Newbery Honor
"Joel's best friend Tony drowns while they are swimming in the forbidden, treacherous Vermilion River. Joel is terrified at having to tell of his disobedience and overwhelmed by his feelings of guilt." (Goodreads)
I'm unsure of this book. I see the power of conflict and moral issues being played out but I was left with the struggle of its brevity/ending/???. Yes, I got depth by reading between the lines ... but something was off that I can't seem to pinpoint.
In general, this is a good wake-up call and reminder for parents that teenagers are still children.
"At the heart of Joseph Heller's bestselling novel, first published in 1961, is a satirical indicement of military madness and stupidity, and the desire of the ordinary man to survive it. It is a tale of the dangerously sane Captain Yossarian, who spends his time in Italy plotting to survive. " (Goodreads)
This was a hard read. Satirical, bureaucratic subjects are not my strong suit. However, Mr. Jay O. Sanders did a remarkable job at narrating as to give the characters distinct emotion and passion. In that sense I was able to grasp the clever and intense points that Mr. Joseph Heller was conveying. I laughed, I cheered, I got confused, and I was saddened ... after all, this was about war and using my widely used word lately, (war) sucks! ... people fight to survive ... people die.
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Great post. I think you really caught the essence of both books. I actually got to meet Marion Dane Bauer when I was in elementary school and got a signed copy of this book. I think I still have it... somewhere. It took me a couple of tries to get into Catch-22, but when I finally did, I was hooked. Loved it. So many quotable passages and it was just funny, funny, funny. Another one I like by Heller is Something Happened. It's dark, but worth reading.
ReplyDeleteThank you Julie. Cool, a signed copy! --I'll have to check out Something Happened ..thanks. :)
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