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Which is better?

IMHO, Slaughterhouse 5 was a unimaginable mess that Vonnegut
must have written while tripping on LSD.

Catch-22 OTOH, is much much better. Major Major and Yossarian kick
ass!

Any movie that hands out decorations for nice bombing patterns gets my vote

Never mind that they did't hit anything! (or was that in the book can't remember)

Catch-22 was much better

Catch-22 was a vastly superior better book. Slaughterhouse 5 was vastly superior as a literary piece. Draw your own conclusion.

MKSheppard wrote: Catch-22 OTOH, is much much better. Major Major and Yossarian kick
ass!

Ah yes, Major Major Major Major (there were four right) was a great guy.

You are talking two of the three most guilt ridden Surrealist Sci Fi works to come out of the firebombing of Dresden. Personally I say that of the two Catch 22 is more coharent. Of the three Dresden guiltfests I would have to say Canticle for Liebowitz. It was cohairent, had an epic quality, and was ultimatly about redemption, not some exeistentialist (Alone against the uncaring universe jargon.)

Of course Catch-22 is more coherent. It is also much more accesible. That is a large part of what makes it a better book. It is also, indirectly, related to why S5 is a better literary piece.

Slaughter House Five is more like Finnigans wake. Makes no sense what so ever and is rather disassociative, but it still is a fine piece of literary work.

Indeed, it is part of that disjointedness that makes it such a wonderful work. There actually is meaning within the book, but many people are so confused by it that they never figure it out. Catch-22, while disjointed in and of itself, is much more accessible. In 100 years, we may not still be reading S5 until university (if then), but I would bet that we'll still be reading C-22.