Catch-22

Catch-22 was written by Joseph Heller and published in 1961. The story takes place near the end of World War II, and most of the action occurs on Pianosa, a small island off the coast of Italy. Catch-22 is a good book, and one I completely recommend to others. Though the book can be difficult to follow sometimes due to it’s lack of following a timeline, it makes up for it with the memorable way in which Heller mashes together absurd and ridiculous humor with the hell that war is. Yossarian, a Captain in the Air Force and a bombardier, is the main character and is constantly present in all scenes. Unfortunately, Yossarian’s courage is diminished when a man dies in his arms during a mission. Yossarian’s only goal now is to survive. He “was willing to be the victim of anything but circumstance.” Yossarian is angered by the fact that “strangers he didn’t know shot at him with cannons every time he flew up into the air to drop bombs on them.” He believed that thousands of people, who he never met, were trying to kill him and that made everyone else think he was crazy, but he thought they were all crazy. What is worse though, is that the men in charge of him are constantly increasing the mission limit to go home, and there is a catch. “There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause in Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.” Surrounding Yossarian are many amazing characters. These other characters give us insight into several ways people are experiencing the war. While Yossarian refuses to fly more missions, Colonel Cathcart, the officer in charge of Yossarian’s squadron, is always raising the mission limit and volunteering his men for dangerous missions to get a promotion. Colonel Cathcart sees the men as resources to be used, and whether they live or die is not important. This book shows us, through the stories and characters, several sides of what war is like. We see a doctor who was forced to leave his increasingly successful business to go to war and now only complains about his problems. We see Major -- de Coverley, who does nothing but plays horseshoes and rents apartments but still manages to be seen with the first wave of American soldiers in any newly captured city. There is also Hungry Joe, who screams and has nightmares on any night when he is not on combat duty. There are tons of characters in this book, each with their own problems and point of view. I loved all of the characters and I strongly believe they contribute to my recommendation because the story would not be the same, and would not be as memorable, without them all. Catch-22 is a great story and is a book I strongly recommend. It is hard to put into words how I feel about this book other than I feel like I am on a roller coaster. On one page I am laughing at the absurdity of Milo, the mess officer, having a blackmarket syndicate and on the next page somebody would die. This book has big ideas that, whether you disagree or agree with them, do leave an impact on you. Catch-22 is crazy, just like all the characters in it, and sitting here trying to explain how this book works and trying not to ruin moments which I think were surprising and good is a struggle. This is a book you have to experience for yourself; you have to experience the absurd, dark humor to understand why this book is a classic. That is why I recommend it, because it is a good book and it is one that you can’t sparknote because sparknotes doesn’t do it justice and doesn’t convey the same feelings. It may not be the perfect historical document, or a completely accurate vision of war life, or the whole story, but it is still a moving piece of literature and one I believe we all should read.