Catch-22

638 pages

Langue : French

Publié 6 août 2006 par Grasset et Fasquello.

ISBN :: 978-2-253-11336-2

(2 critiques)

Catch-22 is like no other novel. It has its own rationale, its own extraordinary character. It moves back and forth from hilarity to horror. It is outrageously funny and strangely affecting. It is totally original. Set in the closing months of World War II in an American bomber squadron off Italy, Catch-22 is the story of a bombardier named Yossarian, who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he hasn't even met keep trying to kill him. Catch-22 is a microcosm of the twentieth-century world as it might look to someone dangerously sane. It is a novel that lives and moves and grows with astonishing power and vitality -- a masterpiece of our time. - Back cover.

61 éditions

Anthony a publié une critique de Catch-22 par Joseph Heller

5 étoiles

Je ne pense pas avoir déjà lu un livre qui m'ait fait rire au point d'en avoir les larmes aux yeux, pour, quelques lignes après, être saisi aux tripes par le récit des horreurs vécues par les femmes et les hommes que nous accompagnons dans ce supplice. Car nos personnages sont coincés en enfer, dans l'univers absurde de la Guerre, et les dialogues qui parsèment le récit se retrouvent dans le procédé littéraire du roman. À tel point qu'à un moment, nous nous demandons si ce n'est pas trop, si la répétition des dialogues et des situations ne va pas trop loin. Mais en ce qui me concerne, à peine ce sentiment éprouvé, j'ai senti une soudaine évolution du récit et un changement dans la tonalité de la narration. Il n'est pas étonnant que ce livre ait été utilisé par celles et ceux qui, en Amérique, luttaient pour mettre fin …

Je ne pense pas avoir déjà lu un livre qui m'ait fait rire au point d'en avoir les larmes aux yeux, pour, quelques lignes après, être saisi aux tripes par le récit des horreurs vécues par les femmes et les hommes que nous accompagnons dans ce supplice. Car nos personnages sont coincés en enfer, dans l'univers absurde de la Guerre, et les dialogues qui parsèment le récit se retrouvent dans le procédé littéraire du roman. À tel point qu'à un moment, nous nous demandons si ce n'est pas trop, si la répétition des dialogues et des situations ne va pas trop loin. Mais en ce qui me concerne, à peine ce sentiment éprouvé, j'ai senti une soudaine évolution du récit et un changement dans la tonalité de la narration. Il n'est pas étonnant que ce livre ait été utilisé par celles et ceux qui, en Amérique, luttaient pour mettre fin à la guerre du Vietnam.

Goblin a publié une critique de Catch-22 par Joseph Heller (Everyman's library ;)

Disappointing

2 étoiles

I decided it was finally time to read Catch-22 so I could get the cultural references that come up from time to time. I couldn't finish it.

In each chapter, we meet some odd characters with odd names that are probably supposed to make the reader laugh. We encounter some kind of circular logic. We have an absurd situation. And nothing really changes, and then we move onto the next chapter with new odd-named characters, new circular logic, new absurdities. 8 chapters into the book I skimmed through the chapter titles, which are nearly all odd character names, and realized it was likely going to be the same pattern again and again. The problem is that I wasn't entertained, and so in the middle of my 8th mission I decided that it just wasn't worth it and deserted. I won't make it to 42 missions.

Repetition to drive home a …

I decided it was finally time to read Catch-22 so I could get the cultural references that come up from time to time. I couldn't finish it.

In each chapter, we meet some odd characters with odd names that are probably supposed to make the reader laugh. We encounter some kind of circular logic. We have an absurd situation. And nothing really changes, and then we move onto the next chapter with new odd-named characters, new circular logic, new absurdities. 8 chapters into the book I skimmed through the chapter titles, which are nearly all odd character names, and realized it was likely going to be the same pattern again and again. The problem is that I wasn't entertained, and so in the middle of my 8th mission I decided that it just wasn't worth it and deserted. I won't make it to 42 missions.

Repetition to drive home a point can be very effective. It seems that a lot of people have been entertained by Heller's writing. I wasn't, so I couldn't deal with the monotony. Heller, I think, wanted to show us the absurdity of the military in a time when we were still feeling good about the military after WWII. It was a bold thing to do, and the success of the novel shows it was effective for a lot of people. I appreciate the idea behind the novel, the execution just didn't work for me at all.