Catch-22

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Summary: A Timeless Classic and the Best Anti-War Novel Ever Written
Review: A brief exploration of plot and character serves as an important and integral segment of most book reviews. None of that is necessary when speaking about Joseph Heller's masterpiece, Catch-22. Every year, in high schools throughout America, a rather large percentage of english teachers introduce this novel to yet another class of high school english students. What a good thing it is that these teachers do.

Catch-22, from the moment of its publication, redefined the anti-war novel. Witty, ironic, savagely sarcastic, yet all the time retaining the poignancy of truth, this book has played a substantial role in teaching people to question authority.

If you've read Catch-22 before, grab it off the bookshelf and read it again. If you've been given this book as a class assignment, thank your teacher and relish your good fortune.

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Summary: Anti-war?
Review: Catch-22, which, Shakespeare-like, added a new word to the language, is a funny book on one level, but not so funny when viewed from a different angle. Many reviews and opinions of this book mention the phrases "anti-war" and "pacifist". I do not see anti-war sentiment in this novel (a la Johnny Got His Gun or All Quiet on the Western Front)- rather, I see a criticism of the military itself. While the doings of Milo, Cathcart, Major Major, etc. are a bit exaggerated, they simply reflect common procedure not just in the service, but in any large bureaucratic organization... think about your own work experiences!

I found the book to be a bit tedious near the end (the whole incident with Nately's whore and after); it is almost as if Heller was afraid to go "all the way" with the experimentally hilarious style which carries the book up until that point, and settled for a more traditional ending. In any case, it's an enjoyable and thought-provoking novel.

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Summary: Black comedy and satire at its best
Review: Heller satarizes war with this amazing novel. Yet it also has somber tones, a theoligical debate, and it promulgates Heller's existentialism. This book is a rollercoaster ride from emotional highs of uncontrollable laughter to lows of almost tears. And if there's one thing that needs to be satarized, it's the military. Heller is brilliant!

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Summary: Bucking the establishment!
Review: A hilarios book. This is the story of a WW2 pilot named Yossarian who knows that that millions of total strangers are trying to kill him and can't figure out why. It's uplifting and endearing as Heller narrates, in his unique style, camp life, populated by vivid, humorous characters that will never be forgotten. Most quick, humorous book I've ever read. the 468 pages breezed by.

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Summary: fascinating, hilarious
Review: This book is more about people than it is about war. It is more about life than it is about death. It is more about Yossarian and Nately (and his old man) and Sheisskopf and Major Major than it is about World War II. Hell, I even took my username from my favorite character in this book (as well as literature universall), Milo Minderbinder.

I have heard from many that Heller has not approached this brilliance since. He once, when asked why he had not written another novel as good as Catch-22, said, "Well, nobody else has either." That just might be true. This book made me look at people with all their quirks and their inconsistencies and try to laugh instead of argue. It helped me look at our world with a smile and a laugh insead of a frown and a spoonful of critisism. Parts were hilarious, parts were poignant.

Its story is far less important than its character (as made evident by the format). In every character you see something in yourself. In Yossarian I saw much of what I would like to have the guts to do. I saw common sense. It was also a manifestation of Orwell's famous quotations, "Sanity is Not Statistical."

Read this book: laugh, cry, think, be enlightened.

{{{milo}}}

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Summary: A great war novel
Review: This is an excellent book chronicling the experiences of an American bombardier in WWII with objections to sacrificing his seemingly infinitesimal self in order to win a war. The prose is stirring and although the vocabulary can be difficult at times, it forces your mind to create a vivid picture of the scenes. The hilarious characters make you laugh out loud. My favorite scenes were with the two CID men with Major Major and the scene where Yossarion pretends to be a man who died in the hospital for the family of the victim. It was seemingly almost entirely a comedic piece until the last thirty pages, in which the reader arrives at the startling revelation that nearly all of the enormous cast of characters has died. Though it took me a long time to finish, I would gladly read it again.

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Summary: For When You Think You Have Life Figured Out
Review: This book made me laugh out loud when I was depressed. I was enthralled by all the characters, and ultimately pleased with the ending.

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Summary: Hilarious look at the paradoxes and absurdities of war...
Review: Heller's masterpiece is one of those few books that can be appreciated even by people who haven't experienced war at all. As a 23 yr old reader, I obviously haven't been involved with WWII. However, this irreverent look at the absurd nature of all bureaucracies still affected me powerfully.

Written like stand-up comedy, this continuous punchline takes the reader on a trip through the hell's of war as seen by Yossarian, a bombadier who thinks, rightly, that everyone is out to kill him. Yossarian's paranoia is truly bizarre yet seems to make perfect sense in a world changed by the presence of war.

This masterpiece of modern literature holds as its core theme that war alters everything and everyone, and that people in such a situation become themselves paradoxes. The doctor who is obsessed with his own health, the chaplain who loses his faith (in an "English-speaking, Anglo-Saxon, pro-American God..." - one of the funniest passages I've read in any book), the tortured pilot who can't sleep unless he knows for sure that he won't be sent home and must fly more missions; all make this war satire one of the best two or three books I've ever read. Yes, it's everything it's cracked up to be, and you will be too.

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Summary: Who's on first?
Review: The best way that I can find to describe this book is Abbott and Costello's infamous "Who's on first?" routine. The entire plot and interaction between characters is a mish-mash of miscommunication. The characters run the gamet of absurdity. From the main character Yossarian, the bombardier who thinks that everyone is out to get him personally because they are trying to kill him in a war. To the private, who is running a black market between countries and enemies, selling anything and everything he can get his hands on. To the colonel who feels that the success of the army depends on whether or not he can provide a good parade. The list goes on and on.

The plot weaves back and forth in time and can get somewhat confusing at times, but then again if you're not on your toes this whole book could get away from you. I found the best thing to do is just find a quiet place and let yourself get absorbed in the ridiculousness. The best way to sum up this satirical look on war is this: "Catch 22" IS a catch-22.

Rating:
Summary: Uplifting and cynical, hilarious and brutal
Review: Joseph Heller has created something amazing in Catch-22. It is a modern classic. The novel will spend 400 pages dragging the reader through the mud, only to to conclude with one of the most satisfying endings I have found in literature. The tone will oscillate between ironic and morose, jubilant and melancholy, and Heller makes no apologies for doing so. The novel ultimately questions the validity of war and so-called camraderie, loyalty, and patriotism. This is a wonderful book with a message that will resonate with the reader for a long time after the story comes to an end.