I haven't even heard of most of those.
But then again, I clicked on the topic simply out of relief that a high profile outlet like the NYT is suggesting Catch-22 is one of the funniest novels out there.
Since it's every bit as much a tragedy as it is a comedy, with some moments being downright dark, sometimes I wonder if I should be worried about having laughed as hard reading it as I did.
With that said, I wonder if reading them in the reverse order you did altered my view of them.
Plus, I suspect other circumstances at the time I read each affected my interpretation of them. I read Catch-22 during the first Christmas break I spent on my own. That was probably the most care-free week of my life. Since the university was almost deserted, there wasn't even any sense of social pressure, and I have never in my life laughed harder than when reading that book.
I think I read Slaughterhouse Five after I was past the initial phase of my working career, when the low expectations placed on a brand new employee transitioned to the typical pressures of a professional environment, and most of my social network from college had scattered. Also, I think I read it shortly after either The Sound and the Fury or A Farewell to Arms. For different reasons, both had a lingering depressing effect on me, which is extra strange since I don't remember any of these three very clearly. That probably carried over into reading Slaughterhouse Five.
Also, I'm of the opinion that audiobooks are difficult to do well. Narrator's seldom convey characters quite the way the mind's eye portrays them to oneself, nor do they make it easy to adjust the pace or dwell on certain passages to understand them more fully. I struggle to imagine how a narrator could do justice to either of those specific books. I think "so it goes" is a line that each reader needs to find their own voice for. I also just can't see any narrator conveying the absurdity of the transition from one serious plot point to "Nately's *****" trying to kill Yossarian.
There are exceptions, of course. The Hobbit by Rob Inglis might be the definitive example of a well done audiobook. Also, Steven Fry and Judi Dench did a masterful audiobook adaptation of Winnie the Pooh (yes, I have kids), and I might rate Neil Patrick Harris' reading of Henry Huggins as a better performance than any of his TV or movie roles. I suppose if anybody could, maybe Harris could narrate Catch-22.
But then again, I clicked on the topic simply out of relief that a high profile outlet like the NYT is suggesting Catch-22 is one of the funniest novels out there.
Since it's every bit as much a tragedy as it is a comedy, with some moments being downright dark, sometimes I wonder if I should be worried about having laughed as hard reading it as I did.
I felt like they're different enough books that I wouldn't compare them at all, nor read them back-to-back.I listened to Slaughterhouse 5 and then Catch-22; one after the other. Catch-22 wasn’t in the same class as Slaughterhouse 5. Catch-22 is redundant, not all that funny, and definitely not as insightful or impactful.
With that said, I wonder if reading them in the reverse order you did altered my view of them.
Plus, I suspect other circumstances at the time I read each affected my interpretation of them. I read Catch-22 during the first Christmas break I spent on my own. That was probably the most care-free week of my life. Since the university was almost deserted, there wasn't even any sense of social pressure, and I have never in my life laughed harder than when reading that book.
I think I read Slaughterhouse Five after I was past the initial phase of my working career, when the low expectations placed on a brand new employee transitioned to the typical pressures of a professional environment, and most of my social network from college had scattered. Also, I think I read it shortly after either The Sound and the Fury or A Farewell to Arms. For different reasons, both had a lingering depressing effect on me, which is extra strange since I don't remember any of these three very clearly. That probably carried over into reading Slaughterhouse Five.
Also, I'm of the opinion that audiobooks are difficult to do well. Narrator's seldom convey characters quite the way the mind's eye portrays them to oneself, nor do they make it easy to adjust the pace or dwell on certain passages to understand them more fully. I struggle to imagine how a narrator could do justice to either of those specific books. I think "so it goes" is a line that each reader needs to find their own voice for. I also just can't see any narrator conveying the absurdity of the transition from one serious plot point to "Nately's *****" trying to kill Yossarian.
There are exceptions, of course. The Hobbit by Rob Inglis might be the definitive example of a well done audiobook. Also, Steven Fry and Judi Dench did a masterful audiobook adaptation of Winnie the Pooh (yes, I have kids), and I might rate Neil Patrick Harris' reading of Henry Huggins as a better performance than any of his TV or movie roles. I suppose if anybody could, maybe Harris could narrate Catch-22.
Statistics: Posted by iamlucky13 — Thu Mar 14, 2024 9:44 pm — Replies 8 — Views 438