Catch-22

Catch 22 is one of the funniest (while still having depth) books ever! Have never looked into his other books, will have to check it out

Moby Dick, Herman Melville VALIS, Philip K Dick Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance + also Lila, Robert Pirsig Naked Lunch, William Burroughs Immortality, Milan Kundera Catch-22, Joseph Heller (pair with The Deserters, Charles Glass -- In fact a lot of the stuff in Catch-22 is actually toned down from reality) Mastering the Core Teachings of Buddha, Daniel Ingram (but ignore 80% of it)

I went back and read it after reading it as a teenager fairly recently. It still worked for me. It didn't quite have the same impact and the it sags a bit in the middle but it's still a great book that well, shaped the way I see the world.

Catch 22 has reaffirmed in me Yossarian's mindset that I didn't know I had; about how the world is mad and is out to get me over its crazy shit; and about how the received official mythologized narrative is different from the day-to-day survival concerns of an ordinary person. Thinking back, it probably was the most influential book for me.

The follow suggestions are all novels or non-fiction written as narratives * English rural veterinarian novels - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Herriot * Corporate security - The ISC2 CISSP course book https://www.amazon.com/Official-ISC-Guide-CISSP-CBK/dp/11194... (https://www.amazon.com/Official-ISC-Guide-CISSP-CBK/dp/1119423341) * Military - Catch 22 by Joseph Heller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22 * Internal investigations - Airframe by Michael Chriton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airframe_%28novel%29

I second this one. A book good both for laughs and for a cynical but not entirely inaccurate look at organizations and human behavior.

These threads are posted a lot, but I still like reading the comments for new book recommendations if I see a match. Also, hopefully this can show people how great fiction is. I've seen comments that shun people for liking fiction compared to non. For me: Lonesome Dove 100 Years of Solitude Catch-22 The Sellout (very relevant again) East of Eden Kafka on the Shore (and all the stories in Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman)

Catch-22. It's not at all related to tech, but it's the funniest book I've ever read and I feel it helps keep me grounded.

I tried reading catch-22 twice before successfully getting through it. I felt the same as you did. I think my problem the first 2 times was that I was looking for the 'hook' or whatever it was that people were so fanatical about. As a consequence, I think I was glossing over the dialogue and not really ingesting what was going on. The third time I decided to just take it at face value, try and enjoy the dialogue and if no bigger picture emerges, so be it. This approach turned out to be the key. It's an incredibly funny and poignant book and what happens is that while you get through all these seemingly (initally) trivial scenes, a point does in fact start to emerge. The triviality is actually central to the main point. People keep dying off for arbitrary reasons and the being part of the war is so detached from the apparent reasons for the war is actually taking place. It's one of my favorite books. I truly recommended trying to read it again.

For me it was Catch-22. I read it at around 14 and it taught me that sometimes the truth is the complete opposite from what it seems, or what you're told.

Catch 22. - I can re-read that over and over laughing at the silliness of their situation. Also If you enjoyed Catch I recommend Vernon God Little

Whenever anyone asks: Catch-22 East of Eden Remains of the Day Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman These threads where people suggest multiple books are good to run through. If you see one in a comment that someone else liked, probably try to read the others they listed.

A favourite of mine as well. I read it when I was about 20 and it blew my mind. I later read other books by Joseph Heller but I really shouldn't have bothered. Catch 22 was really his main opus.

I read Catch 22 when I was about 14 or so - it was literally the first "grown up" novel that I read that wasn't dry science fiction and it completely enthralled me. What did I learn from it? Possibly this: "The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on"

Catch 22. I use Yossarian's behaviour to justify my own.

- The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin - Blindsight and Echopraxia by Peter Watts - The Tao Te Ching - The Gateless Gate (Koun Yamada translation/editing) - The Baroque Cycle (Quicksilver, The Confusion, The System of the World) by Neal Stephenson - The Invisibles by Grant Morrison - Incerto (Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, Antifragile, The Bed of Procrustes) by Nassim Nicholas Taleb - Iron John by Robert Bly - Catch 22 by Joseph Heller - The Character of Physical Law by Richard P. Feynman - Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges - 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Pharmakon by Dale Pendell - The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss - Greek Mythology by Edith Hamilton - The Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual by Gary Gygax et al - Introduction to Algorithms by Charles E. Leiserson, Clifford Stein, Ronald Rivest, and Thomas H. Cormen

If you're about to work for the federal government. I suggest catch 22 and Kafka. Now that I'm working with them,I realize those books aren't fiction: they're documentaries.

Catch-22. We're all playing a game and most of us aren't even aware that we can choose not to play. Yossarian is one of the bravest characters in all of literature. He stays true to himself even in the face of overwhelming evidence that all of the world disagrees with him.

Catch-22. In a similar vibe (but a fair bit shorter), Slaughterhouse 5. Both cover the hell of war by examining its absurdity. Catch-22 is also the funniest book you'll ever read. If you're into engineering books, the best I've read is Skunk Works (Ben R Rich). It's an account of the work of Lockheed's legendary skunk works division - behind the U2 spy plane, stealth fighter and the blackbird sr-17.

White Teeth, Zadie Smith Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates, Tom Robbins Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell Catch 22, Joseph Heller Timequake; Mother Night, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Seven Pillars of Wisdom, TE Lawrence The Histories, Tacitus The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger (caveat, it was most effective when I read it at 16) Redwall, Brian Jaques (got me really excited about reading when I was in the fourth grade) This list could be much, much longer, but those are the most prominent 'life-changers' that come to mind.

Catch 22 One Hundred Years of Solitude The Infinite Jest Cryptonomicon

Catch 22 is a fantastic read. I don't think I've read anything else where everything in the book is such a great illustration of its main theme. Plus, it's just plain entertaining.

Catch 22.

The Stranger, Catch-22, Cat's Cradle

Some authors and a rec or two for each. DFW - Infinite Jest Pynchon - Really anything, but in particular Against the Day, V, and Gravity's Rainbow. Rushdie - Shame and Satanic Verses, a lot of good other ones. Neal Stephenson - Cryptonomicon Gaddis - JR, hence my name. Heller - Catch-22

The fact that someone's name is Major Major Major Major just shows the pure brilliance of this book. I feel like I'm going to have to read through it a second time shortly after finishing it.

Major Major Major Major is one of my favorite literary characters. I definitely recommend catch 22 as a good read.

I've been reading "Catch 22" by Joseph Heller and have been amazed by how hilarious it is. Also recently finished "Life" by Keith Richards which was also very entertaining.

My younger self wouldn't have been interested in the books that interest me now. Instead I'd have to settle for some good fiction. Going back in time to around 12-16, I'd send one of: * Brave New World - Aldous Huxley * 1984 - George Orwell * To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee * Catch 22 - Joe Heller * Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut * Of Mice and Men - Steinbeck * Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury * The Call of Ctulhu - H.P. Lovecraft * Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card Some of those I actually read in school and loved (but wish I read earlier), others I didn't. I think any of those books would've interested me at the time. There's plenty of time for Rich Dad, Poor Dad, SPIN Selling and all the business books later in life.

Want to blow your mind? Fiction Keep an open mind, and a sense of wonder when you read these for max effect! Hitch-hikers guide to the galaxy. I was hooked at "The big yellow ships hung in the air just the way bricks don't." Dune - what does scarcity do to a society? Isaac Asimov - Robot series. Foundation series. All of his short stories, esp. The Last Question, Nightfall. A.C. Clarke - 2001 - series, Childhood's End, The Fountains of Paradise The Little Prince, The Count of Monte Cristo, Catch-22, Siddhartha, Ender's Game, Sundiver, Wodehouse.

Great book. I took from it that life is all FUBAR'd, you'll have to make it work for yourself :)

As improbable as it may sound, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.

Sometimes a work is best appreciated as a meditation on a particular feeling, and the evolution thereof. Catch-22 was like that for me. It is the same humor, told over and over, but at the beginning of the book you're laughing while at the end of the book you're crying because the humor in the situation has turned to horror at the inhumanity of it.

You sound like you're looking for something like Jones' The Art of War in the Western World: http://www.amazon.com/Art-War-Western-World/dp/0252069668 Or just go there and follow Amazon "related" links. Jones is of the "very broad" school of military history. It can be a little bit dry, but it certainly tries to be comprehensive: It's like Civilization in that it starts with phalanx and then moves slowly forward through the history of strategy and tactics. You might like the works of John Keegan, another famous military historian who takes a general approach. He's got a History of Warfare that's like a lighter-weight version of Jones -- I might recommend starting with that, actually. His one-volume histories of WWI and WWII are probably decent.…

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. It is arguably the most useful book I've ever read, albeit with the most embarassing title. As inklesspen mentioned, Elements of Style is a must. Code Complete and the Mythical Man Month by Fred Brooks. Timeless coding wisdom. For a laugh, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, or Hitchhiker's Guide. Body Language, Julius Fast. Kitschy but fascinating insights into body language. Fabric of the Cosmos, Brian Greene. Brian is a fluke of nature--a physicist who can explain things realy well! Anything by Phillip K. Dick. Sci-fi stories that make you think.