Jacked from Amazon.com

 

The amazing thing about this book is it provides a commentary about a sad and serious subject, but leaves you laughing out loud on almost every page. And sometimes your not sure if you should laugh or cry.

 

 

Catch-22 is not a book America wants to read, especially in her present state of patriotism. One cannot picture Heller's Yossarian sporting a "These Colors Don't Run" T-shirt and waving a flag. Indeed, the opening chapter explicitly refutes any interpretation that suggests Yossarian's actions are rooted in a deep sense of nationalism: an uber-patriotic Texan drives almost all the men out of a hospital ward and back into combat. Catch-22 is a book that challenges the logic of war. It combines wry humor with startlingly affecting anecdotes to force the reader into asking questions. It is the portrait of a man who is dangerously sane, but trapped in the insanity of war by catch-22.

When I started reading Joseph Heller's Catch-22, I had no idea what to expect. I scanned the buzzwords on the back cover..."apocalyptic, bitter, hilarious, monumental, original, subversive, classic." What I found was a moving satire, centered ..., an allegory who manages to retain his humanity. The fact that Heller's Yossarian was indeed so easy to relate to contributed to the book's power. The novel brings you deep into the world of war, as viewed by a soldier. Yossarian's experiences are not entirely realistic, and much of what happens over the course of the novel seems to make no sense at all. In presenting war in such a manner, Heller asks the reader whether the reality of war makes any more sense than does Yossarian's story. Heller says that war itself is a great catch-22, a paradoxical trap that humans walk into time and time again. He questions the logic of the illogical, and asks the reader to try and rationalize the irrational.

Catch-22 is significant because it claims that not only war is a catch-22. The metaphor extends to include life itself. We see that the characters are not merely fighting to survive the war...they are fighting to be immortal. Each has his own way, whether it be by enduring boredom to make time move slower, or by gaining global power through commerce and enterprise. They are all trying to cheat death. Heller's novel reveals many deep and often unpleasant truths, but it does it with humor and style. For this reason, Catch-22 has reached "classic" status and will probably remain a classic for generations to come.

As a book, Catch-22 is flawless. It is moving, witty, and ultimately one of the greatest novels I have ever read. It deserves every one of its five stars. However, to those who are interested in reading it, I warn you to take Heller's work with a grain of salt. Many may find the satire offensive in light of the current global situation. Please do not let current events get in your way. Catch-22 is a wonderful, eye-opening novel; but as with all "subversive" literature, it must be approached with an open mind.

 

The words I used to describe Catch-22 are bleak, black, and absurd. Heller's brand of absurdist humor creates some of the most poignant moments in literature and some of the most hilarious (there are many, many laugh out loud places here). It is basically the story of Yossarian, a bomber, in the closing months of World War II. He can't understand why thousands of people he hasn't met yet are trying to kill him. And it goes from there. Loaded with absurdist humor. It does turn darker towards the end. This is a very densely packed book, every page loaded with information. It's not a book you can lose concentration while reading. But it is well worth the time and energy it takes to read it. Definitely one of the best books ever written.

 

 

 

 

Also, beware of the density of this book like this guy above says. Its like reading a Tolstoy novel in its complexity of characters.

 

Joseph Heller's Catch-22 has been seen as a controversial but classic twentieth century novel because of its rebellious nature and questioning of authority that easily places it into the social context of the American 1960s. Through the main character, Yossarian, and his various situations the author seems to comment on the individual use of morality as a counter to the governmental use of authority and power in a military bureaucracy. Yossarian, a soldier in World War II, and his squadron's fate are placed in the hands of a group of leaders who are willing to sacrifice their men's lives for personal gain in the form of recognition. Heller seems to use this situation to comment on the authoritative use of bureaucracy in that the men are led into futile situations by a bureaucracy that not only discards logic, but also has no regard for its defenders. Yossarian and his fellow soldiers must use the illogical laws of their war bureaucracy to their advantages in order to survive. They are all subject to the law of Catch-22.

 

Heller's Catch-22 ultimately defines situations in which all of the solutions of any given situation have negative results. The author uses Catch-22 throughout his novel to show how logic can be circumvented in order to force Yossarian and his squadron to suffer through numerous personal situations and remain at war in a sort of bureaucratic military entrapment. Catch-22 is used when Yossarian, as an instinct of preservation, tries to be discharged from the military-or at least tries to avoid combat-by claiming that he is insane. But by claiming that he is insane, he is therefore seen as sane because no reasonable person would want to fly bombing missions. Again, Catch-22 is used against Yossarian when he is offered the choice to be court-martialed or be released upon his approval of the policies of Colonels Cathcart and Korn. The Catch-22 is that the policies require the men to fly eighty missions before being sent home and thereby jeopardizes their lives.

 

Perhaps the most important point that Heller makes in Catch-22 is that there is an alternative to Catch-22. At the end of the novel, Yossarian discounts Catch-22 by opting for a different way out of war. He deserts his unit and goes to Sweden, a neutral country, and rejects the military bureaucracy. By this, Heller seems to say that while Catch-22-a contradictory condition of circular reasoning that holds its sufferer in its irrational environment and benefits only those who have made up the law-may seem inescapable; there is ultimately a way out. Heller depicted World War II with a sense of disenchantment with the military. This may be what made Catch-22 so controversial during the Vietnam War (and in the wake of what was considered The Good War). Yossarian not only questions authority, but he finds an ultimate solution through desertion. This is definitely not something that the government would have wanted young American draftsmen reading, however, it is valuable in its depiction of morality in the face of illogical or immoral situations such as war.

 

 

 

Utlimately this book can teach us about war and patriotism or at least broaden our perspective. My favorite book of any kind.

seems pretty good, I'll have to get to that.