Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

OMG!! I LOVED this book!! I read it back in 10th grade for English class and had to do a pretty big project on it--it was 3 short essays written from various perspectives from the book--the author, a judge or jury, and someone else. I've never been that great at English, so I was ecstatic when I got my grade back--3 100%s. I had to present in front of the class, so of course, this very shy, tiny girl chose to speak from the perspective of the author--who in my mind was a VERY crabby 60, or so, year old grandfather type (looking much like the old man in "UP" with a personality to match Mr. Wilson from the Dennis the Menace comics) who was doing a book tour in all the schools--giving the real horrors of war to a bunch of snot nosed brats who spend all their time being coddled. It was SOOO much fun! But I guess that really has nothing to do with the actual content of the book, just how I was affected by it.

Umm...gosh. It'll definitely make anyone who reads it anti-war, probably, and really question the sanity of the whole military system as a whole. But in a good way. It really makes you think. But I've heard a lot of bad reviews from classmates that hated it. We were given the choice between 4 or 5 books for that project and I think that I was the only person to choose Catch 22. But these are 16 year olds that I might have used as inspiration for why Heller had to write his book and why I envisioned his character was furious at the world--boys scarcely 2 years older than those I addressed, dying in war, and a classroom full of teens today who couldn't care less, let alone take the time to understand what he was trying to say. This is probably the one book (I know I shall say this many times) that I think EVERYONE should read. No seriously--it's on my 1 book, 1 movie, 1 object that everyone should read/own list. Also on this list are "All Quiet on the Western Front" (the movie) and a small row/paddle boat (canoe, kayak, rowboat, etc) since sea levels are rising and I live on the coast--some places flood pretty badly once ever 10 years.