Catch-22: 50th Anniversary Edition

This uproarious satirical novel by Joseph Heller prompted me to think of Robert Crichton's 'The Secret Of Santa Vittoria', another novel blending WWII and comedy. Published in 1961, 'Catch-22' was the forerunner of Richard Hooker's 1968 novel, 'Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors'. It's not about Army Doctor's in Korea, but about Army Air Force pilots and bombardiers during WWII stationed on the small island of Pianosa, west of Italy. In order to understand the insanity of this story, the reader has to comprehend what Catch-22 means. In chapter five, Doc Daneeka explains to Yossarian ( main character ) and Orr, his roommate, why he can't ground them due to insanity: "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 of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle."That's some catch, that catch-22," he observed."It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed." This catch was why none of the bombing personnel were able to avoid flying mission after mission. The main character is Captain Yossarian, a bombardier who is convinced he is going to die on a mission. In chapter two, he explains to fellow officer, Clevinger why: "They're trying to kill me," Yossarian told him calmly. "No one's trying to kill you," Clevinger cried. "Then why are they shooting at me?" Yossarian asked. "They're shooting at everyone," Clevinger answered. "They're trying to kill everyone." "And what difference does that make?" Yossarian's fear of dying on a bombing raid was enhanced by his group commander, Colonel Cathcart. His lack of compassion was buoyed by his desire to be a general and more importantly, to be featured in 'The Saturday Evening Post'! If the Air Force wanted 40 missions before you could go home, the Colonel wanted 45. Every time someone came close to obtaining the target number of missions for being sent home, Colonel Cathcart raised the required number again. The Colonel is only one of the complex characters in this novel. I have many favorite characters and situations in this sometimes disturbing, but whimsical story. The first is Lt. Milo Minderbinder, the mess hall officer. From day one, he wheels and deals like no other war time entrepreneur. He gets away with his shenanigans by telling everyone that they have a share in his enterprises. In chapter 22, he explains his egg business: ..." I make a profit of three and a quarter cents an egg by selling them for four and a quarter cents an egg to the people in Malta I buy them from for seven cents an egg. Of course, I don't make the profit. The syndicate makes the profit. And everybody has a share." He gets into so many businesses that he even deals with the Germans! In chapter 24, he takes a contract from the Germans to bomb his own base: "This time Milo had gone too far. Bombing his own men and planes was more than even the most phlegmatic observer could stomach, and it looked like the end for him...Milo was all washed up until he opened his books to the public and disclosed the tremendous profit he had made." Then he says in the same chapter: "I'd like to see the government get out of war altogether and leave the whole field to private industry. "As the Milo character gets deeper into the book, it only gets more humorous. My second favorite is Major Major Major Major, the squadron commander, who looked like Henry Fonda! People who met him were always impressed by how unimpressive he was! In chapter nine, we learn: "With a little ingenuity and vision, he had made it all but impossible for anyone in the squadron to talk to him, which was just fine with everyone, he noticed, since no one wanted to talk to him anyway." In chapter ten, we find that: "Major Major never sees anyone in his office while he's in his office." But you can see him, if he is not in his office. If you try to barge into his tent, he goes out the window. I know it's confusing, but his first, middle and last name was Major, thus the four 'majors' when he got promoted to, you guessed it, Major.This book is a riot. My third favorite is Major-------de Coverley, Major Major Major Major's executive officer. Throughout the novel he has a blank for his first name. His function is uncertain at best. He basically pitches horseshoes all day, kidnaps Italian workers, and rents apartments for his men to use on rest leave. As soon as he hears of a city that the U.S.Army has captured, he's on his way there, usually at the head of the procession in a Jeep. No one ( friend, or foe ) knows who he is! But the reader knows that he is there just to rent apartments for his men. His picture appears in many publications, as if he is is leading the conquering army. I'm telling you this book is a gas. There are two subplots that are absolutely hysterical. The first involves the Chaplain's hostile assistant, Cpl. Whitcomb. The corporal comes up with the following generic condolence letter: "Dear Mrs., Mr., Miss, or Mr. And Mrs. Daneeka: Words cannot express the deep personal grief I experienced when your husband, son, father, or brother was killed, wounded, or reported missing in action."This one was sent to Doc Daneeka's wife, even though the Doc wasn't dead. Col. Cathcart feels this letter will prove his concern for his men and finally get him in The Saturday Evening Post. He promotes Whitcomb to sergeant! The second subplot revolves around our hero, Yossarian. After Yossarian tells Lt. Nately's whore that Nately was killed in action, She tries to kill Yossarian and she relentlessly pursues him chapter, after chapter. Nobody knows why she wants to slay him, but it is funny. The reader will also meet: Chaplain Tappman, who is intimidated by everyone; Nurses Cramer and Duckett; Hungry Joe and his screaming nightmares; Chief White Halfoat, who knows he is going to die of pneumonia; Aarfy, the navigator; and Huple, the fifteen year old pilot, just to mention a few. How Joseph Heller kept track of all these characters is unbelievable.There is so much going on in this book that I had to take notes to remember who is who, and who did what.This is a great American classic and should be read by book lovers of all genres. The great American author Studs Terkel states in the `other voices' section of this book: "You will meet in this astonishing novel, certainly one of the most original in years, madmen of every rank: Major Major Major, on whose unwilling frame the gold leaf is pinned because of his unfortunate resemblance to Henry Fonda; Doc Daneeka, who is declared dead despite his high temperature; Hungry Joe and his fistfights with Huple's cat; ex-pfc Wintergreen, who has more power than almost anybody." Enough said?

Had to read the book in freshman college English long ago ... was somewhat shocked. A few years later, while in the Air Force, it seemed less so. With the passage of years ... I felt that I understood the book somewhat better. Decided that I wanted a properly made, hardbound, copy of the book (my copy from college is a paperback). Received today ... appears well made ...printed in the U.S. I'm pleased with the book. Still disgusted to observe that there really are Milo Minderbinders (a lot of them).

The breadth of the absurdity becomes apparent once you realize that the ‘catch’ of the title is the foundational principle upon which the existence of all participants in a war is based. Almost every choice is between two mutually exclusive, opposing alternatives. Joseph Heller’s 1961 novel was perfectly positioned in time. Written by a World War II veteran about WW II, yet informed by the mounting insanity of the Korean and Cold War 50’s, it was released at the beginning of the 1960’s and became a clarion call for all those who protested the insanity of yet another war in Vietnam. Its sentiments reverberated throughout the decade and acquired a universal relevance to life beyond its literary source. The syndrome of ‘Catch-22’ existed before Heller’s novel, though maybe not to such an exaggerated extent. Heller gave it a name and a narrative to illustrate how it manifested and spread like a virus. The bombardier Yossarian tries to be sick to get out of flying more missions. Having “almost jaundice” is not sick enough. He tries to be crazy to get the doctor to restrict him from flying missions. He can’t get crazy enough. In fact, his expression of insanity brings him to collide with a definitive articulation of ‘Catch-22’: “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 sees the perfection in such a clause: “Yossarian saw it clearly in all its spinning reasonableness. There was an elliptical precision about its perfect pairs of parts that was graceful and shocking, like good modern art, and at times Yossarian wasn’t quite sure that he saw it all, just the way he was never quite sure about good modern art.” There are dozens of examples of how various characters embody ‘Catch-22’. Yossarian’s commanding officer Colonel Cathcart is driven by a vain desire to be the subject of a feature in the Saturday Evening Post, just like one of his rivals. He feels that if his regiment flies more missions than any other that’s a significant accomplishment worthy of a feature article. Therefore, once any of his soldiers are within sight of reaching the previous goal of 40 missions, say, he will raise the number of missions to 45. He keeps raising the number throughout the rest of the novel so that the end total is somewhere in the 80’s. Yossarian may not know the reason Cathcart keeps raising the number as we the readers do but he feels the immediate effect of such capriciousness. The major named Major Major Major Major (his father’s bizarre sense of humor inspired him to give his son a first and middle name to match his surname) is mystified by his promotion as he has done absolutely nothing to merit it. He didn’t ask for more responsibility and he refuses to accept it. Therefore, he devises a modus operandi that is permeated with ‘Catch-22’: “From now on,” he said, “I don’t want anyone to come in to see me while I’m here. Is that clear?” “Yes, sir,” said Sergeant Towser. “Does that include me?” “Yes.” “I see. Will that be all?” “Yes.” “What shall I say to the people who do come to see you while you’re here” “Tell them I’m in and ask them to wait.” “Yes sir. For how long?” “Until I’ve left.” “And then what shall I do with them?” “I don’t care.” “May I send them in to see you after you’ve left?” “Yes.” “But you won’t be here then, will you?” “No.” One person who has used the climate of Catch-22 and seized the opportunity to use it to his advantage is Yossarian’s friend Milo Minderbinder. Milo is ostensibly the mess hall manager. However, he has used his mess hall title as a jumping off point to build a commercial empire. He has become the super profiteer, taking free enterprise to the soldiers, buying at a discount, selling at a profit, buying as part of a complex trade rendering an even greater profit, all in the name of the “syndicate”. Everyone wins because everyone owns a share. The fact that the syndicate’s shareholders include enemies as well as allies does not stop Milo from doing business with them in the least. Yossarian and his friends usually go to Rome when they get any leave and visit the same brothel. Yossarian has become especially friendly with one whore, Luciana, and Nately has fallen in love with another and wants to marry her. Their pimp is a 107-year old Italian who sits in the middle of the floor and pontificates. When he says that America will lose the war, Nately takes issue and says America is the strongest nation on earth. The old man concedes that Italy is a weak country but contends that it will prevail: “The Germans are being driven out, and we are still here. In a few years you will be gone, too, and we will still be here. You see, Italy is really a very poor and weak country, and that’s what makes us so strong. Italian soldiers are not dying any more. But American and German soldiers are. I call that doing extremely well. Yes, I am quite certain that Italy will survive this war and still be in existence long after your own country has been destroyed…All great countries are destroyed. Why not yours? How much longer do you really think your own country will last?” Nately says he talks like a madman: “But I live like a sane one. I was a fascist when Mussolini was on top, and I am an anti-fascist now that he has been deposed. I was fanatically pro-German when the Germans were here to protect us against the Americans, and now that the Americans are here to protect us against the Germans I am fanatically pro-American. I can assure you, my outraged young friend”—the old man’s knowing, disdainful eyes shone even more effervescently as Nately’s stuttering dismay increased—“that you and your country will have no more loyal partisan in Italy than me—but only as long as you remain in Italy.” Yossarian’s roommate, the aforementioned Orr, has a scheme that is only apparent near the novel’s end. Orr flies plenty of missions. However, most of them end with his plane going down in the ocean. Yossarian views Orr as a bad-luck charm and refuses to fly any more missions with him. The pattern goes, Orr flies, Orr’s plane goes down, Orr is rescued, Orr flies again. And repeat. Near the end of the novel, Orr has disappeared. His remains were never found. No trace of him was found. Later, it is discovered that he has made his way all the way to neutral Sweden, sanity and safety. His scheme was the cleverest of any of them and he inspires Yossarian, who is finally given terms under which he can go home. However, to do so he is presented with another untenable catch. He will be a decorated war hero and he must say only nice things about his commanders. Orr’s success, however, provides him with another option WITHOUT a Catch-22. ‘Catch-22’ is, without doubt, an important and influential novel. Heller articulates certain realities of war and being the pawn of military gamesmanship that many had felt before. I’m not sure that the scrambled time sequence really contributes to the impact of the brutal satire, although it does provide a narrative equivalent to the circular reasoning that forms the basis for most of the decision-making in the novel. There are also so many characters in the novel and few of them are clearly delineated so that when they speak with Catch-22 reasoning, they’re mouthpieces for Heller more so than characters with unique identities. Despite these shortcomings, ‘Catch-22’ caught the zeitgeist of its time and reflected it back to a receptive audience ready to not conform and not accept choices within which were somewhere buried a Catch-22.

great quality book! i loved it (actually i never read it but maybe one day i will if i get my attention span back)

One of my first reads that got me into reading. After doing therapy and such it takes me back to reading this.

I waited too long to read this novel. I wanted to like it more than I did. I'm in my early 50's. I think if I'd read it in my early 20's, or really late teens, without much life experience at all--and during the 1970s--I would have thought much better of it (probably not; I was old at 15). As it is, I come to this novel now with my own books and poetry published and much of life lived already, and here nearly halfway into the 2010s--and enough experiences to fill two lives or more. Experience colors perspective. Of course. I won't get into plot details here. What little there are. I'm just providing some feedback after reading the book, and my take on things based on my perspective. I've not a veteran; my experience comes from sitting down and talking in-depth with many veterans (special operators among them) about their service and combat experiences, from WW2 to Iraq (and several other locales in between). My father served 2 and a half years in the Pacific Theater during WW2 and was awarded four bronze service stars. I've talked with and listened to men relate their experiences of losing limbs and watching men die in combat alongside them. I know much more than the average non-military person about the meaning of the words loyalty, duty, respect, service, honor, discipline, and personal courage. These are traits mocked and denigrated in this novel, and these are traits that are mocked and denigrated in our popular culture today. I told you that as preface to telling you this: Catch-22 is a funny (satirical and absurdist) novel in some little bits, but it's also a tedious and repetitive novel. I agree with Norman Mailer's assessment in an essay in my copy of the 50th anniversary edition that you could remove 100 pages from the middle of Catch-22 and you wouldn't notice as a reader; and, jokingly Mailer writes, neither would Heller: "not even the author could be certain they were gone." By the time I'd read to page 125 I'd read all of what Heller had to give stylistically, primarily (more later). That is: each of the chapters from that point on presents essentially the same thing: a character, a little plot detail (what little narrative arc there is) to link to the greater "plot," then a self-contained "story" (really just a slice of life experience of that chapter's sort-of main character). In other words, as Mailer points out: Cut 100 pages in the middle and you've lost nothing of the experience of the novel. As the novel progresses it becomes bitter and even mean-spirited. Heller lets loose in certain parts of the novel, showing his absurd anti-war sentiments. (Similar to John Lennon's dangerously childish and naive Utopian cult hit "Imagine.") You'll also get this from the extra material in the back of the 50th anniversary edition. Heller absolutely hated war. At all costs. His fictionalized account of American fighter planes strafing Americans is not funny, it's twisted. Read Heller's essay "Reeling in Catch-22" to see what the man really thought. How there was in the 1960s a "change in spirit, a new spirit of healthy irreverence." He goes on to call "Americanism....horsesh**." How it doesn't work. How it's not true. I wanted to say, Really, Mr. Heller? Well, I have a friend who served 2 years in a Chinese re-education camp who came to the U.S. who thinks, pretty much, exactly the opposite as you do. Or read Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Heller's attitude gels with Utopian peaceniks of the 1960s. It doesn't work so well in the modern realities of Russian gulags and Chinese re-education camps. And the post-modern world of new Islamic jihadist caliphates. So, for me, where this novel fails miserably is when Heller is tearing down the appropriateness and necessity of war, and when he treads into bitter, completely absurd territory. In some spots I actually was pissed off at how the character Yossarian places other men in danger because of his actions, because he doesn't want to do his duty. That's beyond cowardly; it's not at all funny; it's inhuman. Having said all that I will say this: I did enjoy portions of the book. Heller's take on the absurdities of the military bureaucracy are funny. There are laugh-out-loud moments, mostly early on, but as the novel goes on the humor lessens and the dreariness and repetitiveness and absurdity settles in and all around. Commanding officers up and down the chain are idiots and worthy of contempt. It wears thin after a while. Back to my "more later" comment above: Curiously, the final 50 pages of the book are written in a serious (not completely absurdist-satirist) tone. Then the last 5 pages returns to Yossarian's nuttiness. The end. During the Vietnam War this novel may have served its purpose to give some Americans what they thought they needed: an alternative "narrative" to what they thought America represented. At least what it represented to them living in their cocooned lives out in suburbia. Here we stand at the end of American empire in the first decade of the 21st century, and the novel reads to me like a child stomping its feet in front of its parents about how unfair the world is and how mummy and daddy don't know nothing about nothing and about how everything would be alright if only we could all play nice. Here's a news flash, Mr. Heller: Life's not fair. The world doesn't care about you. Life doesn't owe you anything. Very often you are asked to look outside yourself and give yourself to something society deems the greater good; this is called real life. There is evil in this world. That's why there's no playing nice. And sociopaths (and a**holes) are at the top because their personalities give them the skills to stomp on good and just people's heads to get there, and stay there. That's the way it is. If there's an analogy to be made in the movie world, it may be this: Catch-22 is to "war" what Office Space is to "the job". Both poke fun at the "insanity" of their environments by using exaggeration, but we all know that's not how it really is. At least, we should know. It's OK: 3/5 on Amazon 2/5 on Goodreads

Product as described. Quick and excellent service.

It is a bizarre story staged in a small island of WWII Italy. We meet Yossarian, the veteran bombardier protagonist in a hospital where his imaginary liver pain causes an uncrackable puzzle to a bunch of incompetent army physicians. We also learn that, along with other officers, Yossarian is charged to censor the letters of the enlisted soldiers' to their loved ones. Yossarian first shows his rebellious nature by censoring the letters with the utmost irresponsibility. This act of his left me puzzled through the whole story - what was I missing? - To hide his mischief, he usually signs his reviews with the assumed name of Irwin Washington--except for one letter that he signs as his good friend, Chaplain Tappman. Toward the end of the book, the poor chaplain with his gentle soul gets into a whole lot of trouble because of this faked signature. From these humble beginnings, the plot takes on as the literary equivalent of "Family Guy;" an irreverent US animated sitcom series. The main conflict builds between Yossarian and his bombardment squadron leader, Col. Cathcart, because of increasing numbers of required missions. Although the colonel has the choice of requesting fresh crews, he wants to distinguish himself by the highest number of missions per crew in the entire Air Corps. It quickly becomes evident that Col. Cathcart doesn't have much more to impress his superiors with. Most chapters are methodically built around various characters who interact with Yossarian. Although this structure gives a sense of monotony and choppiness to the chapters, Heller manages to hold the story coherent with the help of the vibrant Yossarian and the powerful satirical narration. The third person omniscient narrator reveals the characters through their action and dialogues without having much access to their inner thoughts. Although the timeline stays in a relative narrow range between 1943 and 1944, the narrative advances out of sequence. Several events are told more than once from different perspectives. This structure requires alertness from the reader to piece the story together. One peculiar attribute of Heller's dialogues is an abundance of repetitive, circular repartees. Although initially this style felt original and witty, at times it became stilted due to overuse. Perhaps because of the almost cartoonish nature of the characters and events - at one point, e.g. Yossarian picks up his medal from General Dreedle completely naked since he is upset over the death of a comrade -, first I had hard time to identify with the story. As I moved on however, Yossarian's deep humanity, complete with both weaknesses and strengths, and the intrigues of the corrupt military leadership, drew me into the novel. Although the setting is strictly military, the story is loaded with allusions to everyday life with universal relevance. This is nowhere more evident than in the actions of Milo, the mess officer. He sets up a world-wide syndicate of comical complexity, exemplifying the worst of capitalistic excess and greed. The book has multiple compelling passages about the dangers of bombing missions. Among these, the most heart retching is the tragic fate of Snowden that keeps hunting Yossarian throughout the novel. Heller has undisputed authority describing the tension of bombing raids having served as a bombardier himself during WWII. Yet, for me the most gripping passage of the book happened not in an airplane. It was Yossarian's futile search for a lost child he wanted to rescue from the streets of war-stricken Rome. During this search, he encountered an impressive collection of the worst that war can bring forth from humanity including sadism and indifference. Finally, an obligatory remark on the title. Although in its original form the camp doctor Doc Daneeka refers to Catch-22 as a particular concept describing who can do and who does do combat missions, the circular nature of this logic appears in multiple situations throughout the story, when mindless arguments seem to justify mindless actions. In my paraphrasing, Catch-22 states that those who are crazy enough will fight in the wars even though they could be exempted from combat duties because they are crazy. Those who are not crazy and would want to get out of wars however are not allowed to leave the battle field since they have no mental illness for an excuse. If a crazy person changes his mind and asks for relief from duty, it means that he is not crazy anymore and thus he needs to continue the fight. So, at the end, there is no way out of war: everyone has to fight it. This is perhaps a simplified, perhaps even a pacifist concept of war, but it comes from someone who has personal experience of the devastation war brings. I wish people were listening to Joseph Heller.

I bought the book on the strength of its reputation, not quite knowing what to expect. A pleasant surprise it was, with some passages downright hilarious.

日本語翻訳版を読んであまりの翻訳に原文を読みたくて購入（2009年だから5年前） でも難しすぎて途中で脱落ｗｗ。 それから長い時間が過ぎて半年前にKINDLE版を購入しました。 今度はスルスルとまではいかないが、なんとか楽しめるレベルで読み進んでいます。 その理由はポップアップ翻訳。 わからない文字をタップするとOXFORDの英英辞典が出てきます。 便利な世の中になったものですね。 英語の韻を踏んだ表現とか、作者の知性を感じさせる英語ならではのうまい言い回しとか やはり、原文でないと味わえない部分があります。 イギリスのロスチャイルド家がアメリカの新参者ロックフェラー家との対立を茶化しているような下りや、 味方の飛行場を爆撃する多国籍企業マイローの『マイロー社にいいことは、アメリカにとってもいいことだ！』 という（これは”フォードにとっていいことは、アメリカにとっていいことだ”のパロディ） 比喩、暗喩、パロディ、スラップスティック と一見下品な話の中にきらりと知性を感じさせるうまい言い回しなど、英文ならではの味わいが楽しめます。 そして最後にばらばらと思われた部品がカチリとはまる作者のプロット回しの巧妙さと痛快さ。 あの、村上春樹さんが「Catch-22が書ければ後は作家を辞めてもいい」発言をした理由がよくわかります。 ぜひ、KINDLE版を購入されることをお勧めします。 値段も安いですしね。

Not really impressed with the cover paper material but the book is really good.

More about the book itself than the story - the quality of the paper is low and the ink bleeds so the words aren't sharp. Buying this paperback is an advert for switching to an ereader.

A masterpiece