Catch-22

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Catch-22-Joseph-Heller/dp/0684833395

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller based on the second half of World War II. It actually took me quite a while to get into the plot, because it involves a lot of military terms and tactics that I had to look up so that I could understand what exactly I was reading about. However, once I reached about the halfway point of the book, I really started to enjoy it, and I would definitely recommend it to others in our class.

The book is told from different points of view, and this made it a little confusing to read. The majority of the plot is told from the view of Yossarian, the main character. I really didn't like Yossarian at first because he was so odd, but I found that he is actually a very entertaining character to read about. Yossarian is afraid of dying, and he believes that dying in a war fighting for your country is just about the worst way to die. The text is in third person, and it's almost satirical- I found myself laughing out loud a few times at what I was reading. Heller describes the war in a seemingly light mannerin the first part of the book, but in the second half, he reveals the terrors and hardships of war. There is rape, murder, a great number of deaths everyday, and of course the terrible feeling that you are going to die everyday, not to mention the fact that your friends and comrades are dying daily. By the end of the book, Yossarion refuses to fly anymore missions, because he is upset by the death of one of his dear friends. He is then forced to face a court appearance, or simply be sent home with honorable mention. What he decides to do is interesting indeed, and crucial to understanding the morals issued throughout the novel.

Then of course there is the Catch. Catch-22 that is. The Catch-22 is mentioned a few times throughout the book, and each time it is described differently-of course this leads to confusion. It is ultimately a law of paradox and circular reasoning- if a victim is found being illogical, they can be punished for it. The first time it is mentioned, Yossarian (looking for a way out of a bombing) declares that he is insane, but is told that according to Catch-22 he is actually sane by saying that, because of course he would want to save himself from going out on a mission. the second time it states that it is illegal to read-and where is this law found? Why in the writing of the Catch of course! which would involves reading. The last time the Catch is mentioned, it is defined as a law that states that anything a soldier can't prevent the enemy from doing is allowed. What to think of all of this...

I think that overall, the book was a great read and really interesting, but you definitely have to have patience when you're starting it-it will get better! A note on the author's craft- I thought that the telling from different points of view, but yet from one outsider's view was really clever and it certainly made the plot more interesting, even if it was more confusing at the same time. The flashbacks that Heller included helped to explain events that he mentioned previously in the text, and each chapter is titled with either the name of a person, a battle, or a place that is involved in the plot. There are so many different characters that it's at time hard to keep track of them, but they all certainly add to the different levels of what was going on in the text.

p.s. keep in mind that when you are a man in the army, about to die, you are going to be craving sex, apparently all of the time...that's involved a lot in the text (which I didn't know when I picked it out!) The whores in Rome are important characters, even though they sound unimportant. But they are...