Catch-22
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Catch-22 description
There was a time when reading Joseph Heller's classic satire on the murderous insanity of war was nothing less than a rite of passage. Echoes of Yossarian, the wise-ass bombardier who was too smart to die but not smart enough to find a way out of his predicament, could be heard throughout the counterculture. As a result, it's impossible not to consider Catch-22 to be something of a period piece. But 40 years on, the novel's undiminished strength is its looking-glass logic. Again and again, Heller's characters demonstrate that what is commonly held to be good, is bad; what is sensible, is nonsense. Yossarian says, "You're talking about winning the war, and I am talking about winning the war and keeping alive."
"Exactly," Clevinger snapped smugly. "And which do you think is more important?"
"To whom?" Yossarian shot back. "It doesn't make a damn bit of difference who wins the war to someone who's dead."
"I can't think of another attitude that could be depended upon to give greater comfort to the enemy."
"The enemy," retorted Yossarian with weighted precision, "is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on."
Mirabile dictu, the book holds up post-Reagan, post-Gulf War. It's a good thing, too. As long as there's a military, that engine of lethal authority, Catch-22 will shine as a handbook for smart-alecky pacifists. It's an utterly serious and sad, but damn funny book. |
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Catch-22 Customer Reviews
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enjoyable but not captivating
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Catch-22 was unique among the other World War II novels that I have read. The characters, such as Yossarian, Milo and Major Major Major were quirky and satirical and, though many aspects of the story relating to World War II were embellished and fictionalized, Joseph Heller was still able to convey a powerful message; war is illogical and absurd. Heller's style of writing often seemed unstructured and many of the events that took place made no logical sense. Milo, in his enterprise which played a large role in the novel, was able to buy goods and then sell them for less money but still make a profit. The preposterousness of this situation reflected Heller's overall message about war; war is illogical.
Though Heller used satire and humor to describe a very grim time, he successfully conveyed a sense of hopelessness and despair in the men fighting the war. Yossarian, the protagonist of the story, remained positive throughout but because of his repeated flashbacks to the death of one of his comrades, Snowden, we see that beneath Yossarian's upbeat exterior, he was in fact severely traumatized. In one of the final chapters of the novel, Heller vividly described Snowden's death. Because this was such a sharp contrast to the prevailing satirical tone of the novel, this scene becomes much more powerful and imbued a sense of utter despair.
Although I found most of the characters and many parts of the book humorous, I also found the book long winded. The book was often repetitive and, though this was done intentionally to be humorous, I became bored with the book. Also, I found some of the dialogue very confusing. Overall, Catch-22 was intriguing but did not capture my attention. |
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