бұрын

Wait, there's a tv version of catch 22? Also that clip looked perfect; I gotta watch this

@sliceoflife4220 3 жыл бұрын

2019 News 6 episodes really well done

@PompeyBoy66 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks. Really good. I won't read the book. I've got it in Audible but I just don't see the world the way Mr Heller saw it and I cann't understand it. Maybe the George Clooney tv version on Hula might help .

@johnbryant8603 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you 🙏🏽🖤

@pietzsche 2 жыл бұрын

Heller's one of the best authors of the last century, his other work's can be tougher than Catch-22 but they're excellent too

@ryangarritty9761 4 жыл бұрын

Given the year of publication, it's impossible for the Vietnam war to have been an influence on Catch 22. However, I think the whole notion of Mutually Assured Destruction ( MAD ), which characterised Cold War strategy, is highly pertinent. The super powers openly admitted to the world that their actions were based on a completely insane premise. The tragedy for the world in 1961 was that - unlike Yossarian - there was nowhere left on earth to paddle to in order to avoid potential armageddon. Oh, and it's bloody hilarious.

@schnoodle3 3 жыл бұрын

Joseph Heller clearly indicates in his early 70s interviews that Catch 22 was influflunced by Korea and the early cold war, he says its a "prediction" of a Vietnam type conflict. Tom is very clear on the timing.

@Mottleydude1 3 жыл бұрын

I think you’re missing the point a bit about the anachronisms in Catch-22. Yes they’re anachronisms from the fifties but they don’t influence the theme of the book as much as they provide hilarious examples of the absurdities of the rational irrationality based on circular reasoning logical fallacies that have plagued large and powerful human institutions from time immemorial. You noted that the plot of the book is told in a non-linear manner but did you note that it’s actually circular? Heller keeps circling back to the same events but from the different characters point of view and each time flushes out more details on these events in the plot. Which is a wonderful touch in a novel about the absurdity of circular reasoning. How could it be any other way? A circular story about circular logic. The military, the anachronisms, the war are just the settings for the absurdities of the human condition and and our institutions that Heller is poking fun at.

@dwc1964 3 жыл бұрын

My biggest regret reading _Catch-22_ is that I tried to read it in bed before sleeping. I'd fall asleep before putting the bookmark in, drop the book, and then try and figure out where I left off - which with all the jumping back and forth in time going on, was basically impossible.

@louise221b 3 жыл бұрын

Hey i read too before bed, i try to go a chapter or two a day but never im between. Works i'm at chapt 22 now

@brainwashalpha5495 Жыл бұрын

i did that too, until today i read it all in one go and finally finished the damn book. i can scarcely recall the chapters before 17 or so where i started reading today, but it was worth it in the end. i am curious to know whatever happened to doc daneeka. its a bit like leaving friends behind.

@karamazovkid71 4 жыл бұрын

Clevenger was a Harvard PHD in literature. Of him Yossarian said, " Clevenger knew everything about books except how to enjoy one!" Kinda like this video?

@karamazovkid71 4 жыл бұрын

This review is a simulacrum! Dennis Lahane voiced Dark Romanticism as if it were a choral symphony but when he tried to write historical fiction he blew his credibility completely. Howie Unger was reputed to be the best gin rummy who ever lived but when he tried to extend his talent to non-card forms of gambling he lost everything he possessed including his life to folly. Caveat Vendor! (the English version)

@karamazovkid71 4 жыл бұрын

American version.

@StephenSchleis 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks for this.

@Tom_Nicholas 5 жыл бұрын

No worries! Hope you found it interesting!

@StephenSchleis 5 жыл бұрын

Tom Nicholas I’d love to hear you in a podcast talking about the political socio economic conditions of our time. So much knowledge you have that you can put to good use targeting the system full heartedly. It truly is Socialism (ecosocialism) or barbarism.

@LogicGated 3 жыл бұрын

Yayy my favourite novel of all time

@elainekavros7965 5 жыл бұрын

Thank you Tom for this, even though it pre-empted your "Pride and Prejudice" summary. I stumbled upon the Netflick's miniseries Catch-22 and saw the entire 6 episodes twice, once by myself and second time with a WW2 buff. I was sucked in. I went to the library and got the book. Sincerely enjoyed your overview of the novel, its structure, the author's framed of mind at time of writing vs his actually experience during WW2.

@Tom_Nicholas 5 жыл бұрын

Glad you liked it Elaine! I haven't actually watched the TV series yet. I've got it waiting for me at some point though and, judging from your experience, it sounds like it might be worth watching! Enjoy reading the novel!

@dougbarr8421 Жыл бұрын

I made it to chapter 4 it's excruciating

@stevenbosch429 5 жыл бұрын

You Tube has a recording of Rod Serling’s “Bomber’s Moon,” it was s teleplay about a Air Force Officer in WW II who believes he cannot control his terror when flying missions with his bomber group and fears he will kill his crew and himself. The group adjutant (Martin Balsam) wants the Officer to keep flying because he recognizes the offcer’s fear as exactly like his own and every other pilot and crewman in the group. If one gives in to fear it wouldn’t stop if he we’re rotated home and he would consider himself a coward. His CO (Robert Cummings) denies the fear in his heart and rides the pilot without mercy. The play was performed 10 years after WW II and Serling was a veteran of the Airborne Infantry. There were many veterans in Serling’s audience who took themes of courage and cowardice very seriously.

@Tom_Nicholas 5 жыл бұрын

That's really interesting, I'll check that out, I haven't read or seen Bomber's Moon before. Heller did also adapt a couple of scenes of Catch-22 into a short play too (the mock trial scenes). I haven't seen that either though so can't comment on whether its any good or not!

@stevenbosch429 5 жыл бұрын

@@Tom_Nicholas Thank you Tom.

@MorrisDugan Жыл бұрын

@Tom_Nicholas After overdosing on John Le Carré over the last couple of months, I'm suggesting any of his books for your "How to Read It" series. (I think I've read fewer than half of his books, but it's still a somewhat long list.) I think it's likely you've read more than one. I knew about the Mike Nichols movie version of Catch-22 with Alan Arkin, but I didn't know before that there's also a recent TV adaptation.

@catchtwenty22 3 жыл бұрын

Well done bloke.

@BobBob-uv9fq 3 жыл бұрын

Just started reading catch 22 ,yes very readable,have started speed reading ,any tips just non verbalisation

@ericseal4453 3 жыл бұрын

To the casual reader, read it very carefully! Its brilliantly entertaining, but it is written in flashbacks.

@jonathangriffin1120 11 ай бұрын

About 25 years ago I lent my copy to a workmate, sadly no longer with us, who summed it up by saying 'Everyone you know is in this book!' RIP Angus....

@1true_panda562 3 жыл бұрын

one of my best friends just passed away and this was his favorite book so i thought i would get a clear idea of what its about b4 i give a read so ty you for the knowledge .......................Rest In Peace Tyler Barnes

@ginolancaster3496 3 жыл бұрын

nice video thanks, I have tried to read Catch 22 numerous times. I just could not finish due to its frustating plot and language, at just seemed so pointless and directionless. but will try again as a I can attempt to view it now in different light and expectional understanding..I think thats what I mean!!

@enflamedhuevos 3 жыл бұрын

Think of it like this, you’re confused and spun in a circle because you’re viewing the world through Yossarian’s eyes, who is also confused and spun in a circle

@SEAL341 4 жыл бұрын

Love your videos but one small point of pedantry from me; Yossarian didn't fly for the US Air Force because that wasn't created until the National Security Act of 1947. It was the US Army Air Force at that time, because the Air Corp was still technically under the command of the Army from it's creation until the end of WWII. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Air_Forces

@sofiabarcenas6931 3 жыл бұрын

Is the series on Hulu the same as the book?

@dh7314 22 күн бұрын

I’ve failed several times to read this. Apparently I’m the only person in history with this problem

@roisin9401 19 күн бұрын

ur not alone

@hadilnew7243 3 жыл бұрын

can you mention some collocatiin in catch 22 pls

@cwdkidman2266 2 жыл бұрын

You forgot the main thing...or two main things. 1, Catch-22 is the bible, or at least the old testament, albeit a secular and insanely comic version of the OT. Lt. Col. Korn is Satan and Major ------- deCoverly is God. 2, William Faulkner is the father of Heller's style of prose. Both use ten dollar dictionary words and can change tense, narrator, time, and place mid-sentence. They both write in a famously complex style that forces you to pay attention.

@brainwashalpha5495 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the forward. I'll try to pick up some Faulkner next

@mnlyt2942 Жыл бұрын

Every comment says it’s hilarious while I’m confused as hell

@motopapi2478 2 жыл бұрын

I finished it in just 5 days, afraid at first because the first 100 pages are really VAGUE and thinking of skipping it but then I persevered (if u know, u know) and found the novel really engrossing to read.

@flower-ld5id 5 жыл бұрын

I was planning on reading this! If I get round to it..

@Tom_Nicholas 5 жыл бұрын

Haha, I have so many books that I'm planning on reading but failing to get round too, I feel your pain!

@clickbaitcabaret8208 4 жыл бұрын

In the past week I've read Franz Kafka, The Trial & Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse 5, now I'm reading Catch 22. One thing that strikes me about the book is it's full of what today would be called "toxic masculinity." The characters often seem like unruly children with alcoholic parents who misplace importance on the most absurd aspects of their development. Like winning a red parade pennant & bringing up a cadet on charges for making suggestions when his superior asked him to. I definitely get the Kafka reference. The trial was this monstrous authority figure who was everywhere yet no one knew what it's purpose was. No one ever tells K what's going on because no one knows, despite "the court" looming so large over daily life. The madness of the military's bureaucracy plays the same role in Catch 22. The war is really just the backdrop for it.

@Tom_Nicholas 4 жыл бұрын

Wow, busy week! Yes, it's definitely an interesting study in hegemonic masculinity (both its positives and negatives...).