Book Review: Catch-22

"Catch-22" by Joseph Heller is a very unique, funny, and scary book. Though it was written forty years ago, it is still all too relevant today.

At the center of the story is its protagonist, Yossarian, a bombardier in the Air Force during World War II, who is just as absurd and paradoxical as the rest of the world around him.

You see, Yossarian is scared to death of completing missions, but in order to go home, he must complete the required amount of missions. And as soon as he gets close, the number of required missions to send him home is inevitably raised.

So what to do? Well, there is ONE way...

If Yossarian can get himself declared insane, he no longer has to fly and can be sent home. But therein lies the problem: One willing to fly planes is deemed insane, because if he is willingly putting his life in danger then there is no way he could possibly be sane, and to get sent home, all he would then have to do is ask to no longer fly. BUT, if a person shows a desire to not want to fly, then he is, of course, sane and must fly. THIS is Catch-22.

As you can see, Yossarian is trapped by its impressive illogic.

This type of logical loop is a very prevalent theme in the book, showing the horrors of the insane bureaucracy that, of course, controls the army- and the country.

Obviously, the theme of insanity vs. sanity is a large part of the book. Being called insane, a word thrown around a lot in the book, is perhaps the worst insult possible.

But the true mastery of the book is in the rest of the characters- the characters who use self-destructive action to try to get what they want and beat the system, only to find themselves worse off than before and all the less happy. Colonel Cathcart is competing for the attentions of two feuding generals, neither of which ever remember that he exists and, because he is associated with the other, will never reach the rank of general he so desires.

Each chapter, save for a few, is the name of another character, whom the chapter focuses on, or the effects of their presence on the more major characters. You learn about poor Major Major Major Major who went five years of his life thinking his name was something other than Major Major Major, only to have his name thrown at him and find out that the people who used to like him hated Major Major Major- and, of course, nobody does. As a result, he decides to avoid people altogether and creates another Catch-22: anyone who wants to see him must see him in is tent, the only time people are allowed in the tent is if he's away, and as soon as he returns they must leave.

Major Major is perhaps one of the few people who can save Yossarian- and one of the many who won't.

Perhaps the best decision in the book was to make it funny- instead of some dreary tale you get an oft-hilarious story that keeps things light yet also helps even more clearly reveal the absurdity of the world.

Every character has his or her own quirks, and every character believes the other characters are all crazy- everyone is crazy except for yourself r the people you respect because you have to.

This world of "Catch-22" is the all-too real world of a dystopian near-future. The doublethink politics, the atheists who choose which god not to believe in, the nameless Major who may or may not have superiority over Major Major, Milo who's running his own too-communistic business empire by evading laws by claiming that "everyone owns a share" of it, but is being destroyed by his monopoly on Egyptian cotton (an obvious reference to, happily, the ease of capitalism in destroying communism, but will never be accepted because EVERYONE loves Milo's "business"); the doctors who hate their jobs, etc.

At a certain point in the book, characters start dropping like flies, either dying, escaping (PERHAPS), or "dying" (you'll see), which adds to the tension masterfully- though it's never stated, the question is there: "Will Yossarian be next?"

One character "dies" a bureaucratic death.

Because he is scared to death of flying, Doc Daneeka only has his name printed on a certain pilot's flight log so that he can get paid and not get shipped to the Pacific, his worst fear. When the pilot accidentally kills another character, he decides to avoid the assuredly horrible and crazy penalty below by crashing his plane into a mountain. Two parachutes came out, even though the flight log shows four aboard. So, Doc Daneeka died in the crash as well. There's only one problem- he was never on the plane.

But people only accept the bureaucratic in this world, and Dac Daneeka simply begins to fade into nothingness.

Eventually, Yossarian figures out that Catch-22 doesn't exist- but this makes it even more unbeatable: there's no proof it exists and cannot be repealed or altered.

The story itself is told in a brilliant manner- events are mentioned to the reader in passing, such as "when Dobbs... seized the controls from Huple..."- in the first few chapters! The actual event is not related until the middle of the book. Of course, this makes the storyline confusing and slightly hard to follow, but I think it's more of a physical interpretation of a Catch-22- you cannot know what the event was, though it's important, until it becomes important itself.

As events unfold and the story really unravels, you can start to see the true horrors at its core: the bureaucracy is unstoppable, because it can't be proven.

"Catch-22" is an exceedingly well-written book, in its plot devices, characterization, and wordplay. You owe it to yourself to read this book and, when you're done, you too can finally post "YOSSARIAN LIVES" stickers everywhere you go.

"Catch-22" warped my thinking in a good way- I don't think I'll be the same person I was before I read it. I love how no character in it should be emulated, even our beloved protagonist, and it encourages you to find your own way to beat the system and get what you want.

Happy reading!