Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

The strange intrigue of this book begins right with reading the book-blurb. Frustrated bombardier Yossarian is running in circles. He's terrified of the war, and his escape is impossible : he's caught in Catch 22.

" If he flies [a mission] he's crazy, and doesn't have to; but if he doesn't want to he must be sane, and has to."

 

 

Set in Italy in the final months of World War II, this unusual novel is an insight into the lives at the war-front. Joseph Heller does not detail complicated war training, weaponry, strategies, or world leaders changing the course of history; but zooms in on individual men fighting the war. He strives to capture their primal instinct : survival. What is amazing about this book is that even in doing so, it is outrageously funny!

Colonel Cathcart wants to move up the rungs of the military ladder. He wants to make the headlines. And the only way he thinks he can do that is by making his men fly more combat missions than any other group, and by devising bomb patterns that look good in photographs. The ensuing deaths just mean condolence letters to families, another golden opportunity to shine on the front page.

Milo Minderbender has built an empire out of being the mess officer. He now trades with countries across the world, even seeing fit to shake hands with the enemy if that means earning a profit. He bombs his own squadrons and empties inflatable life jackets of carbon dioxide to make 'strawberry and crushed pineapple ice cream and sodas'. And he gets away with this and more, because he's promised everyone a share of the profits!

Captain Flume, on the other hand, has taken to living in a ditch in the forest, out of sight of Chief White Halfoat who threatens to slit his throat from ear to ear, for no reason at all.

Recalcitrant Yossarian has come a long way from the formerly mandatory 25 missions to the current bar of 70, and has taken to being naked in parades and assemblies as a sign of his defiance towards the uniform. And yet, Yossarian might be the only sane man left standing.  

But each of the absurd scenarios make important observations on the nature of war and that of the people fighting in it. Through excessive hyperboles and rambling conversations, Heller's characters are manifestations of the war and all its gore.

I will admit that Catch 22 is not the easiest book to read. The opening pages are mysterious and confusing, and beg to be read multiple times to make the head from the tail. It goes mind-bogglingly back and forth in time; add that to the crowd of insane characters, and here you have a pandemonium! About halfway through reading it, I felt myself almost struggling to keep up with the story; it was always one step ahead of me. I was, as Nately would put it, 

"astounded by the mad gang of companions of which I found myself the nucleus."

But the fruit of my patience was a very sweet fruit, indeed. Catch 22 is subtle and symbolic. It is about the people who are a part of history, but lost in the fine print; the smudgy line separating patriotism from self-preservation. It is about the woes of the soldier walking the slippery walk potholed with fear, despair, hypocrisy, and the business of war. It is a testimony to its ravages, the lives destroyed in the crossfire, but above all, to finding hope amid chaos and desperation.

#catch22 #josephheller #historicalfiction