Catch-22 | Joseph Heller | The insanity and inanity of war

Catch-22 | Joseph Heller | A Great Read

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Catch-22

	Catch-22 Joseph Heller Vintage, 1994 - 576 pages average customer review:based on 3 reviews view larger image
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At the heart of Joseph Heller's bestselling novel, first published in 1961, is a satirical indicement of military madness and stupidity, and the desire of the ordinary man to survive it. It is a tale of the dangerously sane Captain Yossarian, who spends his time in Italy plotting to survive.

The insanity and inanity of war

War, for all its glory, gore, bloodshed, tragedy and horror, in the end is often one continuous story of insanity and inanity. People find themselves in circumstances that to the outsider, might seem quite funny. So goes this book; Catch-22, by Joseph Heller. Probably one of the great 20th century classics in war literature along with "Farewell to Arms" and "All Quiet on the Western Front", this is the ultimate tragi-comedy of WW2. Based on the life of a group of bomber pilots based in Italy; the story focuses on Yosarian, and his group of buddies who do their best to survive the war, execute their missions, avoid their commanding officers, lay with hot nurses and escape vengeful widows of slain comrades. As the war progresses and their comrades are killed in bunches and spurts, the remainder find various ways to cope with the emotional loss and the inevitable sense of doom. They all want to go home alive; but the only way to go home alive is to fly a required number of bombing runs. But each bombing run exposes you to death from enemy fire. So here is the catch; fly your runs as quick as possible, hope you survive each one, so you can go home after the last one. Or, try to postpone each flight you have to take knowing that you will live longer in the short run, but also knowing that you eventually will have to fly them. The risk with the latter is that you might also get killed in other ways on the ground; example is Yosarian's friend - Hungry Joe who suffocates to death in his sleep because a cat slept on his face. In between the author shows in funny detail the life of soldiers, and those civilians who have to put up with them. The loss of life throughout the book keeps the tears flowing after you stop crying from the absurd comedy. This book is quite a classic of 20th century English literature, though it is probably not appropriate for anyone under high school.

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A Great Read

This was a very popular book when it first came out. Millions of copies were sold in the paperback version in the 1960s. There are a few different versions on the market. The present version has an introduction by the author in which he describes the process of getting the manuscript accepted for publication, and then he describes the first book reviews after it came out. It was his first novel and he received a $1500. advance. The book was written after he taught English composition at Penn. State and while he was working in the advertising business in New York City in the 1950s .

When the book first appeared, the reviews were mixed. The Sunday Times, for example, thought that the book was far too "repetitious" and it lacked "craft and sensibility." But a reviewer from the Herald tribune in New York thought it was "a wild, moving, shocking, hilarious, raging, exhilarating, giant roller coaster ride of a book." Those two reviews summarize the basic traits of the book. I quote Joseph Heller himself who wrote a piece on the reviews in the introduction.

The reviews were not unanimous because - and this is a simplification that I make here - this is not a novel in the purest sense as one might think of a novel such as Madame Bovary. It is not a well balanced work of art where one has a few strong characters and a strong plot. Rather, it is a wandering story or a series of short stories all linked by a common protagonist. The hero, Yossarian, is an air crew member in a bomber wing which is stationed off the coast of Italy during World War II. The book has a series of strong characters, all held together by a weak plot; it is a series of very funny portraits of various characters in the bomber wing. Each chapter is about a different member of the wing: various colonels, generals, fellow crew members, the chaplain, etc. It describes their actions, motivations, and inner thoughts.

The book describes how they cope with the isolation, the pressures of war, and the ambitions of the regular officers, especially the colonels who want to become generals.

So, this is a great piece of literature but perhaps not the great American novel. It took Joseph Heller about 8 years to write this story of World War II, and we assume that he has drawn on his knowledge of the bomber wing from his own time in the air-force. It is irreverent humor which leaves the reader laughing out loud on many occasions during the read.

The only other similar book that I have read is Slaughterhouse Five, but the present work is much longer and more complex than that book.

This is an interesting and entertaining read that can be read in a day or two.

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CATCH-22 a masterpiece.

When this book came out in the 1960's the world was obviously a different place to todays world.

WWII was recent history and the old guard establishment in the UK and US were in control of the media .

The reviews were mixed because the reviewers did not understand or comprehend the subtleties and genius of this book. They missed the point.

I remember reading it at the age of 13. We were brought up to be voracious readers in our house and this in truth got under the wire as my parents did not really understand what it was. They were about as pro-establishment as you could get. They blamed the downfall of the British Empire on The Beatles.

Suffice to say I have probably read this a dozen times in my life at the age of 50.

I used to stay up late in bed laughing till I cried re-reading individual chapters. I still do .
I read it again last year.

A remarkable insight into human nature. No need to describe the events.

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