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 Customer Reviews
anti-war literature at its best, 25 Jun 2008
Great novel. The journey from childhood to manhood is supposed to be full of joy and mystery, but this novel shows, doesn't tell, of what that journey is like during a world war. This book was banned by the Nazis when they came to power in 1933. If you read this novel, you'll understand why it was banned in Nazi Germany.
Read this before you die!, 08 Jun 2008
I bought an original 1929 copy on ebay and this is one hell of a book. If anyone has any idea that war is glorious you will be jarred severely by the this story. The true horror of the ordinary man fighting to keep alive is documented with crystal clear vision.
I initially found the style of writing a little off putting, but I have to say I rarely get sucked into a story as thoroughly as this one, I even have had nightmares about it's content!
In a similar way that Das Boot shared the human side of the 'enemy', AQOTWF does the same.....at the end of everything we are all very similar, whether English, French or German. We all worry and care about our loved ones.
AQOTWF was one of the books the Nazi's burnt in the 30's. That is sufficient reason to read it.
I can't say you will enjoy it, but I'm sure it will give you a valuable insight into the hellish lives the brave soldiers of all nations who suffered so much. God rest their souls.
If you are buying this book get a hold of Birdsong, it follows a similar thread.
Fantastic, 06 Mar 2008
I am one of these people who always wanted to read a great classic and enjoy it.
Unfortunately what usually happens is that I never finish a book of this type because it is too much like hard work and I go back to something less challenging.
Not so with this book. It grabbed me immediately and I lapped up every page. The author succeeded in bringing across difficult emotional subjects in an effortless way and I would thoroughly recommend it to everyone.
Exposes well the despair and hopelessness of trench warfare, 02 Dec 2007
Very tragic and horrific account of the lives of a group of German ex-classmate soldiers in the trenches of WWI. The novel brings across well the hopelessness and futility of it all, especially at the very end of the story. Most of the time the story could be about the experiences of any group of WWI soldiers from any country as there are relatively few specifically German reference points apart from the characters' names. The writing is in the present tense, which I usually find annoying and did so to some extent here, but it does bring across the drama of the action very vividly. The language is very simple and the book was a quick read despite its nearly 300 pages.
The last enemy ..., 13 Nov 2006
Erich Marie Remarque was a truly great writer of his generation. Imagine how fresh this novel was when first published - imagine reading it in the original German language. Notwithstanding the many decades that have passed it remains a masterpiece. I first read 'All Quiet' in the 1960's.
I promise you, it changed my life forever. Few books in my nearly six decades of reading have done that.
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Catch-22
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Customer Reviews
anti-war literature at its best, 25 Jun 2008
Great novel. The journey from childhood to manhood is supposed to be full of joy and mystery, but this novel shows, doesn't tell, of what that journey is like during a world war. This book was banned by the Nazis when they came to power in 1933. If you read this novel, you'll understand why it was banned in Nazi Germany.
Read this before you die!, 08 Jun 2008
I bought an original 1929 copy on ebay and this is one hell of a book. If anyone has any idea that war is glorious you will be jarred severely by the this story. The true horror of the ordinary man fighting to keep alive is documented with crystal clear vision.
I initially found the style of writing a little off putting, but I have to say I rarely get sucked into a story as thoroughly as this one, I even have had nightmares about it's content!
In a similar way that Das Boot shared the human side of the 'enemy', AQOTWF does the same.....at the end of everything we are all very similar, whether English, French or German. We all worry and care about our loved ones.
AQOTWF was one of the books the Nazi's burnt in the 30's. That is sufficient reason to read it.
I can't say you will enjoy it, but I'm sure it will give you a valuable insight into the hellish lives the brave soldiers of all nations who suffered so much. God rest their souls.
If you are buying this book get a hold of Birdsong, it follows a similar thread.
Fantastic, 06 Mar 2008
I am one of these people who always wanted to read a great classic and enjoy it.
Unfortunately what usually happens is that I never finish a book of this type because it is too much like hard work and I go back to something less challenging.
Not so with this book. It grabbed me immediately and I lapped up every page. The author succeeded in bringing across difficult emotional subjects in an effortless way and I would thoroughly recommend it to everyone.
Exposes well the despair and hopelessness of trench warfare, 02 Dec 2007
Very tragic and horrific account of the lives of a group of German ex-classmate soldiers in the trenches of WWI. The novel brings across well the hopelessness and futility of it all, especially at the very end of the story. Most of the time the story could be about the experiences of any group of WWI soldiers from any country as there are relatively few specifically German reference points apart from the characters' names. The writing is in the present tense, which I usually find annoying and did so to some extent here, but it does bring across the drama of the action very vividly. The language is very simple and the book was a quick read despite its nearly 300 pages.
The last enemy ..., 13 Nov 2006
Erich Marie Remarque was a truly great writer of his generation. Imagine how fresh this novel was when first published - imagine reading it in the original German language. Notwithstanding the many decades that have passed it remains a masterpiece. I first read 'All Quiet' in the 1960's.
I promise you, it changed my life forever. Few books in my nearly six decades of reading have done that.
Disappointing to put it mildly, 10 Nov 2008
I waited a long time to buy and read this book. For one reason or another it always slipped my mind when I was shopping for books. Then one day I remembered and wish I hadn't.
Maybe I read it in the wrong era. Is this sixties humour, American humour, or student humour or all three? I found nothing to laugh about at all. I found each page filled with nonsense. I really isn't my idea of humour.
It really has struck a chord with many people, as these reviews testify.
For anyone wishing to buy it, read several pages and see if it suits your taste. Don't make the mistake I did, and assume because it's a so called classic it will be good.
One of the best books I have read... brilliant madness... or the XXth in a nutshell, 01 Nov 2008
It is silly to use superlatives. So I will not.
A lot of people will not like... probably the same who does not understand THE MARX BROS approach to life.
It is in a way original... and somewhat not... it drinks in Wodehouse, Kafka and Jerome K. Jerome to name a few... unashamedly.
BUT, for the time it was written it IS absolutely brilliant, it pays to read in context (many hippies of the sixties would have thought it was about NAM... without reading the book...). M.A.S.H. was about the Korean War and NOT NAM at all you know...
Of course you can say it influenced in turn M.A.S.H., Blackadder's and a lot of posterior opus...
BUT it is really worth reading as great literature because we have all come across in life with the same kind of characters... so... as compulsory as WAR&PEACE...
I have already passed it to my son, and hope one day my grandson read it too. THAT is what makes a CLASSIC "live" I guess.
ADB
Great Characters Living with Death, 22 Oct 2008
The amazing CATCH-22 essentially has three overlapping narratives. One shows senior officers who are comically unsympathetic to the interests of their men. Some of these, such as Colonel Cathcart and General Peckem, are careerists who make decisions according to self-interest (or stupidity and self-interest). Others are incompetents, such as Major Major Major Major and General Sheiskopff, whose authority far surpasses their ability. To me, the careerist officers, while satirical, seemed as real as any modern bungling boss, working smugly in the corner office.
Milo Minderbinder, a genius trader and capitalist, is the dominant character in the second narrative. Technically, Milo is the mess officer at Pianosa, where Yossarian is based. But he has parlayed this job into a food supply syndicate and has become a major commercial player throughout the entire war zone. Milo is a profiteer and entrepreneur whose greed distorts, and sometimes overshadows, the war.
With Milo, Heller shows a world of surrealistic capitalism that thrives as the men in the bombers die. But for me, Milo didn't add much. His adventures make twisted sense. Yet they hit only one note and don't really ripen into something more profound. Milo is the least successful part of this superior and complex book.
The third narrative in CATCH-22 shows the men who fly in the bombers. Here, Heller's work is outstanding. There are men who can't shake the presence of death (Yossarian, Dunbar, Hungry Joe, and Dobbs). There are true believers who accept the mission and its risks (Clevinger and Havermeyer). There is a rich kid (Nately), a reckless hotdog (McWatt), and a doomed alcoholic (Chief White Halfoat). And there are the horrible fatalities (Snowden and Kid Sampson), whose deaths are gruesome and arbitrary.
Heller's work with these characters is absolutely first-rate. While they have cartoonish aspects, each is distinct and each has a surprisingly moving story. Heller also writes about their combat missions with you-are-there intensity. Finally, he connects the reader emotionally to the plight of these characters, especially in the final 150 pages, when the power and poignance of his narratives merge and really hit home. Then, you feel the consequences when you learn that, say, Milo has substituted aspirin for morphine in McWatt's plane on the tragic and high-risk mission to Avignon. "There there," murmurs Yossarian. "There there."
CATCH-22 is a long book. There is repetitiveness in its humor. Its iteration of events is occasionally maddening. But keep at it! CATCH 22 deserves its must-read reputation (although seventh place on the ML Best Novels list seems a bit high). Regardless, this is a terrific novel.
I Love This Book, 18 Oct 2008
This book has got me through some of my worst days and made the good ones even better. I don't think it's possible to put into words just how special this book is.
A century of absurdity, 09 Oct 2008
Joseph Heller's Catch 22 is in my list of the top five novels of the twentieth century, and, if forced to choose one to take to my desert island, this would be it. In 500 pages, Heller captures what it is to live in a society dominated by gigantic, irrational, and dehumanising bureaucracies such as the US Air Force during WWII. With good reason it has been critically acclaimed and a top-seller since being published in 1961. Heller's anti-hero, Yossarian, fights a continual losing battle to avoid flying combat missions. The only characters that prosper in Yossarian's world are the venal and the downright bad. He concludes that the only way to survive in such an insane world is to behave insanely himself.
Heller uses paradox and bleak humour to provoke readers into thinking about their own circumstances. The book contains many examples of absurdist humour. In his vision, contemporary society forces us to make bad choices and to thwart other people, simply by following the arbitrary rules laid down by whichever bureaucracy we serve. To be free, a rebel like Yossarian must use the most convoluted strategies, turning logic and common sense on their heads. He fights unreason with more of the same. In this way, he combats his true enemies: the US Air Force's various functionaries, not the Germans who shoot at his aircraft.
Catch 22 took Heller ten years to write and it is his masterwork, containing many subtle references to other great literary works. This may seem presumptuous for a first-time novelist - which Heller was when he wrote Catch 22 - but the quality of his prose and the powerful expression of universal twentieth century dilemmas make this a work that stands in the top rank of literary achievements.
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Customer Reviews
anti-war literature at its best, 25 Jun 2008
Great novel. The journey from childhood to manhood is supposed to be full of joy and mystery, but this novel shows, doesn't tell, of what that journey is like during a world war. This book was banned by the Nazis when they came to power in 1933. If you read this novel, you'll understand why it was banned in Nazi Germany.
Read this before you die!, 08 Jun 2008
I bought an original 1929 copy on ebay and this is one hell of a book. If anyone has any idea that war is glorious you will be jarred severely by the this story. The true horror of the ordinary man fighting to keep alive is documented with crystal clear vision.
I initially found the style of writing a little off putting, but I have to say I rarely get sucked into a story as thoroughly as this one, I even have had nightmares about it's content!
In a similar way that Das Boot shared the human side of the 'enemy', AQOTWF does the same.....at the end of everything we are all very similar, whether English, French or German. We all worry and care about our loved ones.
AQOTWF was one of the books the Nazi's burnt in the 30's. That is sufficient reason to read it.
I can't say you will enjoy it, but I'm sure it will give you a valuable insight into the hellish lives the brave soldiers of all nations who suffered so much. God rest their souls.
If you are buying this book get a hold of Birdsong, it follows a similar thread.
Fantastic, 06 Mar 2008
I am one of these people who always wanted to read a great classic and enjoy it.
Unfortunately what usually happens is that I never finish a book of this type because it is too much like hard work and I go back to something less challenging.
Not so with this book. It grabbed me immediately and I lapped up every page. The author succeeded in bringing across difficult emotional subjects in an effortless way and I would thoroughly recommend it to everyone.
Exposes well the despair and hopelessness of trench warfare, 02 Dec 2007
Very tragic and horrific account of the lives of a group of German ex-classmate soldiers in the trenches of WWI. The novel brings across well the hopelessness and futility of it all, especially at the very end of the story. Most of the time the story could be about the experiences of any group of WWI soldiers from any country as there are relatively few specifically German reference points apart from the characters' names. The writing is in the present tense, which I usually find annoying and did so to some extent here, but it does bring across the drama of the action very vividly. The language is very simple and the book was a quick read despite its nearly 300 pages.
The last enemy ..., 13 Nov 2006
Erich Marie Remarque was a truly great writer of his generation. Imagine how fresh this novel was when first published - imagine reading it in the original German language. Notwithstanding the many decades that have passed it remains a masterpiece. I first read 'All Quiet' in the 1960's.
I promise you, it changed my life forever. Few books in my nearly six decades of reading have done that.
Disappointing to put it mildly, 10 Nov 2008
I waited a long time to buy and read this book. For one reason or another it always slipped my mind when I was shopping for books. Then one day I remembered and wish I hadn't.
Maybe I read it in the wrong era. Is this sixties humour, American humour, or student humour or all three? I found nothing to laugh about at all. I found each page filled with nonsense. I really isn't my idea of humour.
It really has struck a chord with many people, as these reviews testify.
For anyone wishing to buy it, read several pages and see if it suits your taste. Don't make the mistake I did, and assume because it's a so called classic it will be good.
One of the best books I have read... brilliant madness... or the XXth in a nutshell, 01 Nov 2008
It is silly to use superlatives. So I will not.
A lot of people will not like... probably the same who does not understand THE MARX BROS approach to life.
It is in a way original... and somewhat not... it drinks in Wodehouse, Kafka and Jerome K. Jerome to name a few... unashamedly.
BUT, for the time it was written it IS absolutely brilliant, it pays to read in context (many hippies of the sixties would have thought it was about NAM... without reading the book...). M.A.S.H. was about the Korean War and NOT NAM at all you know...
Of course you can say it influenced in turn M.A.S.H., Blackadder's and a lot of posterior opus...
BUT it is really worth reading as great literature because we have all come across in life with the same kind of characters... so... as compulsory as WAR&PEACE...
I have already passed it to my son, and hope one day my grandson read it too. THAT is what makes a CLASSIC "live" I guess.
ADB
Great Characters Living with Death, 22 Oct 2008
The amazing CATCH-22 essentially has three overlapping narratives. One shows senior officers who are comically unsympathetic to the interests of their men. Some of these, such as Colonel Cathcart and General Peckem, are careerists who make decisions according to self-interest (or stupidity and self-interest). Others are incompetents, such as Major Major Major Major and General Sheiskopff, whose authority far surpasses their ability. To me, the careerist officers, while satirical, seemed as real as any modern bungling boss, working smugly in the corner office.
Milo Minderbinder, a genius trader and capitalist, is the dominant character in the second narrative. Technically, Milo is the mess officer at Pianosa, where Yossarian is based. But he has parlayed this job into a food supply syndicate and has become a major commercial player throughout the entire war zone. Milo is a profiteer and entrepreneur whose greed distorts, and sometimes overshadows, the war.
With Milo, Heller shows a world of surrealistic capitalism that thrives as the men in the bombers die. But for me, Milo didn't add much. His adventures make twisted sense. Yet they hit only one note and don't really ripen into something more profound. Milo is the least successful part of this superior and complex book.
The third narrative in CATCH-22 shows the men who fly in the bombers. Here, Heller's work is outstanding. There are men who can't shake the presence of death (Yossarian, Dunbar, Hungry Joe, and Dobbs). There are true believers who accept the mission and its risks (Clevinger and Havermeyer). There is a rich kid (Nately), a reckless hotdog (McWatt), and a doomed alcoholic (Chief White Halfoat). And there are the horrible fatalities (Snowden and Kid Sampson), whose deaths are gruesome and arbitrary.
Heller's work with these characters is absolutely first-rate. While they have cartoonish aspects, each is distinct and each has a surprisingly moving story. Heller also writes about their combat missions with you-are-there intensity. Finally, he connects the reader emotionally to the plight of these characters, especially in the final 150 pages, when the power and poignance of his narratives merge and really hit home. Then, you feel the consequences when you learn that, say, Milo has substituted aspirin for morphine in McWatt's plane on the tragic and high-risk mission to Avignon. "There there," murmurs Yossarian. "There there."
CATCH-22 is a long book. There is repetitiveness in its humor. Its iteration of events is occasionally maddening. But keep at it! CATCH 22 deserves its must-read reputation (although seventh place on the ML Best Novels list seems a bit high). Regardless, this is a terrific novel.
I Love This Book, 18 Oct 2008
This book has got me through some of my worst days and made the good ones even better. I don't think it's possible to put into words just how special this book is.
A century of absurdity, 09 Oct 2008
Joseph Heller's Catch 22 is in my list of the top five novels of the twentieth century, and, if forced to choose one to take to my desert island, this would be it. In 500 pages, Heller captures what it is to live in a society dominated by gigantic, irrational, and dehumanising bureaucracies such as the US Air Force during WWII. With good reason it has been critically acclaimed and a top-seller since being published in 1961. Heller's anti-hero, Yossarian, fights a continual losing battle to avoid flying combat missions. The only characters that prosper in Yossarian's world are the venal and the downright bad. He concludes that the only way to survive in such an insane world is to behave insanely himself.
Heller uses paradox and bleak humour to provoke readers into thinking about their own circumstances. The book contains many examples of absurdist humour. In his vision, contemporary society forces us to make bad choices and to thwart other people, simply by following the arbitrary rules laid down by whichever bureaucracy we serve. To be free, a rebel like Yossarian must use the most convoluted strategies, turning logic and common sense on their heads. He fights unreason with more of the same. In this way, he combats his true enemies: the US Air Force's various functionaries, not the Germans who shoot at his aircraft.
Catch 22 took Heller ten years to write and it is his masterwork, containing many subtle references to other great literary works. This may seem presumptuous for a first-time novelist - which Heller was when he wrote Catch 22 - but the quality of his prose and the powerful expression of universal twentieth century dilemmas make this a work that stands in the top rank of literary achievements.
Consistently Gripping and Involving , 25 Oct 2008
As with all the previous editions, this latest collection of the Charley's War strips is made up of wonderful, detailed and moving artwork carrying along great story-telling.
Through Charley we see the effects and impact of the Great War on an ordinary bloke. Although a fictitious character, Charley goes through what real men did thanks to through research by the author and artists. The politics and social comment might be over done, or it might just be an accurate reflection.
Charley's War is about as far removed from Batman and Superman comics as you can imagine, but is all the more powerful and memorable for it. As this is the 90th anniversary of the end of the Great War it is a good time to read (or even re-read) these stories.
Highly recommended for all ages and all levels of knowledge on the subject.
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Customer Reviews
anti-war literature at its best, 25 Jun 2008
Great novel. The journey from childhood to manhood is supposed to be full of joy and mystery, but this novel shows, doesn't tell, of what that journey is like during a world war. This book was banned by the Nazis when they came to power in 1933. If you read this novel, you'll understand why it was banned in Nazi Germany.
Read this before you die!, 08 Jun 2008
I bought an original 1929 copy on ebay and this is one hell of a book. If anyone has any idea that war is glorious you will be jarred severely by the this story. The true horror of the ordinary man fighting to keep alive is documented with crystal clear vision.
I initially found the style of writing a little off putting, but I have to say I rarely get sucked into a story as thoroughly as this one, I even have had nightmares about it's content!
In a similar way that Das Boot shared the human side of the 'enemy', AQOTWF does the same.....at the end of everything we are all very similar, whether English, French or German. We all worry and care about our loved ones.
AQOTWF was one of the books the Nazi's burnt in the 30's. That is sufficient reason to read it.
I can't say you will enjoy it, but I'm sure it will give you a valuable insight into the hellish lives the brave soldiers of all nations who suffered so much. God rest their souls.
If you are buying this book get a hold of Birdsong, it follows a similar thread.
Fantastic, 06 Mar 2008
I am one of these people who always wanted to read a great classic and enjoy it.
Unfortunately what usually happens is that I never finish a book of this type because it is too much like hard work and I go back to something less challenging.
Not so with this book. It grabbed me immediately and I lapped up every page. The author succeeded in bringing across difficult emotional subjects in an effortless way and I would thoroughly recommend it to everyone.
Exposes well the despair and hopelessness of trench warfare, 02 Dec 2007
Very tragic and horrific account of the lives of a group of German ex-classmate soldiers in the trenches of WWI. The novel brings across well the hopelessness and futility of it all, especially at the very end of the story. Most of the time the story could be about the experiences of any group of WWI soldiers from any country as there are relatively few specifically German reference points apart from the characters' names. The writing is in the present tense, which I usually find annoying and did so to some extent here, but it does bring across the drama of the action very vividly. The language is very simple and the book was a quick read despite its nearly 300 pages.
The last enemy ..., 13 Nov 2006
Erich Marie Remarque was a truly great writer of his generation. Imagine how fresh this novel was when first published - imagine reading it in the original German language. Notwithstanding the many decades that have passed it remains a masterpiece. I first read 'All Quiet' in the 1960's.
I promise you, it changed my life forever. Few books in my nearly six decades of reading have done that.
Disappointing to put it mildly, 10 Nov 2008
I waited a long time to buy and read this book. For one reason or another it always slipped my mind when I was shopping for books. Then one day I remembered and wish I hadn't.
Maybe I read it in the wrong era. Is this sixties humour, American humour, or student humour or all three? I found nothing to laugh about at all. I found each page filled with nonsense. I really isn't my idea of humour.
It really has struck a chord with many people, as these reviews testify.
For anyone wishing to buy it, read several pages and see if it suits your taste. Don't make the mistake I did, and assume because it's a so called classic it will be good.
One of the best books I have read... brilliant madness... or the XXth in a nutshell, 01 Nov 2008
It is silly to use superlatives. So I will not.
A lot of people will not like... probably the same who does not understand THE MARX BROS approach to life.
It is in a way original... and somewhat not... it drinks in Wodehouse, Kafka and Jerome K. Jerome to name a few... unashamedly.
BUT, for the time it was written it IS absolutely brilliant, it pays to read in context (many hippies of the sixties would have thought it was about NAM... without reading the book...). M.A.S.H. was about the Korean War and NOT NAM at all you know...
Of course you can say it influenced in turn M.A.S.H., Blackadder's and a lot of posterior opus...
BUT it is really worth reading as great literature because we have all come across in life with the same kind of characters... so... as compulsory as WAR&PEACE...
I have already passed it to my son, and hope one day my grandson read it too. THAT is what makes a CLASSIC "live" I guess.
ADB
Great Characters Living with Death, 22 Oct 2008
The amazing CATCH-22 essentially has three overlapping narratives. One shows senior officers who are comically unsympathetic to the interests of their men. Some of these, such as Colonel Cathcart and General Peckem, are careerists who make decisions according to self-interest (or stupidity and self-interest). Others are incompetents, such as Major Major Major Major and General Sheiskopff, whose authority far surpasses their ability. To me, the careerist officers, while satirical, seemed as real as any modern bungling boss, working smugly in the corner office.
Milo Minderbinder, a genius trader and capitalist, is the dominant character in the second narrative. Technically, Milo is the mess officer at Pianosa, where Yossarian is based. But he has parlayed this job into a food supply syndicate and has become a major commercial player throughout the entire war zone. Milo is a profiteer and entrepreneur whose greed distorts, and sometimes overshadows, the war.
With Milo, Heller shows a world of surrealistic capitalism that thrives as the men in the bombers die. But for me, Milo didn't add much. His adventures make twisted sense. Yet they hit only one note and don't really ripen into something more profound. Milo is the least successful part of this superior and complex book.
The third narrative in CATCH-22 shows the men who fly in the bombers. Here, Heller's work is outstanding. There are men who can't shake the presence of death (Yossarian, Dunbar, Hungry Joe, and Dobbs). There are true believers who accept the mission and its risks (Clevinger and Havermeyer). There is a rich kid (Nately), a reckless hotdog (McWatt), and a doomed alcoholic (Chief White Halfoat). And there are the horrible fatalities (Snowden and Kid Sampson), whose deaths are gruesome and arbitrary.
Heller's work with these characters is absolutely first-rate. While they have cartoonish aspects, each is distinct and each has a surprisingly moving story. Heller also writes about their combat missions with you-are-there intensity. Finally, he connects the reader emotionally to the plight of these characters, especially in the final 150 pages, when the power and poignance of his narratives merge and really hit home. Then, you feel the consequences when you learn that, say, Milo has substituted aspirin for morphine in McWatt's plane on the tragic and high-risk mission to Avignon. "There there," murmurs Yossarian. "There there."
CATCH-22 is a long book. There is repetitiveness in its humor. Its iteration of events is occasionally maddening. But keep at it! CATCH 22 deserves its must-read reputation (although seventh place on the ML Best Novels list seems a bit high). Regardless, this is a terrific novel.
I Love This Book, 18 Oct 2008
This book has got me through some of my worst days and made the good ones even better. I don't think it's possible to put into words just how special this book is.
A century of absurdity, 09 Oct 2008
Joseph Heller's Catch 22 is in my list of the top five novels of the twentieth century, and, if forced to choose one to take to my desert island, this would be it. In 500 pages, Heller captures what it is to live in a society dominated by gigantic, irrational, and dehumanising bureaucracies such as the US Air Force during WWII. With good reason it has been critically acclaimed and a top-seller since being published in 1961. Heller's anti-hero, Yossarian, fights a continual losing battle to avoid flying combat missions. The only characters that prosper in Yossarian's world are the venal and the downright bad. He concludes that the only way to survive in such an insane world is to behave insanely himself.
Heller uses paradox and bleak humour to provoke readers into thinking about their own circumstances. The book contains many examples of absurdist humour. In his vision, contemporary society forces us to make bad choices and to thwart other people, simply by following the arbitrary rules laid down by whichever bureaucracy we serve. To be free, a rebel like Yossarian must use the most convoluted strategies, turning logic and common sense on their heads. He fights unreason with more of the same. In this way, he combats his true enemies: the US Air Force's various functionaries, not the Germans who shoot at his aircraft.
Catch 22 took Heller ten years to write and it is his masterwork, containing many subtle references to other great literary works. This may seem presumptuous for a first-time novelist - which Heller was when he wrote Catch 22 - but the quality of his prose and the powerful expression of universal twentieth century dilemmas make this a work that stands in the top rank of literary achievements.
Consistently Gripping and Involving , 25 Oct 2008
As with all the previous editions, this latest collection of the Charley's War strips is made up of wonderful, detailed and moving artwork carrying along great story-telling.
Through Charley we see the effects and impact of the Great War on an ordinary bloke. Although a fictitious character, Charley goes through what real men did thanks to through research by the author and artists. The politics and social comment might be over done, or it might just be an accurate reflection.
Charley's War is about as far removed from Batman and Superman comics as you can imagine, but is all the more powerful and memorable for it. As this is the 90th anniversary of the end of the Great War it is a good time to read (or even re-read) these stories.
Highly recommended for all ages and all levels of knowledge on the subject.
Stomping roman action, 23 Feb 2008
This is a brilliant, unrelenting novel that picks up where Under the Eagle finishes. If you enjoyed the 1st one then get this read. Yeah now that's a book.
Second in What Should be a Great Series, 06 Feb 2007
The author, Simon Scarrow teaches at a leading Sixth Form College. He has run a Roman History programme taking parties of students to a number of ruins and museums across Britain. This is the first in a series of books about Quintus Licinius Cato, Optio (second in command) to Macro a centurion and veteran of more than one campaign in the Roman legions.
Centurion Macro and his Optio (second in command) Quintus Licinius Cato have arrived in Britain as part of the Emperor Claudius's invasion force in AD43. The Roman army are easily outnumbered by the local natives, so it is essential that the Roman's engage the enemy before they have a chance to grow strong enough to overwhelm the legions.
However the Britons are not the only danger facing Macro and Cato. An organisation opposed to the Emperor is secretly betraying the Legions and when rumours of an assassination plot coincide with Claudius arriving on British soil, the soldiers know that they are up against a force much more dangerous the British.
Battles, conspiracy and then some, 14 Apr 2006
The second in the series follows the legions of Claudius from their beachhead near Rutupiae to the battles on the Medway, Thames and before Camulodunum (Colchester). It moves at a great pace making use of several plot threads to keep tension high. As before, the main characters, Cato and Centurion Macro, unify all the threads from the terror and exultation of battle through the politics of military strategy to the machinations of conspiracy.
Scarrow does battles extremely well, if always at the service of plot. Confusion never lasts long; the reader always knows what part the detail plays in the whole picture. The fight is not clean, but it is clear, and Scarrow is able to draw out the action so that every battle has its own arc and could be extracted and read for itself.
Cato is seen to grow in this book. The action in the first was dominated by his need to prove himself; here, though his part is often heroic, he must also come to terms with helplessness and the aftermath of slaughter. His infatuation with the slavegirl, Lavinia, continues and plays a part in the machinations of Vitellius to assassinate the Emperor. Cato is decisive at the denouement of this conspiracy, but Scarrow does not allow him to take the hero's palm - a sign that the book is a little more than a boys' own adventure.
There is, as well, another point of view for Cato to understand and absorb: that of the conquered. Nisus is a surgeon and from North Africa, not only Carthaginian but a direct descendent of Hannibal! He voices the opinion that some might not be grateful for the benefits of Roman civilisation, that they might have been happier as they were. We're not told what Cato makes of this, and Nisus is soon involved in grand conspiracy. It is not clear if the seditious sentiments he uttered were merely a ploy by the author to justify the character's eventual treachery, or if they portend an important theme for the other books. I was a little surprised by the inclusion of these thoughts; they interrupted the flow of the narrative in what might have been an interesting way.
The prose does not hold you up. Nouns have immediate call on their tabloid adjective: "crush the enemy in an iron vice; deadly efficiency; an icy dread; bleak despair; the ruthless efficiency of vigorous training; the grim reality of their predicament". At times he feels the need to make use of every note taken during research - as a boat moors, who throws every rope to whom for it to be tied to every mooring post. However, these are small faults in a fast-moving narrative set in an exotic Britain.
Very enjoyable!, 14 Apr 2006
Following straight on from the first book we find the characters, Macro and Cato on British soil with the legions awaiting the next movements in the invasion. Battles and skirmishes by the bucket load, all written in a fast paced way, giving the reader a sense of the tension and melee of battle.
There are more revelations of plots and sub plots from all the various characters, with the consequences of their actions played out and still providing unexpected surprises and intrigue. There are plenty of twists and turns in the lives of Macro and Cato too.
Again the author gives the reader a real sense of the life in the Roman legions. By including such rich characters as Vespasian and Vitellius the reader is given a top quality book.
The book goes through to the victory and gain of Camulodunum, and of course the path to that point is littered with political and personal games.
Excellent 2nd book of an excellent series; highly enjoyable.
second novel but far from second best, 15 Jan 2006
Macro and Cato are at it again and I for one am very happy they are. This is a very good second novel in the series after 'Under the eagle', with as much action and adventure. The main characters do develop though not much (I wouldn't want them to), and at times it's funny to meet historical characters one knows from other novels too (such as Vespasian). Keep up the good work Simon!
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Customer Reviews
anti-war literature at its best, 25 Jun 2008
Great novel. The journey from childhood to manhood is supposed to be full of joy and mystery, but this novel shows, doesn't tell, of what that journey is like during a world war. This book was banned by the Nazis when they came to power in 1933. If you read this novel, you'll understand why it was banned in Nazi Germany.
Read this before you die!, 08 Jun 2008
I bought an original 1929 copy on ebay and this is one hell of a book. If anyone has any idea that war is glorious you will be jarred severely by the this story. The true horror of the ordinary man fighting to keep alive is documented with crystal clear vision.
I initially found the style of writing a little off putting, but I have to say I rarely get sucked into a story as thoroughly as this one, I even have had nightmares about it's content!
In a similar way that Das Boot shared the human side of the 'enemy', AQOTWF does the same.....at the end of everything we are all very similar, whether English, French or German. We all worry and care about our loved ones.
AQOTWF was one of the books the Nazi's burnt in the 30's. That is sufficient reason to read it.
I can't say you will enjoy it, but I'm sure it will give you a valuable insight into the hellish lives the brave soldiers of all nations who suffered so much. God rest their souls.
If you are buying this book get a hold of Birdsong, it follows a similar thread.
Fantastic, 06 Mar 2008
I am one of these people who always wanted to read a great classic and enjoy it.
Unfortunately what usually happens is that I never finish a book of this type because it is too much like hard work and I go back to something less challenging.
Not so with this book. It grabbed me immediately and I lapped up every page. The author succeeded in bringing across difficult emotional subjects in an effortless way and I would thoroughly recommend it to everyone.
Exposes well the despair and hopelessness of trench warfare, 02 Dec 2007
Very tragic and horrific account of the lives of a group of German ex-classmate soldiers in the trenches of WWI. The novel brings across well the hopelessness and futility of it all, especially at the very end of the story. Most of the time the story could be about the experiences of any group of WWI soldiers from any country as there are relatively few specifically German reference points apart from the characters' names. The writing is in the present tense, which I usually find annoying and did so to some extent here, but it does bring across the drama of the action very vividly. The language is very simple and the book was a quick read despite its nearly 300 pages.
The last enemy ..., 13 Nov 2006
Erich Marie Remarque was a truly great writer of his generation. Imagine how fresh this novel was when first published - imagine reading it in the original German language. Notwithstanding the many decades that have passed it remains a masterpiece. I first read 'All Quiet' in the 1960's.
I promise you, it changed my life forever. Few books in my nearly six decades of reading have done that.
Disappointing to put it mildly, 10 Nov 2008
I waited a long time to buy and read this book. For one reason or another it always slipped my mind when I was shopping for books. Then one day I remembered and wish I hadn't.
Maybe I read it in the wrong era. Is this sixties humour, American humour, or student humour or all three? I found nothing to laugh about at all. I found each page filled with nonsense. I really isn't my idea of humour.
It really has struck a chord with many people, as these reviews testify.
For anyone wishing to buy it, read several pages and see if it suits your taste. Don't make the mistake I did, and assume because it's a so called classic it will be good.
One of the best books I have read... brilliant madness... or the XXth in a nutshell, 01 Nov 2008
It is silly to use superlatives. So I will not.
A lot of people will not like... probably the same who does not understand THE MARX BROS approach to life.
It is in a way original... and somewhat not... it drinks in Wodehouse, Kafka and Jerome K. Jerome to name a few... unashamedly.
BUT, for the time it was written it IS absolutely brilliant, it pays to read in context (many hippies of the sixties would have thought it was about NAM... without reading the book...). M.A.S.H. was about the Korean War and NOT NAM at all you know...
Of course you can say it influenced in turn M.A.S.H., Blackadder's and a lot of posterior opus...
BUT it is really worth reading as great literature because we have all come across in life with the same kind of characters... so... as compulsory as WAR&PEACE...
I have already passed it to my son, and hope one day my grandson read it too. THAT is what makes a CLASSIC "live" I guess.
ADB
Great Characters Living with Death, 22 Oct 2008
The amazing CATCH-22 essentially has three overlapping narratives. One shows senior officers who are comically unsympathetic to the interests of their men. Some of these, such as Colonel Cathcart and General Peckem, are careerists who make decisions according to self-interest (or stupidity and self-interest). Others are incompetents, such as Major Major Major Major and General Sheiskopff, whose authority far surpasses their ability. To me, the careerist officers, while satirical, seemed as real as any modern bungling boss, working smugly in the corner office.
Milo Minderbinder, a genius trader and capitalist, is the dominant character in the second narrative. Technically, Milo is the mess officer at Pianosa, where Yossarian is based. But he has parlayed this job into a food supply syndicate and has become a major commercial player throughout the entire war zone. Milo is a profiteer and entrepreneur whose greed distorts, and sometimes overshadows, the war.
With Milo, Heller shows a world of surrealistic capitalism that thrives as the men in the bombers die. But for me, Milo didn't add much. His adventures make twisted sense. Yet they hit only one note and don't really ripen into something more profound. Milo is the least successful part of this superior and complex book.
The third narrative in CATCH-22 shows the men who fly in the bombers. Here, Heller's work is outstanding. There are men who can't shake the presence of death (Yossarian, Dunbar, Hungry Joe, and Dobbs). There are true believers who accept the mission and its risks (Clevinger and Havermeyer). There is a rich kid (Nately), a reckless hotdog (McWatt), and a doomed alcoholic (Chief White Halfoat). And there are the horrible fatalities (Snowden and Kid Sampson), whose deaths are gruesome and arbitrary.
Heller's work with these characters is absolutely first-rate. While they have cartoonish aspects, each is distinct and each has a surprisingly moving story. Heller also writes about their combat missions with you-are-there intensity. Finally, he connects the reader emotionally to the plight of these characters, especially in the final 150 pages, when the power and poignance of his narratives merge and really hit home. Then, you feel the consequences when you learn that, say, Milo has substituted aspirin for morphine in McWatt's plane on the tragic and high-risk mission to Avignon. "There there," murmurs Yossarian. "There there."
CATCH-22 is a long book. There is repetitiveness in its humor. Its iteration of events is occasionally maddening. But keep at it! CATCH 22 deserves its must-read reputation (although seventh place on the ML Best Novels list seems a bit high). Regardless, this is a terrific novel.
I Love This Book, 18 Oct 2008
This book has got me through some of my worst days and made the good ones even better. I don't think it's possible to put into words just how special this book is.
A century of absurdity, 09 Oct 2008
Joseph Heller's Catch 22 is in my list of the top five novels of the twentieth century, and, if forced to choose one to take to my desert island, this would be it. In 500 pages, Heller captures what it is to live in a society dominated by gigantic, irrational, and dehumanising bureaucracies such as the US Air Force during WWII. With good reason it has been critically acclaimed and a top-seller since being published in 1961. Heller's anti-hero, Yossarian, fights a continual losing battle to avoid flying combat missions. The only characters that prosper in Yossarian's world are the venal and the downright bad. He concludes that the only way to survive in such an insane world is to behave insanely himself.
Heller uses paradox and bleak humour to provoke readers into thinking about their own circumstances. The book contains many examples of absurdist humour. In his vision, contemporary society forces us to make bad choices and to thwart other people, simply by following the arbitrary rules laid down by whichever bureaucracy we serve. To be free, a rebel like Yossarian must use the most convoluted strategies, turning logic and common sense on their heads. He fights unreason with more of the same. In this way, he combats his true enemies: the US Air Force's various functionaries, not the Germans who shoot at his aircraft.
Catch 22 took Heller ten years to write and it is his masterwork, containing many subtle references to other great literary works. This may seem presumptuous for a first-time novelist - which Heller was when he wrote Catch 22 - but the quality of his prose and the powerful expression of universal twentieth century dilemmas make this a work that stands in the top rank of literary achievements.
Consistently Gripping and Involving , 25 Oct 2008
As with all the previous editions, this latest collection of the Charley's War strips is made up of wonderful, detailed and moving artwork carrying along great story-telling.
Through Charley we see the effects and impact of the Great War on an ordinary bloke. Although a fictitious character, Charley goes through what real men did thanks to through research by the author and artists. The politics and social comment might be over done, or it might just be an accurate reflection.
Charley's War is about as far removed from Batman and Superman comics as you can imagine, but is all the more powerful and memorable for it. As this is the 90th anniversary of the end of the Great War it is a good time to read (or even re-read) these stories.
Highly recommended for all ages and all levels of knowledge on the subject.
Stomping roman action, 23 Feb 2008
This is a brilliant, unrelenting novel that picks up where Under the Eagle finishes. If you enjoyed the 1st one then get this read. Yeah now that's a book.
Second in What Should be a Great Series, 06 Feb 2007
The author, Simon Scarrow teaches at a leading Sixth Form College. He has run a Roman History programme taking parties of students to a number of ruins and museums across Britain. This is the first in a series of books about Quintus Licinius Cato, Optio (second in command) to Macro a centurion and veteran of more than one campaign in the Roman legions.
Centurion Macro and his Optio (second in command) Quintus Licinius Cato have arrived in Britain as part of the Emperor Claudius's invasion force in AD43. The Roman army are easily outnumbered by the local natives, so it is essential that the Roman's engage the enemy before they have a chance to grow strong enough to overwhelm the legions.
However the Britons are not the only danger facing Macro and Cato. An organisation opposed to the Emperor is secretly betraying the Legions and when rumours of an assassination plot coincide with Claudius arriving on British soil, the soldiers know that they are up against a force much more dangerous the British.
Battles, conspiracy and then some, 14 Apr 2006
The second in the series follows the legions of Claudius from their beachhead near Rutupiae to the battles on the Medway, Thames and before Camulodunum (Colchester). It moves at a great pace making use of several plot threads to keep tension high. As before, the main characters, Cato and Centurion Macro, unify all the threads from the terror and exultation of battle through the politics of military strategy to the machinations of conspiracy.
Scarrow does battles extremely well, if always at the service of plot. Confusion never lasts long; the reader always knows what part the detail plays in the whole picture. The fight is not clean, but it is clear, and Scarrow is able to draw out the action so that every battle has its own arc and could be extracted and read for itself.
Cato is seen to grow in this book. The action in the first was dominated by his need to prove himself; here, though his part is often heroic, he must also come to terms with helplessness and the aftermath of slaughter. His infatuation with the slavegirl, Lavinia, continues and plays a part in the machinations of Vitellius to assassinate the Emperor. Cato is decisive at the denouement of this conspiracy, but Scarrow does not allow him to take the hero's palm - a sign that the book is a little more than a boys' own adventure.
There is, as well, another point of view for Cato to understand and absorb: that of the conquered. Nisus is a surgeon and from North Africa, not only Carthaginian but a direct descendent of Hannibal! He voices the opinion that some might not be grateful for the benefits of Roman civilisation, that they might have been happier as they were. We're not told what Cato makes of this, and Nisus is soon involved in grand conspiracy. It is not clear if the seditious sentiments he uttered were merely a ploy by the author to justify the character's eventual treachery, or if they portend an important theme for the other books. I was a little surprised by the inclusion of these thoughts; they interrupted the flow of the narrative in what might have been an interesting way.
The prose does not hold you up. Nouns have immediate call on their tabloid adjective: "crush the enemy in an iron vice; deadly efficiency; an icy dread; bleak despair; the ruthless efficiency of vigorous training; the grim reality of their predicament". At times he feels the need to make use of every note taken during research - as a boat moors, who throws every rope to whom for it to be tied to every mooring post. However, these are small faults in a fast-moving narrative set in an exotic Britain.
Very enjoyable!, 14 Apr 2006
Following straight on from the first book we find the characters, Macro and Cato on British soil with the legions awaiting the next movements in the invasion. Battles and skirmishes by the bucket load, all written in a fast paced way, giving the reader a sense of the tension and melee of battle.
There are more revelations of plots and sub plots from all the various characters, with the consequences of their actions played out and still providing unexpected surprises and intrigue. There are plenty of twists and turns in the lives of Macro and Cato too.
Again the author gives the reader a real sense of the life in the Roman legions. By including such rich characters as Vespasian and Vitellius the reader is given a top quality book.
The book goes through to the victory and gain of Camulodunum, and of course the path to that point is littered with political and personal games.
Excellent 2nd book of an excellent series; highly enjoyable.
second novel but far from second best, 15 Jan 2006
Macro and Cato are at it again and I for one am very happy they are. This is a very good second novel in the series after 'Under the eagle', with as much action and adventure. The main characters do develop though not much (I wouldn't want them to), and at times it's funny to meet historical characters one knows from other novels too (such as Vespasian). Keep up the good work Simon!
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant!!, 23 Oct 2008
Once you open this book it is nearly impossible to stop. Even people who normally do not like books will love this one. It's a comic but not comical.. (unless your sense of humour is very very dark). It let's you experience the horrors of the holocaust more realistically than any other book or film I have seen about it.
I love this book and could not recommend it more highly. Enjoy.
Are you trying to avoid it?, 25 May 2008
I had known of this book for about a year when i finally decided to buy it. I was put off by the slightly dodgy artwork and the very serious nature of the plot which to me is not what comics are about. Anyway,I wanted to read it so i could come on hear and rant about how it is an over-rated waste of time but I cant. The art isnt perfect i agree but it has its charms and as you read the story you really do get into the simplistic nature of it,it works for this,it doesnt distract from the story which over stylised art would. The story is VERY well written and everything i read totally shocked and moved me.
The jist of my review is - if you are put off by the art but you liked schindlers list or have a fascination with hearing about the holocaust from a personal perspective then you have to read this book. It would get 5 stars from me if I genuinely felt that everyone would like the artwork but I know thats not gonna happen but everyone who isnt an anti-semite must read this story!
Masterpiece, 11 Apr 2008
Only graphic novel to date to win the Pulitzer Price.
That should be compelling enough to endear anyone to this masterwork.
The drawing isn't perhaps as expressive as that of Sacco, but the novelty in Maus not only comes from the controversial bestialization of the characters (Poles are pigs, Jews are mice, Germans are cats, etc) but also from the timeline jumps that mix the chilling tale of Vladek's survival of Auschwitz and the author's process of discovery and acceptance of his father's personality as he is retold the survivor's tale.
So while we are presented with the horror's faced by Vladek, the book also deals with the strained relationship between the author and his father, his father's second wife and the author's converted wife.
One can only praise Spiegelman's honesty at the less than perfect portray of the old age Vladek and his own insecurities.
Searing honesty, 31 Mar 2008
"Maus" is an amazing accomplishment and a rightly revered classic. What I admire most about its narrative is its honesty. If Spielberg ever adapted this book as a film, it would become a simplistic, black-and-white affair: one-dimensional Nazi aggressors stamping on one-dimensional Jewish victims. Instead, Spiegelman has opted to respect our intelligence and throw the doors wide open on this repellent slice of human history. He pulls no punches and tells his father's story with abject truth - even when sometimes portraying the Jewish community in a less than flattering light.
In the unflinching pages of "Maus", Jews betray Jews. Jews steal from Jews. Jews discriminate against non-Jews. I sat up with a shock when Vladek, the tale's central holocaust survivor, displays unbelievable racism towards a black man. Having lived through unspeakable persecution, he speaks of African-Americans in the same way that a Nazi would speak of a Jew. Also, in his old age, Vladek has come to resemble the Nazi stereotype of the "miserly old Jew". This adds incredible power and depth to this already complex story, throwing up countless questions on morality, racial identity and the grey area between good and evil.
It is a staggeringly brave book and its courage has sealed its success. I only wish more artists out would get some guts and show the world some work that really matters.
Rupert in Nazi germany, 10 Mar 2008
I have respect for the author in that it was brave to explore the subject of the holocaust in comic book form- quite an original thing to do. His story is an important one to tell. However, this does not take away the fact that Spiegelman can't draw. The art is in black and white with no rendering and Spiegelman's style is flat and bland.
In this comic book, the jews are mice and the Nazis are cats. The people have animal heads and human bodies-like Rupert bear! That is the last thing you want to think about when reading a book about the holocaust.
And as a person who has experienced having mice in my house (mouse droppings in the cutlery drawer is not pleasant) I find it hard to sympathise with any cartoon mouse.
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Customer Reviews
anti-war literature at its best, 25 Jun 2008
Great novel. The journey from childhood to manhood is supposed to be full of joy and mystery, but this novel shows, doesn't tell, of what that journey is like during a world war. This book was banned by the Nazis when they came to power in 1933. If you read this novel, you'll understand why it was banned in Nazi Germany.
Read this before you die!, 08 Jun 2008
I bought an original 1929 copy on ebay and this is one hell of a book. If anyone has any idea that war is glorious you will be jarred severely by the this story. The true horror of the ordinary man fighting to keep alive is documented with crystal clear vision.
I initially found the style of writing a little off putting, but I have to say I rarely get sucked into a story as thoroughly as this one, I even have had nightmares about it's content!
In a similar way that Das Boot shared the human side of the 'enemy', AQOTWF does the same.....at the end of everything we are all very similar, whether English, French or German. We all worry and care about our loved ones.
AQOTWF was one of the books the Nazi's burnt in the 30's. That is sufficient reason to read it.
I can't say you will enjoy it, but I'm sure it will give you a valuable insight into the hellish lives the brave soldiers of all nations who suffered so much. God rest their souls.
If you are buying this book get a hold of Birdsong, it follows a similar thread.
Fantastic, 06 Mar 2008
I am one of these people who always wanted to read a great classic and enjoy it.
Unfortunately what usually happens is that I never finish a book of this type because it is too much like hard work and I go back to something less challenging.
Not so with this book. It grabbed me immediately and I lapped up every page. The author succeeded in bringing across difficult emotional subjects in an effortless way and I would thoroughly recommend it to everyone.
Exposes well the despair and hopelessness of trench warfare, 02 Dec 2007
Very tragic and horrific account of the lives of a group of German ex-classmate soldiers in the trenches of WWI. The novel brings across well the hopelessness and futility of it all, especially at the very end of the story. Most of the time the story could be about the experiences of any group of WWI soldiers from any country as there are relatively few specifically German reference points apart from the characters' names. The writing is in the present tense, which I usually find annoying and did so to some extent here, but it does bring across the drama of the action very vividly. The language is very simple and the book was a quick read despite its nearly 300 pages.
The last enemy ..., 13 Nov 2006
Erich Marie Remarque was a truly great writer of his generation. Imagine how fresh this novel was when first published - imagine reading it in the original German language. Notwithstanding the many decades that have passed it remains a masterpiece. I first read 'All Quiet' in the 1960's.
I promise you, it changed my life forever. Few books in my nearly six decades of reading have done that.
Disappointing to put it mildly, 10 Nov 2008
I waited a long time to buy and read this book. For one reason or another it always slipped my mind when I was shopping for books. Then one day I remembered and wish I hadn't.
Maybe I read it in the wrong era. Is this sixties humour, American humour, or student humour or all three? I found nothing to laugh about at all. I found each page filled with nonsense. I really isn't my idea of humour.
It really has struck a chord with many people, as these reviews testify.
For anyone wishing to buy it, read several pages and see if it suits your taste. Don't make the mistake I did, and assume because it's a so called classic it will be good.
One of the best books I have read... brilliant madness... or the XXth in a nutshell, 01 Nov 2008
It is silly to use superlatives. So I will not.
A lot of people will not like... probably the same who does not understand THE MARX BROS approach to life.
It is in a way original... and somewhat not... it drinks in Wodehouse, Kafka and Jerome K. Jerome to name a few... unashamedly.
BUT, for the time it was written it IS absolutely brilliant, it pays to read in context (many hippies of the sixties would have thought it was about NAM... without reading the book...). M.A.S.H. was about the Korean War and NOT NAM at all you know...
Of course you can say it influenced in turn M.A.S.H., Blackadder's and a lot of posterior opus...
BUT it is really worth reading as great literature because we have all come across in life with the same kind of characters... so... as compulsory as WAR&PEACE...
I have already passed it to my son, and hope one day my grandson read it too. THAT is what makes a CLASSIC "live" I guess.
ADB
Great Characters Living with Death, 22 Oct 2008
The amazing CATCH-22 essentially has three overlapping narratives. One shows senior officers who are comically unsympathetic to the interests of their men. Some of these, such as Colonel Cathcart and General Peckem, are careerists who make decisions according to self-interest (or stupidity and self-interest). Others are incompetents, such as Major Major Major Major and General Sheiskopff, whose authority far surpasses their ability. To me, the careerist officers, while satirical, seemed as real as any modern bungling boss, working smugly in the corner office.
Milo Minderbinder, a genius trader and capitalist, is the dominant character in the second narrative. Technically, Milo is the mess officer at Pianosa, where Yossarian is based. But he has parlayed this job into a food supply syndicate and has become a major commercial player throughout the entire war zone. Milo is a profiteer and entrepreneur whose greed distorts, and sometimes overshadows, the war.
With Milo, Heller shows a world of surrealistic capitalism that thrives as the men in the bombers die. But for me, Milo didn't add much. His adventures make twisted sense. Yet they hit only one note and don't really ripen into something more profound. Milo is the least successful part of this superior and complex book.
The third narrative in CATCH-22 shows the men who fly in the bombers. Here, Heller's work is outstanding. There are men who can't shake the presence of death (Yossarian, Dunbar, Hungry Joe, and Dobbs). There are true believers who accept the mission and its risks (Clevinger and Havermeyer). There is a rich kid (Nately), a reckless hotdog (McWatt), and a doomed alcoholic (Chief White Halfoat). And there are the horrible fatalities (Snowden and Kid Sampson), whose deaths are gruesome and arbitrary.
Heller's work with these characters is absolutely first-rate. While they have cartoonish aspects, each is distinct and each has a surprisingly moving story. Heller also writes about their combat missions with you-are-there intensity. Finally, he connects the reader emotionally to the plight of these characters, especially in the final 150 pages, when the power and poignance of his narratives merge and really hit home. Then, you feel the consequences when you learn that, say, Milo has substituted aspirin for morphine in McWatt's plane on the tragic and high-risk mission to Avignon. "There there," murmurs Yossarian. "There there."
CATCH-22 is a long book. There is repetitiveness in its humor. Its iteration of events is occasionally maddening. But keep at it! CATCH 22 deserves its must-read reputation (although seventh place on the ML Best Novels list seems a bit high). Regardless, this is a terrific novel.
I Love This Book, 18 Oct 2008
This book has got me through some of my worst days and made the good ones even better. I don't think it's possible to put into words just how special this book is.
A century of absurdity, 09 Oct 2008
Joseph Heller's Catch 22 is in my list of the top five novels of the twentieth century, and, if forced to choose one to take to my desert island, this would be it. In 500 pages, Heller captures what it is to live in a society dominated by gigantic, irrational, and dehumanising bureaucracies such as the US Air Force during WWII. With good reason it has been critically acclaimed and a top-seller since being published in 1961. Heller's anti-hero, Yossarian, fights a continual losing battle to avoid flying combat missions. The only characters that prosper in Yossarian's world are the venal and the downright bad. He concludes that the only way to survive in such an insane world is to behave insanely himself.
Heller uses paradox and bleak humour to provoke readers into thinking about their own circumstances. The book contains many examples of absurdist humour. In his vision, contemporary society forces us to make bad choices and to thwart other people, simply by following the arbitrary rules laid down by whichever bureaucracy we serve. To be free, a rebel like Yossarian must use the most convoluted strategies, turning logic and common sense on their heads. He fights unreason with more of the same. In this way, he combats his true enemies: the US Air Force's various functionaries, not the Germans who shoot at his aircraft.
Catch 22 took Heller ten years to write and it is his masterwork, containing many subtle references to other great literary works. This may seem presumptuous for a first-time novelist - which Heller was when he wrote Catch 22 - but the quality of his prose and the powerful expression of universal twentieth century dilemmas make this a work that stands in the top rank of literary achievements.
Consistently Gripping and Involving , 25 Oct 2008
As with all the previous editions, this latest collection of the Charley's War strips is made up of wonderful, detailed and moving artwork carrying along great story-telling.
Through Charley we see the effects and impact of the Great War on an ordinary bloke. Although a fictitious character, Charley goes through what real men did thanks to through research by the author and artists. The politics and social comment might be over done, or it might just be an accurate reflection.
Charley's War is about as far removed from Batman and Superman comics as you can imagine, but is all the more powerful and memorable for it. As this is the 90th anniversary of the end of the Great War it is a good time to read (or even re-read) these stories.
Highly recommended for all ages and all levels of knowledge on the subject.
Stomping roman action, 23 Feb 2008
This is a brilliant, unrelenting novel that picks up where Under the Eagle finishes. If you enjoyed the 1st one then get this read. Yeah now that's a book.
Second in What Should be a Great Series, 06 Feb 2007
The author, Simon Scarrow teaches at a leading Sixth Form College. He has run a Roman History programme taking parties of students to a number of ruins and museums across Britain. This is the first in a series of books about Quintus Licinius Cato, Optio (second in command) to Macro a centurion and veteran of more than one campaign in the Roman legions.
Centurion Macro and his Optio (second in command) Quintus Licinius Cato have arrived in Britain as part of the Emperor Claudius's invasion force in AD43. The Roman army are easily outnumbered by the local natives, so it is essential that the Roman's engage the enemy before they have a chance to grow strong enough to overwhelm the legions.
However the Britons are not the only danger facing Macro and Cato. An organisation opposed to the Emperor is secretly betraying the Legions and when rumours of an assassination plot coincide with Claudius arriving on British soil, the soldiers know that they are up against a force much more dangerous the British.
Battles, conspiracy and then some, 14 Apr 2006
The second in the series follows the legions of Claudius from their beachhead near Rutupiae to the battles on the Medway, Thames and before Camulodunum (Colchester). It moves at a great pace making use of several plot threads to keep tension high. As before, the main characters, Cato and Centurion Macro, unify all the threads from the terror and exultation of battle through the politics of military strategy to the machinations of conspiracy.
Scarrow does battles extremely well, if always at the service of plot. Confusion never lasts long; the reader always knows what part the detail plays in the whole picture. The fight is not clean, but it is clear, and Scarrow is able to draw out the action so that every battle has its own arc and could be extracted and read for itself.
Cato is seen to grow in this book. The action in the first was dominated by his need to prove himself; here, though his part is often heroic, he must also come to terms with helplessness and the aftermath of slaughter. His infatuation with the slavegirl, Lavinia, continues and plays a part in the machinations of Vitellius to assassinate the Emperor. Cato is decisive at the denouement of this conspiracy, but Scarrow does not allow him to take the hero's palm - a sign that the book is a little more than a boys' own adventure.
There is, as well, another point of view for Cato to understand and absorb: that of the conquered. Nisus is a surgeon and from North Africa, not only Carthaginian but a direct descendent of Hannibal! He voices the opinion that some might not be grateful for the benefits of Roman civilisation, that they might have been happier as they were. We're not told what Cato makes of this, and Nisus is soon involved in grand conspiracy. It is not clear if the seditious sentiments he uttered were merely a ploy by the author to justify the character's eventual treachery, or if they portend an important theme for the other books. I was a little surprised by the inclusion of these thoughts; they interrupted the flow of the narrative in what might have been an interesting way.
The prose does not hold you up. Nouns have immediate call on their tabloid adjective: "crush the enemy in an iron vice; deadly efficiency; an icy dread; bleak despair; the ruthless efficiency of vigorous training; the grim reality of their predicament". At times he feels the need to make use of every note taken during research - as a boat moors, who throws every rope to whom for it to be tied to every mooring post. However, these are small faults in a fast-moving narrative set in an exotic Britain.
Very enjoyable!, 14 Apr 2006
Following straight on from the first book we find the characters, Macro and Cato on British soil with the legions awaiting the next movements in the invasion. Battles and skirmishes by the bucket load, all written in a fast paced way, giving the reader a sense of the tension and melee of battle.
There are more revelations of plots and sub plots from all the various characters, with the consequences of their actions played out and still providing unexpected surprises and intrigue. There are plenty of twists and turns in the lives of Macro and Cato too.
Again the author gives the reader a real sense of the life in the Roman legions. By including such rich characters as Vespasian and Vitellius the reader is given a top quality book.
The book goes through to the victory and gain of Camulodunum, and of course the path to that point is littered with political and personal games.
Excellent 2nd book of an excellent series; highly enjoyable.
second novel but far from second best, 15 Jan 2006
Macro and Cato are at it again and I for one am very happy they are. This is a very good second novel in the series after 'Under the eagle', with as much action and adventure. The main characters do develop though not much (I wouldn't want them to), and at times it's funny to meet historical characters one knows from other novels too (such as Vespasian). Keep up the good work Simon!
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant!!, 23 Oct 2008
Once you open this book it is nearly impossible to stop. Even people who normally do not like books will love this one. It's a comic but not comical.. (unless your sense of humour is very very dark). It let's you experience the horrors of the holocaust more realistically than any other book or film I have seen about it.
I love this book and could not recommend it more highly. Enjoy.
Are you trying to avoid it?, 25 May 2008
I had known of this book for about a year when i finally decided to buy it. I was put off by the slightly dodgy artwork and the very serious nature of the plot which to me is not what comics are about. Anyway,I wanted to read it so i could come on hear and rant about how it is an over-rated waste of time but I cant. The art isnt perfect i agree but it has its charms and as you read the story you really do get into the simplistic nature of it,it works for this,it doesnt distract from the story which over stylised art would. The story is VERY well written and everything i read totally shocked and moved me.
The jist of my review is - if you are put off by the art but you liked schindlers list or have a fascination with hearing about the holocaust from a personal perspective then you have to read this book. It would get 5 stars from me if I genuinely felt that everyone would like the artwork but I know thats not gonna happen but everyone who isnt an anti-semite must read this story!
Masterpiece, 11 Apr 2008
Only graphic novel to date to win the Pulitzer Price.
That should be compelling enough to endear anyone to this masterwork.
The drawing isn't perhaps as expressive as that of Sacco, but the novelty in Maus not only comes from the controversial bestialization of the characters (Poles are pigs, Jews are mice, Germans are cats, etc) but also from the timeline jumps that mix the chilling tale of Vladek's survival of Auschwitz and the author's process of discovery and acceptance of his father's personality as he is retold the survivor's tale.
So while we are presented with the horror's faced by Vladek, the book also deals with the strained relationship between the author and his father, his father's second wife and the author's converted wife.
One can only praise Spiegelman's honesty at the less than perfect portray of the old age Vladek and his own insecurities.
Searing honesty, 31 Mar 2008
"Maus" is an amazing accomplishment and a rightly revered classic. What I admire most about its narrative is its honesty. If Spielberg ever adapted this book as a film, it would become a simplistic, black-and-white affair: one-dimensional Nazi aggressors stamping on one-dimensional Jewish victims. Instead, Spiegelman has opted to respect our intelligence and throw the doors wide open on this repellent slice of human history. He pulls no punches and tells his father's story with abject truth - even when sometimes portraying the Jewish community in a less than flattering light.
In the unflinching pages of "Maus", Jews betray Jews. Jews steal from Jews. Jews discriminate against non-Jews. I sat up with a shock when Vladek, the tale's central holocaust survivor, displays unbelievable racism towards a black man. Having lived through unspeakable persecution, he speaks of African-Americans in the same way that a Nazi would speak of a Jew. Also, in his old age, Vladek has come to resemble the Nazi stereotype of the "miserly old Jew". This adds incredible power and depth to this already complex story, throwing up countless questions on morality, racial identity and the grey area between good and evil.
It is a staggeringly brave book and its courage has sealed its success. I only wish more artists out would get some guts and show the world some work that really matters.
Rupert in Nazi germany, 10 Mar 2008
I have respect for the author in that it was brave to explore the subject of the holocaust in comic book form- quite an original thing to do. His story is an important one to tell. However, this does not take away the fact that Spiegelman can't draw. The art is in black and white with no rendering and Spiegelman's style is flat and bland.
In this comic book, the jews are mice and the Nazis are cats. The people have animal heads and human bodies-like Rupert bear! That is the last thing you want to think about when reading a book about the holocaust.
And as a person who has experienced having mice in my house (mouse droppings in the cutlery drawer is not pleasant) I find it hard to sympathise with any cartoon mouse.
Couldn't put it down, 04 Nov 2008
I am 17 and I have just started studying A level English Literature so I've been stocking up on books about World War 1, as that is the topic in question. Because a lot of World War 1 literature is a little out dated and sometimes hard to understand and the books I had read already had bored me to tears, I was expecting "STRANGE MEETING" to be just as dull. But from the first line I was gripped. You immediately feel a close connection with the main character, John Hilliard and although he has quite a complex personality, I found that I began to understand his recations perfectly because Pat Barker writes in such a way that you get emotionally attached and almost feel as if you are the main character. The story gets better as it goes along, as more characters are introduced and you see how Hilliard's personality begins to soften as he befriends David Barton - a character that I immediately fell in love with. I could go on and on singing this book's praises, but what proves that it's an excellent piece of literature and worth reading is that when a character suffers a loss you grieve with them and when you read the last line of the book, you can't help but sigh as the tears prick your eyes. It is truly that beautiful :)
w-o-w, 22 Apr 2007
I read this in year 11 (please dont be put off in any way by my age) at school and was completely blown away by it. Seriously-you HAVE to read this. The relationship is so emotional that you will find it difficult to put the book down. I wouldn't say this about any random book. The ending is so sad i cried for an hour.
DONT let this put you off-you HAVE TO READ IT!
My favorite WW1 book (so far...!)
Wonderful wonderful book, 23 May 2006
Strange Meeting is the story of two men meeting whilst serving together in WW1. It is a gently-paced, completely absorbing tale, with characters that draw you in as it progresses. It is one of the most beautiful and haunting books I have ever read - I first came across it at school, and have never forgotten it. Together with the Ghost Road trilogy by Pat Barker, this book is a remarkable fictional representation (both written by women) of the horrors of the trenches, but also the simple joys of friendship that can be discovered at the same time.
Strange Meeting, 27 Apr 2004
Absolutly fantastic book. I would strongly reccomend this book for A levelstudents as it gives a female perspective on war despite the patrioticvalues seen during WW1.
The book is quite graphic and very hearwarming-a really excellent novel
True friendships are rare, 08 Dec 2003
Only if one was lucky enough to encounter or experience such a friendship, which, if at all, happens once in a lifetime, one can truly appreciate this book. The story could be in any setting and age, but the circumstances that this fictional friendship developed in make it all the more special.
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Customer Reviews
anti-war literature at its best, 25 Jun 2008
Great novel. The journey from childhood to manhood is supposed to be full of joy and mystery, but this novel shows, doesn't tell, of what that journey is like during a world war. This book was banned by the Nazis when they came to power in 1933. If you read this novel, you'll understand why it was banned in Nazi Germany.
Read this before you die!, 08 Jun 2008
I bought an original 1929 copy on ebay and this is one hell of a book. If anyone has any idea that war is glorious you will be jarred severely by the this story. The true horror of the ordinary man fighting to keep alive is documented with crystal clear vision.
I initially found the style of writing a little off putting, but I have to say I rarely get sucked into a story as thoroughly as this one, I even have had nightmares about it's content!
In a similar way that Das Boot shared the human side of the 'enemy', AQOTWF does the same.....at the end of everything we are all very similar, whether English, French or German. We all worry and care about our loved ones.
AQOTWF was one of the books the Nazi's burnt in the 30's. That is sufficient reason to read it.
I can't say you will enjoy it, but I'm sure it will give you a valuable insight into the hellish lives the brave soldiers of all nations who suffered so much. God rest their souls.
If you are buying this book get a hold of Birdsong, it follows a similar thread.
Fantastic, 06 Mar 2008
I am one of these people who always wanted to read a great classic and enjoy it.
Unfortunately what usually happens is that I never finish a book of this type because it is too much like hard work and I go back to something less challenging.
Not so with this book. It grabbed me immediately and I lapped up every page. The author succeeded in bringing across difficult emotional subjects in an effortless way and I would thoroughly recommend it to everyone.
Exposes well the despair and hopelessness of trench warfare, 02 Dec 2007
Very tragic and horrific account of the lives of a group of German ex-classmate soldiers in the trenches of WWI. The novel brings across well the hopelessness and futility of it all, especially at the very end of the story. Most of the time the story could be about the experiences of any group of WWI soldiers from any country as there are relatively few specifically German reference points apart from the characters' names. The writing is in the present tense, which I usually find annoying and did so to some extent here, but it does bring across the drama of the action very vividly. The language is very simple and the book was a quick read despite its nearly 300 pages.
The last enemy ..., 13 Nov 2006
Erich Marie Remarque was a truly great writer of his generation. Imagine how fresh this novel was when first published - imagine reading it in the original German language. Notwithstanding the many decades that have passed it remains a masterpiece. I first read 'All Quiet' in the 1960's.
I promise you, it changed my life forever. Few books in my nearly six decades of reading have done that.
Disappointing to put it mildly, 10 Nov 2008
I waited a long time to buy and read this book. For one reason or another it always slipped my mind when I was shopping for books. Then one day I remembered and wish I hadn't.
Maybe I read it in the wrong era. Is this sixties humour, American humour, or student humour or all three? I found nothing to laugh about at all. I found each page filled with nonsense. I really isn't my idea of humour.
It really has struck a chord with many people, as these reviews testify.
For anyone wishing to buy it, read several pages and see if it suits your taste. Don't make the mistake I did, and assume because it's a so called classic it will be good.
One of the best books I have read... brilliant madness... or the XXth in a nutshell, 01 Nov 2008
It is silly to use superlatives. So I will not.
A lot of people will not like... probably the same who does not understand THE MARX BROS approach to life.
It is in a way original... and somewhat not... it drinks in Wodehouse, Kafka and Jerome K. Jerome to name a few... unashamedly.
BUT, for the time it was written it IS absolutely brilliant, it pays to read in context (many hippies of the sixties would have thought it was about NAM... without reading the book...). M.A.S.H. was about the Korean War and NOT NAM at all you know...
Of course you can say it influenced in turn M.A.S.H., Blackadder's and a lot of posterior opus...
BUT it is really worth reading as great literature because we have all come across in life with the same kind of characters... so... as compulsory as WAR&PEACE...
I have already passed it to my son, and hope one day my grandson read it too. THAT is what makes a CLASSIC "live" I guess.
ADB
Great Characters Living with Death, 22 Oct 2008
The amazing CATCH-22 essentially has three overlapping narratives. One shows senior officers who are comically unsympathetic to the interests of their men. Some of these, such as Colonel Cathcart and General Peckem, are careerists who make decisions according to self-interest (or stupidity and self-interest). Others are incompetents, such as Major Major Major Major and General Sheiskopff, whose authority far surpasses their ability. To me, the careerist officers, while satirical, seemed as real as any modern bungling boss, working smugly in the corner office.
Milo Minderbinder, a genius trader and capitalist, is the dominant character in the second narrative. Technically, Milo is the mess officer at Pianosa, where Yossarian is based. But he has parlayed this job into a food supply syndicate and has become a major commercial player throughout the entire war zone. Milo is a profiteer and entrepreneur whose greed distorts, and sometimes overshadows, the war.
With Milo, Heller shows a world of surrealistic capitalism that thrives as the men in the bombers die. But for me, Milo didn't add much. His adventures make twisted sense. Yet they hit only one note and don't really ripen into something more profound. Milo is the least successful part of this superior and complex book.
The third narrative in CATCH-22 shows the men who fly in the bombers. Here, Heller's work is outstanding. There are men who can't shake the presence of death (Yossarian, Dunbar, Hungry Joe, and Dobbs). There are true believers who accept the mission and its risks (Clevinger and Havermeyer). There is a rich kid (Nately), a reckless hotdog (McWatt), and a doomed alcoholic (Chief White Halfoat). And there are the horrible fatalities (Snowden and Kid Sampson), whose deaths are gruesome and arbitrary.
Heller's work with these characters is absolutely first-rate. While they have cartoonish aspects, each is distinct and each has a surprisingly moving story. Heller also writes about their combat missions with you-are-there intensity. Finally, he connects the reader emotionally to the plight of these characters, especially in the final 150 pages, when the power and poignance of his narratives merge and really hit home. Then, you feel the consequences when you learn that, say, Milo has substituted aspirin for morphine in McWatt's plane on the tragic and high-risk mission to Avignon. "There there," murmurs Yossarian. "There there."
CATCH-22 is a long book. There is repetitiveness in its humor. Its iteration of events is occasionally maddening. But keep at it! CATCH 22 deserves its must-read reputation (although seventh place on the ML Best Novels list seems a bit high). Regardless, this is a terrific novel.
I Love This Book, 18 Oct 2008
This book has got me through some of my worst days and made the good ones even better. I don't think it's possible to put into words just how special this book is.
A century of absurdity, 09 Oct 2008
Joseph Heller's Catch 22 is in my list of the top five novels of the twentieth century, and, if forced to choose one to take to my desert island, this would be it. In 500 pages, Heller captures what it is to live in a society dominated by gigantic, irrational, and dehumanising bureaucracies such as the US Air Force during WWII. With good reason it has been critically acclaimed and a top-seller since being published in 1961. Heller's anti-hero, Yossarian, fights a continual losing battle to avoid flying combat missions. The only characters that prosper in Yossarian's world are the venal and the downright bad. He concludes that the only way to survive in such an insane world is to behave insanely himself.
Heller uses paradox and bleak humour to provoke readers into thinking about their own circumstances. The book contains many examples of absurdist humour. In his vision, contemporary society forces us to make bad choices and to thwart other people, simply by following the arbitrary rules laid down by whichever bureaucracy we serve. To be free, a rebel like Yossarian must use the most convoluted strategies, turning logic and common sense on their heads. He fights unreason with more of the same. In this way, he combats his true enemies: the US Air Force's various functionaries, not the Germans who shoot at his aircraft.
Catch 22 took Heller ten years to write and it is his masterwork, containing many subtle references to other great literary works. This may seem presumptuous for a first-time novelist - which Heller was when he wrote Catch 22 - but the quality of his prose and the powerful expression of universal twentieth century dilemmas make this a work that stands in the top rank of literary achievements.
Consistently Gripping and Involving , 25 Oct 2008
As with all the previous editions, this latest collection of the Charley's War strips is made up of wonderful, detailed and moving artwork carrying along great story-telling.
Through Charley we see the effects and impact of the Great War on an ordinary bloke. Although a fictitious character, Charley goes through what real men did thanks to through research by the author and artists. The politics and social comment might be over done, or it might just be an accurate reflection.
Charley's War is about as far removed from Batman and Superman comics as you can imagine, but is all the more powerful and memorable for it. As this is the 90th anniversary of the end of the Great War it is a good time to read (or even re-read) these stories.
Highly recommended for all ages and all levels of knowledge on the subject.
Stomping roman action, 23 Feb 2008
This is a brilliant, unrelenting novel that picks up where Under the Eagle finishes. If you enjoyed the 1st one then get this read. Yeah now that's a book.
Second in What Should be a Great Series, 06 Feb 2007
The author, Simon Scarrow teaches at a leading Sixth Form College. He has run a Roman History programme taking parties of students to a number of ruins and museums across Britain. This is the first in a series of books about Quintus Licinius Cato, Optio (second in command) to Macro a centurion and veteran of more than one campaign in the Roman legions.
Centurion Macro and his Optio (second in command) Quintus Licinius Cato have arrived in Britain as part of the Emperor Claudius's invasion force in AD43. The Roman army are easily outnumbered by the local natives, so it is essential that the Roman's engage the enemy before they have a chance to grow strong enough to overwhelm the legions.
However the Britons are not the only danger facing Macro and Cato. An organisation opposed to the Emperor is secretly betraying the Legions and when rumours of an assassination plot coincide with Claudius arriving on British soil, the soldiers know that they are up against a force much more dangerous the British.
Battles, conspiracy and then some, 14 Apr 2006
The second in the series follows the legions of Claudius from their beachhead near Rutupiae to the battles on the Medway, Thames and bef | | |