so quotable. Joseph Heller wanted each line to turn on itself to showcase the absurdity of war. Only a few of the many great quotes:
"The Texan turned out to be good-natured, generous and likeable. In three days no one could stand him."
“He was going to live forever, or die in the attempt.”
“He knew everything there was to know about literature, except how to enjoy it.”
"His specialty was alfalfa, and he made a good thing out of not growing any. The government paid him well for every bushel of alfalfa he did not grow. The more alfalfa he did not grow, the more money the government gave him, and he spent every penny he didn’t earn on new land to increase the amount of alfalfa he did not produce. Major Major’s father worked without rest at not growing alfalfa."
"Dear Mrs., Mr., Miss, or Mr. and Mrs. Daneeka: Words cannot express the deep personal grief I experienced when your husband, son, father, or brother was killed, wounded, or reported missing in action."
Heller does an impeccable job of capturing the ridiculous side of human nature and the absurdity of bureaucracy.
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I started this book 6 years ago but could not finish it. Now when I have gotten back in the habit of reading, I pledged to finish this book and I did! And I wonder why I could not finish it earlier??!!?? Absolutely hilarious, and an amazing read not just from a humorous perspective, but how truth is blatantly disguised as humor and irrational and fed to the readers.
What struck me as absolutely amazing thru out this book was the length and sentence structures! I read this on a Kindle and some of the sentences were the length of the entire page. Just shows an amazing command over language! Truly a book that has survived the test of times! If you want to understand the cruelties of life without killing yourself, read it.
My Morning Routine
Vail