Reviews of Catch-22

Catch-22

Posted : 3 months, 3 weeks ago on 11 September 2009 04:15 (A review of Catch-22)

Catch-22, to put it simply, is fucking hilarious. The internal logic is often maddening, but always entertaining. It’s never forced, and after a period of time you’ll begin to understand the circular logic. We’re all trapped in paperwork, protocol and rules. The nonlinear structure actually suites the novel since it moves along on the strength of its ideas and not a forced narrative structure.

Set in World War II, when else?, with a fictional regiment stationed in Italy, Yossarian wants to go home. He’s flown his missions and is convinced someone is out to kill him. Naturally, those in charge keep raising the number of required missions, keep giving him some reason for not being able to send him home (the titular catch-22, which doesn’t exist but there’s no way to prove that it doesn’t making catch-22 in itself the ultimate catch-22). Heller points at laughs at the beaurocratic process and protocol with the blackest of black humor. My favorite example, and I paraphrase, involves a court martial trial and features one of the characters constantly trying to answer the questions posed to him. Those running the trial keep telling him to keep his mouth shut and to only answer their questions. Every time he tries to answer these questions, he’s told to shut up and only speak when spoken. And then asked why he hasn’t answered their questions. Hilarious. And disturbingly accurate.

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