moose gurl
03-04-2008, 06:58 PM
Catch-22, by Brooklyn writer Joseph Heller, is the story of a World War II bombardier Yossarian. Yossarian struggles endlessly against the system to find a way out of being killed in combat, but Colonel Cathcart, the quintessential out-of-touch irrepressible commander keeps raising the number of missions each bombardier must fly in order to be release from their service. Catch-22, from which the book derives its title, is the cover-all "catch" the colonels use to justify the continual demand of service from their men. Heller coined the phrase, and it is now a popular mechanism in literature. Catch-22 states, among other things, that "a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes the necessary formal request to be relieved of such missions, the very act of making the request proves that he is sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved." This is what Yossarian finds himself up against. That, and a cast of colorful, unforgettable characters the book spends 200 pages describing.
Heller's ultimate goal was to demonstrate the inequities and injustice of war. The colonels make the rules, but they are safe from having to obey them. Heller demonstrates the falsities of believing that "what's good for one's country is good for everybody." He makes the reader sympathize with his heroes, and despise the villains, usually anyone of higher rank. He is eloquent, descriptive, and enchanting.
Catch-22 spends the first half of the lengthy novel describing and introducing more characters, and as a result it can get a little tedious. The good news is that it is hilarious. The characters are chock full of comedy, wit, and over-the-top silliness. My favorite character was "Major Major Major Major," a major in the army whose father named him Major (first name) Major (last name). And I'm not sure how the fourth "major" gets thrown in there--but it does. The characters are vivid and easily memorable. And then they start dying.
The second half of the novel takes a grim turn--one by one, Yossarian's friends are killed. As Yossarian's panic mounts, so does the reader's. We want Yossarian to escape the odds of war. We feel for him, we weep for the characters that are so real to us and that are dying left and right. We get a feel for all that is a stake.
Catch 22 is an interesting, quirky, two-toned microexamination of the life of a man at war. On the surface is a witty, hilarious, bubbling story of a soldier trying to save his own skin. But under that is a dark brooding story of injustice, death, and the grotesque horrors of warfare. The comical colonels are actually very terrifying in their stupidity, and the ironic message is driven home. Solid, intriguing, carefully crafted.
8 out of 10.
Heller's ultimate goal was to demonstrate the inequities and injustice of war. The colonels make the rules, but they are safe from having to obey them. Heller demonstrates the falsities of believing that "what's good for one's country is good for everybody." He makes the reader sympathize with his heroes, and despise the villains, usually anyone of higher rank. He is eloquent, descriptive, and enchanting.
Catch-22 spends the first half of the lengthy novel describing and introducing more characters, and as a result it can get a little tedious. The good news is that it is hilarious. The characters are chock full of comedy, wit, and over-the-top silliness. My favorite character was "Major Major Major Major," a major in the army whose father named him Major (first name) Major (last name). And I'm not sure how the fourth "major" gets thrown in there--but it does. The characters are vivid and easily memorable. And then they start dying.
The second half of the novel takes a grim turn--one by one, Yossarian's friends are killed. As Yossarian's panic mounts, so does the reader's. We want Yossarian to escape the odds of war. We feel for him, we weep for the characters that are so real to us and that are dying left and right. We get a feel for all that is a stake.
Catch 22 is an interesting, quirky, two-toned microexamination of the life of a man at war. On the surface is a witty, hilarious, bubbling story of a soldier trying to save his own skin. But under that is a dark brooding story of injustice, death, and the grotesque horrors of warfare. The comical colonels are actually very terrifying in their stupidity, and the ironic message is driven home. Solid, intriguing, carefully crafted.
8 out of 10.