Conquered

Have you ever had a book that you just couldn't make it through, even after multiple attempts, but were still interested in reading it because other people said it was a good book? Here is mine:

I picked it up two different times in college and each time was only able to get about 50 pages into it. I was so confused by it and had no idea what was going on. People kept telling me the book was really funny, but I failed to see that in the first two attempts. One of my roommates at the time tried to read it as well and did not get much further into it than I did. I'm proud to say that after all these years, I finally conquered Catch-22!

I must agree with what others have said, the book is pretty funny. It is a book about war though and the characters are in a bomb squadron, so it is not all fun and games. The novel was a satire and often felt very abstract. I do not think I've read a book quite like it before. One of main reasons I was able to finish it this time was that I found the Cliffs Notes for it at a used bookstore for really cheap (like $.25 or something) and read the "about the book" section. It informed me that it was not a linear novel; that each chapter jumped to/from different characters, in different locations, at different times and that it did not matter that I did not understand. It said that it would begin to make more sense as I moved through the novel. That was immensely helpful. Armed with this knowledge, I was able to read through all 460 pages and actually enjoy it. Plus, the sense of accomplishment for having conquered a book that has kept me annoyed for over 10 years, feels pretty great!