I am reading Catch 22, I am about halfway through and really loving it so far. But I am reading the cheapest Kindle version I could find, I think it was $0.50, and I am wondering if I have a bad copy or if there are intentional errors that are meant to disorient the reader per the book’s themes?
For example, certain characters seem to have their names change randomly throughout – General Wheedler is sometimes General Needle, Doubs is sometimes Hobbs, Lately is sometimes Katelyn
There are also odd spaces and gaps in certain character names, like “Apple by” or “- – de Cover ley” or “Chief White Half oat”
In addition to the oddities with the names, there are other random errors or typos like the words “so” and “to” seeming to get mixed up
What do y’all think, just a bad version of the book?
Also, I am just really loving the book so far and would love to hear your (spoiler-free) thoughts on it
by AcephalicDude
13 Comments
Sounds like junk.
Major — de Coverly is real though.
It’s a janky version.
Yeah that sounds like a garbage OCR scan they threw on Kindle for cheap. The name swaps and “so/to” mixups are classic bad text conversion. Get a legit copy, you’ll enjoy it even more.
Sounds like a bad OCR job
Sounds like an AI version ?
You bought a dirt-cheap copy, enjoy the shoddy results. Great book though. The first time I read it, I needed a dictionary by my side at all times. Now with a Kindle or other e-reader, you can look up a challenging word on the fly.
sounds like you might be dealing with a janky version for sure; those name changes and typos are not how it’s supposed to be. catch-22 is wild in its writing style, but that sounds more like formatting issues than intentional disorientation. check for a legit edition next time! and fr, glad you’re loving it—it’s a classic for a reason!
Heller has been dead for 27 years. I don’t think he’ll mind if you find a different way of finding a very, very cheap copy that’s actually correct.
Report to Amazon as a fraud.
Is the book terrible and very repetitive? Yeah, that’s Catch 22
The library has a good copy for free 🙂
Join a library. Lots of them have free ebook programs
Does your library not have Libby?