I make no excuse to re-running my review of this week’s book. One of the
all-time classics of English literature, but having been written five
decades ago, there are a couple of generations who have not been exposed to
it. Joseph Heller’s masterpiece Catch 22 (ISBN 978-0-099-53601-7, Vintage
publishers, 1994), is a book that has been reprinted many times, and will
continue to be.
First published in 1961, and now over 50 years later it is still
significant. Even the phrase Catch 22 has been adopted by the Western world
to denote bureaucratic situations which become a lose-lose position for an
affected person, and which is beyond the capabilities of the people involved
to change it. Bureaucratic ‘double-speak’ taken to its ultimate end, where
the content of a decision no longer matters, only the maintenance of the
status quo.
Yossarian, a Bombardier in the US Air Force stationed on the island of
Pianosa is the “hero” (in reality the “anti-hero”), with the setting being
1943 during WW II. Yossarian could be considered paranoiac, but it should
always be remembered that just because one is paranoiac does not mean that
nobody is out to get you!
The other members of Yossarian’s squadron are brought into the novel, with
classic sketches such as the Mess Sergeant Milo Minderbender who runs the
ultimate PX scams, using US planes and pilots to ferry his contraband to
Europe and Colonel Cathcart, Yossarian’s nemesis, who continually raises the
number of missions that must be flown before any airman can be sent home.
Others introduced are The Chaplain, who remains an innocent amongst the
guilty, Major Major Major Major of whom the name makes sense in a military
sense for a person christened Major Major Major, Doc Daneeka who wants to be
put on the flight manifest but not actually go up so he can claim flight
allowance but is actually afraid of flying, General Dreedle who wanted to
shoot one of their own officers and had to be reminded that he was not
allowed to shoot his own men, and the dead man in Yossarian’s tent, who
officially was not there.
The book can be thought of as a tragi-comedy in black satirical humor, with
the chapters introducing the individuals as humorous items, but then as you
go further into the book, the tenor becomes blacker and thought producing.
Just in case you think I have exaggerated the importance of this book in
contemporary literature, The Modern Library ranked Catch-22 as number 7 on
its list of the greatest English language novels of the twentieth century.
The Radcliffe Publishing Course ranks Catch-22 as number 15 of the twentieth
century’s top 100 novels. The Observer listed Catch-22 as one of the 100
greatest novels of all time. TIME puts Catch-22 in the top 100 English
language modern novels, and The Big Read from the BBC ranked Catch-22 as
number 11 on a web poll of the UK’s best-loved books.
If you have not read this book before, do it now. The review copy came from
Bookazine and this book truly is the ultimate literary bargain.
