Catch-22 – Joseph Heller

Rating: 3/5

Lost References:

Desmond Hume finds a Brazilian Portuguese copy of this book (titled Ardil-22) in the episode “Catch-22.” The title is appropriate for this episode, as it’s centered around Desmond, who was himself quite confused during his brief stint in the military. (His mind was jumping in time. What excuse does Yossarian have for his fragmented storytelling?) The Portuguese book belongs to the multilingual Naomi. It falls out of her bag when her helicopter crashes. (Oh, crashes are pretty common in Catch-22.)

My Thoughts:

I borrowed this book from a friend who is absolutely in love with it. Sorry, Carolyn, I don’t love it as much as you do, but I still enjoyed reading it. Definitely, I enjoyed the clever word play. I was also pretty pleased with Orr by the end, doing all those odd things that turned out to be intentional.

Animal Farm – George Orwell

Rating: 3/5

Lost References:

Arzt says “the pigs are walking” to describe how he thinks Jack and Kate are getting power-hungry. (In this book, the pigs take over the supposedly communist farm as they become more and more human. Eventually, they start walking and wearing clothes.)

Thoughts:

Written as a critique of Stalinism and distributed through high schools across America, many people seem to grow up resentful of this book. No one likes being forced to read certain things. However, when my turn came around, I found myself grateful for one point – it was short.

Now, I can appreciate it for another, similar reason. It gets to the point swiftly and insightfully without belaboring the point. It’s not terribly clever as far as plots go, but I don’t think it’s supposed to be. It’s written to be a satire, and it communicates its points efficiently. Orwell indicates his targets pretty clearly and exposes their hypocrisy with a straightforward allegorical tale. So, it gets marks for effectiveness, but anyone disinterested in politics might want to stay clear.