Let me preface this by saying that I have never really
reviewed a classic, so this is a new
sensation for me. But I felt too strongly about this book not to. Anyway...
Catch-22
chronicles fictional characters in a fictional country fighting in the very
real World War II. The majority of these characters are soldiers with
interesting names and even more interesting idiosyncrasies. The primary
character (in the myriad of characters) is a fellow named Yossarian with a
stronger than usual disdain for his superior officers and the authority they
hold over him. You can't really blame him for said disdain, as Colonel Cathcart
is continually raising the number of
missions required to complete service.
With this trend, you'd think that more soldiers would rebel.
However, most of them are only quietly disgruntled and surprisingly contented. The catch in Catch-22 states 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's sane and
therefore ineligible to be relieved." Aside from death, desertion, or
indefinite physical illness (which Yossarian often relies on), there is
legitimately no way out. (I never quite got the 22 part of Catch-22. There's not a catch 1-21...
:P)
This is easily one of the funniest books I've read
in my life. But, thing is, I can't really explain why it's so funny. A whole lot of it made me chuckle to myself, but
huge chunks of it made me laugh out loud until I almost cried. Seriously, this
is a funny book. Again, I'm not sure why, but that doesn't change the fact that
it is. Especially the scene with the moaning men... Good gosh, scenes like that
I had to read over and over because they are simply too comical to only read
once.
Despite the hilarity, this book can be confusing, what with the multitude of characters and the
fact that the story doesn't necessarily follow a chronological order. Also, if
you're like me and know next to nothing about the military ranking system, it can become
daunting trying to keep up with who is in charge of whom. It all gets a bit
overwhelming when you think about it too much. The process I took to reading
this was to try not to overthink everything. I just sort of accepted it all,
let it roll over me. It's definitely not a slow read, but the reading process
itself can be quite time consuming.
I was also pleasantly surprised when a story began forming
out of the babble. Don't get me wrong; I enjoyed the book from the start, but,
for a very long while, it seems like nonsensical ramblings from irrational
soldiers and unreasonable officers. For that long while, it seems almost like
Joseph Heller is painting a portrait of each individual character but leaves no
overlap from character to character. There are the characters and there is the
world, but the story of those characters and that world itself emerge slowly
and out of a clutter of confusion.
I guess it's to be expected with a war story, but there are
harsh bits of tragedy that pop up in the book. You can't have a war
without violence or bloodshed, but the brutality in these pages is thrown in
randomly and without warning. Some of the passages manage to freeze the world
for a moment. Most of the story is a goofy, ironic view of the world. It's so
absurd and silly the majority of the time that it is very easy to forget the
serious subject in which it is really about.
All in all, I think this is a brilliant book. You
probably had to be pretty bright back then to get a word added to the
dictionary, before everyone became ridiculous.
As for the ending, I think it is perfect-the only way out of
the Catch that makes sense for Yossarian, but I won't say more. Apparently
there is a sequel, but I am not yet
sure if I want to read it. I hate when sequels ruin the original for me, and
that happens more often than not. Unlike lots of other books with lots of
others words, all of the words in this particular book feel necessary. I
wouldn't add or detract a thing.
SIDE NOTE: I intend to name my next pet Yossarian. It just
feels right.
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