Book Review: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Jul. 12th, 2006 11:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juushikaTitle: Catch-22
Author: Joseph Heller
Published: New York: Everyman's Library, 1995 (1961)
Page Count: 624
Total Page Count: 20,925
Text Number: 60
Read For: my own enjoyment, checked out from the library
Short review: Catch-22 is difficult to summarize. It is a sarcastic satire and an anti-war novel set in World War II. The cast of characters, centered in one American forces camp, is large and there are too many overlapping, intertwining histories and stories among them to sum them up. However, it's not the plot that has drawn readers and made this novel into a classic: rather, it is the humor, sarcasm, dark truths, madness, contradictions, and lessons that make this book a worthwhile read. Heller puts into writing the madness of war and of life itself in a bitterly funny, madcap text. The novel is at the same time depressing and entertaining, and the characters are lovable, admirable, irritating, and insane. It is an American classic and definitely worth reading. I enjoyed it, although the humor got to be too much for me at times, and appreciate it most for it's critical observations on human life, death, strength, and weakness.
With such a well-read book, I'm not sure that there's much that I can say. I mostly read this because it is a classic, and I wanted to have it under my belt. I enjoyed the read although, as stated, the humor got to be a bit much for me—that's usually the case with humorous books, even parodies or satires, and so I took a few breaks while reading it. In some ways, though, the frustrating aspects of the book are intentional: Heller works to make very visible the madness of war (and of man), and he certainly does so, though repetition, miscommunication, pointless orders, unusual characters, hijinks, quandaries, and strange situations. The reader comes away amused, a bit frustrated, more than a little confused, and exhausted. It's all with a purpose, however: from all the madness, a very critical view of the ways and means of wars arises, as well as a critique of the men that are complicit in those wars.
However, even beyond the context of the war, Heller provides an interesting view on human life. While there is no doubt that humans are often as mad and as foolish as war itself, they are also granted a certain amount of gravity. Heller's man is distinctly moral: he hurts and dies just like any other sack of flesh, limiting his existence and threatening to make it futile. However, Heller's man still has the ability to live and create impact before death ruins him. His efforts are often thwarted by things outside of his control, his friends and comrades may undervalue or forget him, but the human spark still exists. Heller paints a very bleak view of human society: death, helplessness, hunger, weakness, madness, illness, suffering, pointlessness, and emptiness. However, in some ways the dark outlook on humanity serves to make the human spark that Heller grants his characters, Yossarin in particular, burn even brighter: by contrast, it is even more visible and more necessary.
There is a lot of worth in examining the faults of human nature, the incongruities and signs of madness that we often overlook or explain away. That in and of itself makes Catch-22 an important read. However, couched in intense satire and dotted with the specks of human light, the book is funny, entertaining, and hopeful as well. These various aspects build off of each other to produce a final product greater than the sum of its parts. This book isn't one I expect to come back to, but I was glad to read it and I can see what has made it such a popular, iconic book. I recommend it, if only so that people read it to get a classic under their belts.
Author: Joseph Heller
Published: New York: Everyman's Library, 1995 (1961)
Page Count: 624
Total Page Count: 20,925
Text Number: 60
Read For: my own enjoyment, checked out from the library
Short review: Catch-22 is difficult to summarize. It is a sarcastic satire and an anti-war novel set in World War II. The cast of characters, centered in one American forces camp, is large and there are too many overlapping, intertwining histories and stories among them to sum them up. However, it's not the plot that has drawn readers and made this novel into a classic: rather, it is the humor, sarcasm, dark truths, madness, contradictions, and lessons that make this book a worthwhile read. Heller puts into writing the madness of war and of life itself in a bitterly funny, madcap text. The novel is at the same time depressing and entertaining, and the characters are lovable, admirable, irritating, and insane. It is an American classic and definitely worth reading. I enjoyed it, although the humor got to be too much for me at times, and appreciate it most for it's critical observations on human life, death, strength, and weakness.
With such a well-read book, I'm not sure that there's much that I can say. I mostly read this because it is a classic, and I wanted to have it under my belt. I enjoyed the read although, as stated, the humor got to be a bit much for me—that's usually the case with humorous books, even parodies or satires, and so I took a few breaks while reading it. In some ways, though, the frustrating aspects of the book are intentional: Heller works to make very visible the madness of war (and of man), and he certainly does so, though repetition, miscommunication, pointless orders, unusual characters, hijinks, quandaries, and strange situations. The reader comes away amused, a bit frustrated, more than a little confused, and exhausted. It's all with a purpose, however: from all the madness, a very critical view of the ways and means of wars arises, as well as a critique of the men that are complicit in those wars.
However, even beyond the context of the war, Heller provides an interesting view on human life. While there is no doubt that humans are often as mad and as foolish as war itself, they are also granted a certain amount of gravity. Heller's man is distinctly moral: he hurts and dies just like any other sack of flesh, limiting his existence and threatening to make it futile. However, Heller's man still has the ability to live and create impact before death ruins him. His efforts are often thwarted by things outside of his control, his friends and comrades may undervalue or forget him, but the human spark still exists. Heller paints a very bleak view of human society: death, helplessness, hunger, weakness, madness, illness, suffering, pointlessness, and emptiness. However, in some ways the dark outlook on humanity serves to make the human spark that Heller grants his characters, Yossarin in particular, burn even brighter: by contrast, it is even more visible and more necessary.
There is a lot of worth in examining the faults of human nature, the incongruities and signs of madness that we often overlook or explain away. That in and of itself makes Catch-22 an important read. However, couched in intense satire and dotted with the specks of human light, the book is funny, entertaining, and hopeful as well. These various aspects build off of each other to produce a final product greater than the sum of its parts. This book isn't one I expect to come back to, but I was glad to read it and I can see what has made it such a popular, iconic book. I recommend it, if only so that people read it to get a classic under their belts.
