I told a friend of mine I'd begun reading this book, and his comment pretty much sums it up: "How do you even write a sequel to Catch-22?"
You don't. To /me/ this isn't really a sequel. This is a book based around a bitter, pompous old man with the same name as the character from the first book. It tries so hard to be like its counter-part and fails entirely. The characters, the story, the wit, they're all mediocre; and aside from the bits and pieces relating back to Catch-22, the author really could have just re-named everyone and made this an entirely separate story.
Even if he had, it still wouldn't have been great, but it would have been a lot less disappointing.
You don't. To /me/ this isn't really a sequel. This is a book based around a bitter, pompous old man with the same name as the character from the first book. It tries so hard to be like its counter-part and fails entirely. The characters, the story, the wit, they're all mediocre; and aside from the bits and pieces relating back to Catch-22, the author really could have just re-named everyone and made this an entirely separate story.
Even if he had, it still wouldn't have been great, but it would have been a lot less disappointing.
