I have a profound love for Catch 22. Therefore, notwithstanding the rather mixed reviews that this particular book has received, I still held extremely high hopes for it.

Regrettably, it turns out to be one of those books that almost makes me want to give up reading altogether. As I was attempting to read it, I ended up advancing many levels on my mobile phone games because I was constantly looking for other things to do rather than engage with this text.

Certain parts of it are incredibly dense, and some of the narratives require a great deal of hard work to understand. Moreover, it has a rather sombre and depressing message and tone throughout. While there are sections that are indeed well crafted and beautifully written, if you are a die-hard fan of Catch 22, it would be far better to simply re-read Catch 22 rather than bothering with this book.

All in all, my initial anticipation was unfortunately not met, and this book has left me with a rather disappointing reading experience.

I had a great time reading this piece, and it was mainly because it made a reference to Catch-22. That alone piqued my interest and added an extra layer of depth to the story.

Moreover, the descriptions of the bus terminal were truly remarkable. They painted a vivid picture in my mind, allowing me to almost feel as if I was there.

I also really liked the fact that Kurt Vonnegut was a character in it. It added a touch of authenticity and a connection to a well-known literary figure.

However, I chose to disregard most of the plot stuff about Yossarian. Maybe it didn't quite resonate with me as much as the other aspects.

The dialogue between the characters was also quite interesting. The exchange about not escaping to Sweden in a little yellow raft, with the response that it only happens in the movies, added a bit of humor and a sense of reality to the story.

And in my own headcanon, I like to think of Yo-Yo as a unique and interesting character, although not much is said about him/her in this particular text.

Overall, despite my reservations about some parts of the plot, I still found this reading experience to be enjoyable and engaging.

Catch-22 was a truly seminal book for me decades ago. It's rather interesting to come to Closing Time at nearly the same age as Yossarian.

Although this book is uneven in many aspects, I still discovered that this "closing days" novel is sharp in satire and utterly dispiriting. The reason is that it is so close to the truth regarding various aspects such as oligarchy, corrupt business practices, inept government, the adulation of soulless celebrity, 1984ish "alternate facts", and the desperate searches for some sort of meaningful contact between and among people.

I simply can't even begin to detail the wedding at the Port Authority Building or the vast underground populated only by the most hideous of men. Nor can I even begin to explain all that I thought about due to the keen Heller eye of 1994.

Closing Time is a fuming, funny, discouraging, and completely modern "take" on modern life. It makes one reflect deeply on the state of our society and the various issues that plague it. Heller's ability to present these issues in a satirical and yet thought-provoking way is truly remarkable.

Overall, while it may not be a perfect book, it still manages to have a significant impact and leaves the reader with much to ponder.

It took a while for me to truly get into this book. I was just dipping in here and there rather than devoting a longer session to it.

Although I ultimately gave it 4 stars, I could equally have given it 3. The story was dark, with a touch of comedy and absurdity. However, at times it felt a bit like a meandering journey.

Certainly, it made some good and serious points about aging and the insignificance of the individual when faced with events that are beyond their control.

The wedding scene, for me, was far too long in its description and could have been significantly curtailed. What I really enjoyed, though, was the linkage of events as seen through the perspectives of the different players.

All in all, despite its flaws, this book was still worth the read. It offered a unique and thought-provoking look at various aspects of life and human nature.

A worthy sequel indeed! It is truly one of the best things I have ever read on the topic of growing old. Yossarian's determination to "live forever or die in the attempt" takes on a new dimension the second time around.

The fantasy sections featuring George Tilyou, the Coney Island fairground man, are both captivating and imaginative. The extraordinary set piece of a society wedding at the Port Authority Bus Terminal is a stroke of genius, adding a touch of the unexpected to the narrative. And the elaborate Dr Strangelove denouement is equally brilliant, tying up the story in a most satisfying way.

Lew Rabinowitz has now joined Yossarian as one of my all-time favorite fictional characters. Although Sam Singer is perhaps the hero of the novel, Rabinowitz's charm and charisma make him an unforgettable presence. This sequel builds upon the strengths of the original, offering a fresh perspective on aging, love, and the human condition. It is a must-read for fans of the first book and anyone interested in a thought-provoking and entertaining read.

Originally published on my blog here in October 1999.

Almost thirty-five years after finally finding a publisher for Catch-22, Heller penned a sequel. Throughout this time, every book he produced has endured comparison with his first novel. He has never been able to blend the elements of farce and tragedy as masterfully as was made possible by his theme of helplessness in the face of official stupidity.

Many elements from Catch 22 are present, albeit transformed, in Closing Time. In Pianosa, the characters were petrified of being killed in the war. Back in the States fifty years later, they are scared to death of dying from cancer. Sudden death from illness取代 sudden death from warfare as the driving force in the background. This is a fear which, I suspect, is easier for most readers today to identify with.

Using these characters from the past makes Closing Time an unusual novel in at least one regard. Few novels have all the main characters in their sixties and seventies; adolescence is probably the most common age for a protagonist.

There is a different emphasis, too, in the attitude towards official stupidity and duplicity. The anger of Catch 22 is replaced with resignation. \\"This is how the world is, and nothing we can do will change it\\" is a viewpoint more befitting the seventy-year-old. There is less energy in Closing Time; it does not seize you in the same way that Catch 22 does.

One consequence of this is that you read three-quarters of the book feeling that it is not as good as Catch 22. Then Heller suddenly pulls the rug out from under your feet, and it's then a rollercoaster ride to the end. You are too engrossed to distance yourself from the book, even just far enough to consider its quality. But, after finishing it, I was not convinced that it was up to Catch 22's standard. The tragic is not so tragic - the death or nearness to death of a seventy-year-old is difficult to make as affecting as that of the same character at twenty - and the comic is not so comic - this is the lack of energy again. Perhaps the best thing Heller has written since Catch 22 (though I have an affection for God Knows, because I like the idea behind it), Closing Time is not quite its equal.

A sequel to the absolute masterpiece that is Catch-22 was doomed from the start.

This is precisely why I wish this book had been a standalone novel instead. The sequel still focuses on WWII veterans navigating the absurdity of their lives now as senior citizens. However, it is separated from the characters of the first novel.

Nonetheless, my appreciation for Joseph Heller's writing and wit has not diminished in the slightest. And neither has my adoration for Yossarian—who, of course, still lives.

The original Catch-22 was a groundbreaking work that captured the essence of war and its impact on the human psyche in a unique and unforgettable way. The characters were vivid and the story was both hilarious and tragic.

While the sequel may have its own merits, it simply cannot compare to the original. It lacks the charm and authenticity that made Catch-22 such a classic.

Despite this, I still have a great deal of respect for Joseph Heller and his body of work. His writing style is truly one of a kind, and his ability to make us laugh and cry at the same time is a rare gift.

I will always cherish the memories of reading Catch-22 for the first time and will continue to recommend it to others as a must-read. As for the sequel, I will probably give it a pass.

Closing Time is the sequel to Catch 22, the work that made Heller famous. It reprises some characters from the first book, fifty years older and wiser (or perhaps not), in what seems to be a condemnation of the absurdities of society in peacetime, just as Catch 22 had been a condemnation of the absurdities of war.

I will not deny that the beginning was a bit of a struggle. Heller is distinguished by his surreal approach to the story, with dialogues that verge on nonsense and a caustic, under-the-skin humor about the contradictions of today's society. And it's not always easy to appreciate such an approach that leaves little room for realism, especially when you compare it to the masterpiece that is Catch 22 and its sequel seems like a failed attempt to replicate its success.

But then there are pearls of prose that make you rethink the whole thing and then everything takes shape and the ideas, allusions, and recurring themes come together to create a symphony, the meaning of which the mind can't quite find, but that leaves a profound impression on the soul. Some characters from Catch 22 emerge from their caricature and are filled with a true and full life, and the three main voices in which the book is narrated - Yossarian, Sammy Singer, Lew Rabinowitz - blend in their similarities and differences to give us an impressionistic picture of what it means to age and what it means to age in an absurd society like ours.

What the heck was this??? It truly made no sense at all. It reduced Yossarian to a conservative, and it was just... what?

There were only two good parts.

The first was Milo and Wintergreen's business marriage, which was kind of hilarious if taken in a joking way (hence the "/hj" notation).

The second was the short scene of the ghost plane near the end. That scene had a certain eerie charm to it. It was as if the plane appeared out of nowhere, adding an element of mystery and perhaps a touch of the supernatural to the story. Overall, despite these two亮点, the rest of it was just a jumbled mess that left me scratching my head and wondering what the author was thinking.

In Closing Time, a 68-year-old Yossarian resides in an opulent New York apartment. He is a board member of the Metropolitan Museum, is offered lucrative payments for minimal work, and engages in sexual relations with younger women who find him captivating. He also has a penchant for listening to Wagner, a great deal of Wagner. I suspect that these elements, to some extent, also crossed Joseph Heller's mind in the years following the success of Catch-22 as a bestseller and modern classic. To make Yossarian even more of a Heller doppelganger, Heller has essentially discarded the ending of the earlier novel to grant Yossarian an honorable discharge.

Not satisfied with having Yossarian as the sole inhabitant of the novel, Heller also introduces Sammy Singer. Sammy, like Yossarian, served in WWII on Pianosa as an enlisted man and is identified as the anonymous gunner who fainted during Yossarian's Avignon mission in the previous book. A Jew from Coney Island, he represents a version of Heller had he not been an officer and not written Catch-22. Sammy was educated in college under the GI Bill, worked for Time magazine until he was given an early, involuntary retirement, and is now widowed and living alone.

Sammy, in turn, has his own "road not taken" character in Lew Rabinowitz, a childhood friend who enlisted in the infantry at the same time Sammy joined the air corps. After the war, during the last months of which he was a POW, Lew entered his father's junk business, which he later inherited and expanded. Lew shares a few interesting tales about his marriage and business, but his main role in the novel appears to be twofold. Firstly, he provides an eyewitness account of the firebombing of Dresden, which he witnessed as a POW. The account Heller presents is strikingly similar to that given by Kurt Vonnegut in Slaughterhouse-Five. Vonnegut is, in fact, mentioned several times as Lew's fellow prisoner, and his name surfaces throughout the book, as does that of a displaced Czech named Schweik. Heller may have intended this to offer some insight into what it was like to be on the receiving end of the numerous bombing missions Yossarian flew, but the similarity to Vonnegut's account and the fact that the Dresden bombing was primarily a British effort somewhat diminishes the impact. Secondly, Lew succumbs to cancer after decades of remission and recurrence. Cancer is a major theme in the book: Sammy's wife died of it, and Yossarian regularly checks himself into the hospital for biopsies, mainly for the sense of relief he experiences when given favorable results. Their mutual oncologist, Dr. Teemer, has developed a growing respect for cancer cells: he views their ability to survive and multiply as an evolutionary advantage and a sort of endorsement by nature. In a twist that is one of the novel's better conceits, as a result of his disturbing thoughts about the cancer cells he battles, Dr. Teemer has checked himself in as a resident patient in the psychiatric ward of the hospital where he continues to practice his profession.

The middle-class world of Sammy and Lew stands in contrast to the elite social and political circles in which Yossarian now moves. The stories of these other veterans also serve to modify the cynical portrayal of the war he presented in the earlier book to be more in line with "the greatest generation"-type nostalgia. These two characters both tell their stories in the first person, unlike Yossarian's third-person narrative, and their monologues sometimes overly reproduce the speech patterns of older men, with repetitions, questionable notions of cause and effect, and meandering anecdotes. I don't think quite so much of this is necessary to convey authenticity in their voices; a more editorial hand here and in a few other sections would have enhanced the book.

The climax of the novel is a society wedding held in the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City. This was arranged by Yossarian, seemingly at his own ironic suggestion, for casual social acquaintances he knows through mutual friends. Before the event, the text hints that the wedding may descend into a "day of the locust"-type riot, but in the end, it mainly serves as a means of illustrating the banality of celebrity and the spread of conspicuous consumption. This event involves pages of description that preclude any character or plot development; thus, it is not truly satisfying as a climax. The final irony is that the wedding, as described, may be merely an elaborate computer simulation created beforehand, and that the event itself never actually occurs.

In the book's final section, President Quayle (yes, a bit of alternate history is thrown in here, though Quayle is never directly named, known only as "the little prick") initiates a full nuclear strike, believing he is playing a video game. We are given a brief final look at all the book's surviving characters: those we are meant to admire move towards love and friendship, even if it means death, while the less admirable focus on personal survival at any cost.

The continuation of Catch 22. However, since I can't remember it, any possible allusions remained hidden from me. But there were still plenty of other elements, some of which were quite blatant references to Vonnegut or Strangelove. Yet it didn't feel artificial either. One witty point follows another, and wise things are lined up one after another. The uncomfortable thing about this book is that you have the feeling that you should be enjoying it immensely, but that doesn't happen. The idea of having a wedding in the bus station is already very nice, just like many others. But something is lacking.

Perhaps it's the emotional connection that's not quite there. The characters seem to be going through the motions, but their hearts aren't fully invested. Or maybe it's the pacing, which feels a bit off at times. The story jumps from one scene to another too quickly, not giving the reader enough time to fully absorb what's happening. Whatever the reason, it's a shame because there are so many good ideas in this book. With a bit more polish and a stronger emotional core, it could have been a truly great read.

I read Catch 22 last month for the very first time in my life. Strangely enough, I managed to miss this literary gem during my school days and throughout my adult life. (I'm already 63 years old.) I absolutely LOVED it. The wit, the humor, the satire, and the wordplay were all simply outstanding.

After that, I went on a Joseph Heller kick. I scoured the internet and libraries to find and read everything I could about him. And of course, I had to read this book, Closing Time, which is billed as "the sequel" to Catch 22. Heller wrote it approximately 30 years after Catch 22!

Closing Time is also filled with wit and humor and wonderful writing that makes one wonder, "How on earth did he come up with these awe-inspiring sentences?" Having read Catch 22 first, naturally I was comparing and "testing" it as I read Closing Time to see if it could measure up to the original. I can now see that someone who had not read Catch 22 would not have anything to compare it to and would probably love the book. But for me, having read the first book, I found it just slightly less impactful. HOWEVER, as a writer myself, I've been devouring Heller's work and that of other top-notch writers like Nabokov and Vonnegut. And I've noticed that when I write after reading these works, my own writing seems to improve!