Re: 25 Classic Books That Have Been Banned

On Fri, 16 May 2025 20:53:49 -0700, The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca>
wrote:

On Fri, 14 Feb 2025 08:46:55 +1100, Peter Moylan <peter@pmoylan.org>
wrote:
>

On 14/02/25 08:21, D wrote:

On Wed, 12 Feb 2025, Judith Latham wrote:

>

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

>
Excellent! Will read again.

>
I did read it again, and was disappointed. Somehow, for me, it had lost
its air of originality. I'd almost classify it as a "read once" book.
Many of the other books on the list can be read with pleasure multiple
times.
>
Having said that, I still acknowledge that Catch-22 is an important
literary work. In fact, when I released my mailing list manager, I
called it MajorMajor.

>
I watched both *M*A*S*H* and Catch-22 in book form and the movies in
university. *M*A*S*H* was a great movie but terrible read while
Catch-22 was a great book but terrible movie.

I bought a paperback copy of "Catch-22" in, I think 1962 or 1963.  At
that time I was taking the Chicago El to work.  When reading the book
on the El I was often convulsed with laughter (the kind that makes
your cheeks hurt!) and had to close the book and pause for a bit. Even
not reading, I'd continue to laugh.

The El was usually quite crowded in the morning when I rode to work
and in the late afternoon when I rode it back to my apartment.  My
fellow passengers gave me a wide berth.  It made them nervous sitting
near a well-dressed man in a suit and tie staring into space during
those pauses twitching and trying - unsuccessfully - to stifle
laughter. 

I still have that paperback edition.  It's one of the few things I've
managed to keep with me over these many years.  It's currently in my
bedside table.  I don't re-read it anymore, but I do open it at random
and read a sentence or two.  From one sentence, I can recall the
entire sequence.

>
And no question by that time I knew enough about WW2 and Korea that I
very much did understand the real history each book was played out in.

While my stint in the US Army was that of Six Month Active Duty
Reservist in 1961, I don't think you have to have a great deal of
personal experience in the military to enjoy Catch-22.