Catch - 22
Definitely recommend for all those of you who like their humour (even if not their coffee) black. It’s a masterpiece of modern satire, where the island of Pianosa becomes a microism of the society itself and the War a parallel to the struggle of daily existence.
The beauty of Catch-22 lies in its characters. Yossarian, the protagonist, the lead bombardier who never hits anything but manages to evade enemy fire ; Nately the principled, aristocratic young pilot who is devoted to an Italian prostitute ; Orr, Yossarian’s roommate, an intensely frustrating, intensely brilliant kid ; the petty Colonel Cathcart who sends him men to die so that he can be promoted ; Milo Minderbinder, the ultimate capitalist who bombs his own squadron to turn a profit ; Doc Daneeka the selfish doctor who never lifts a finger to help anyone but himself ; Hungry Joe the fashion photographer turned pilot ; McDuff the underage kid who joins the Air Force to see what war is all about ; R Shipman the chaplain, well-meaning but timid and of course, Major Major Major Major the reculsive squadron commander.
These and more pursue their own agenda faithfully to its logical fruition. Yossarian refuses to take part in the war, Nately dies just when he finally wins the prostitute’s love, Orr crashes his way to a successful desertion, Cathcart, of course, continues sending men to die but doesn’t get promoted, Milo becomes fabulously rich at the country’s expense, Daneeka is declared dead when clearly alive, Hungry Joe dies in combat, McDuff kills himself, Shipman is accused of being Washington Irving and 4M well, the poor nondescript just disappears.
It’s a story that would be very sad if it wasn’t so damn funny and would be funny if it wasn’t so damn sad. In Heller’s illustration of the futility of war lies the greater question of the relevance and futility of our daily struggle, at our jobs, our lives, our relationships.
Is it worth it?
There’s the Catch. It’s Catch-22. As Doc Daneeka so succinctly puts it, “Of course you’re crazy. You’ve got to be crazy to be fighting this war. And if you’re crazy I can send you home. But I can’t send you home unless you ask to be sent home. And if you ask to be sent home you can’t be crazy. So I can’t send you home. You see?”
Yes, we see.
4 comments:
Well, to chip in, in few words i think everyone in catch 22 stays on the verge of madness for about 400 pages. Precariously so.
GS - North Midgrad
"It’s a story that would be very sad if it wasn’t so damn funny and would be funny if it wasn’t so damn sad".
Extremely well-put. When I started the book, I was laughing out loud, but by the end of it, the despair, the hopelessness, the madness of the war was just so depressing. The characters stay with you though, for a long,long time.
Have you seen the movie? I think it was really badly done. The humor, the pathos... nothing comes through like it does in the book. They've made it into a completely senseless war-flick which has nothing new to say!
Enjoyed a lot! » » »
This is very interesting site... » »
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