Something Happened

Something Happened
Joseph Heller
Ballantine Books, 1975

First impression:
Having read and enjoyed Catch-22 a few years back, I find Heller's type of writing amusing but this work is more repetitive and lacking punchline.

Review:
For such a title, surprisingly little does happen, which gives the impression that it could have been significantly shorter without missing the point. At 530 pages, something doesn't happen until page 524, and even then I wonder how it relates to the rest of the novel. The theme "something happened" is treated more thoroughly in its abstract forms in the beginning of the work, a very interesting discussion about closed doors, sexuality and hierarchic fear. The rest is basically a narrative of thoughts by a middle-aged suburbanist male who worries constantly about the past and the future, what happened and what should have happened. I do not regret having read this book, but I would not recommend it to anyone who is not extremely patient and interested in in everyday psychosis.

Rating: Decent