Scan barcode
tildafin16's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
For me, I just don’t enjoy absurdist and repetitive writing; I was assured that it all comes together in the final third and becomes amazing; well, yeah, I guess I can see that , but by that time having slugged 300 plus pages of complex, constantly trying-to-be-funny-and-clever, absurd wordplay - I just didn’t care that much anymore and the impact of the ending section was lessened for me. I have read such gruesome depictions of war elsewhere and been able to immerse myself in the writing but for me, I just couldn’t with this. There was one scene with Milo Minderbinder (the names made me want to scream) that made me laugh, I didn’t laugh out loud often as lots of folk have. (And it’s easy to make me laugh! This is just not my humour)
Finally as many have mentioned the depiction of female characters is just appalling. If he was making a point (and I am not convinced he really was) by this, then he succeeded in rendering all of his main male characters including his hero, absolute arseholes in that regard.
I always feel bad when I dislike such well loved novels but in that regard this is way up there with Walden (shudder) and Life of Pi for me.
Graphic: War, Rape, Sexual harassment, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Death
milo10000's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Heller's exploration of absurdism and the evils that can be perpetuated by "just going with the flow" is masterful. Yossarian's journey out of the hospital and back into it again is at times both hilarious and hopeless. Highly recommend to anyone who doesn't mind a bit of impropriety
Graphic: Gore, Sexism, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Rape
loverboy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, War, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Rape
Minor: Religious bigotry, Car accident, and Suicide
nnannanna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The way Joseph Heller writes isn't to my liking in the slightest. The explanations of events are verbose, jumping from place to place and character to character. You start a chapter from a plane in the middle of a war and end it in a fully unrelated story that happened 10 years prior. Finally I gave up on trying to understand everything and just plowed through to reach the end.
Lastly the role of women in the book was just... Not? Every single female character is somehow connected to sex. Either they're a sex worker, a nurse that gets sexually assaulted or somehow sex is written into their description. Maybe there is a point to this and it belongs to the satire but I did not catch that.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexism, War, and Injury/Injury detail
bellaklimperauge's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death, War, Murder, and Sexism
seanml's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Gaslighting, Grief, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Murder, Racism, Vomit, War, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, and Torture
Minor: Cannibalism
beiiadonna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Violence, War, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Racism
baba4yaga's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Sexual assault
lauramcc7's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Rape, Murder, Medical content, Gun violence, Grief, Death, Cursing, Blood, War, Violence, and Sexual content
numerous_bees's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The early chapters occasionally feel like reading an episode of M*A*S*H, but I'd call it humorous or wry rather than funny. It gets significantly less so as it goes on, culminating in a harrowing final third. There is no humour there, there is no purpose to the many deaths, there is only the naked desperation of a man trying to survive a brutal, senseless bureaucracy and a brutal, bloody war. Nothing is surprising any more, no matter how ridiculous, they just become just another awful thing about an awful situation. Of course,
At the time of writing, 12% of people have tagged this book as "lighthearted", and frankly I hope they're okay.
This was not a fun read and, at the halfway mark, I had decided to pass the book on after I finished it, but now I have turned the last page, it's sitting with me. I think, on balance, I would recommend it but it was not enjoyable.
Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Minor: Suicide