There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.
"That's some catch, that Catch-22," Yossarian observed.
"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed.
Ah Joseph Heller... you dog you. How on earth did you ever think about writing this truly genius but completely crazy book? What went through your head when you thought of creating a character like Yossarian and seriously dude how on earth did you come up with all those zingy one liners? What kind of a mad brain did u possess to even come up with a logic like the Catch 22?
This has to be one of the craziest books I have ever read. Yossarian is the ultimate anti-hero who really is the greatest son of a bitch to have ever graced the pages of literature. And through Yossarian you get to see how much life really sucks.
Catch 22 is a satirical novel that looks at war the way it is supposed to be looked at - a pointless exercise that leads to the death of millions. The message is extremely simple - life sucks... people suck and war sucks. But the plot is extremely twisted and the story follows a non linear pattern so the reader is always left in the lurch wondering about the time frame. The story is woven from different different perspectives of different people. You get the punch line first and you get the story of it later. Sure it can be quite a tedious read but if you stick with it - the joke and the story pays off.
Yossarian is a bombardier who one day loses the will to fly more missions and runs away to the hospital. He keeps going back to his camp in order to finish the required number of missions so he can go back home. But there is a problem - the required missions keep going up and therefore Yossarian can never reach the end and therefore can never leave. He is saved by one code - a code that stipulates that anyone who is mentally unstable can go back home. But here is the problem, if you say that you are mad in order to go back home then obviously you are not mad. Because you have to be mad to fly missions that could kill you. There in lies the catch 22 - you are damned if you do... damned if you don't.
In the course of the novel you meet equally disillusioned bureaucrats who have gone mad and you see the war from Yossarian's eyes who has decided that the entire world is out to kill him. The characters are colorful and completely nuts themselves. There is Milo, the mess hall officer who makes a fortune through a trade that is highly illegal and quite interesting (read the book to get the most wonderful description of war profiteering). There is also a young virile blue blood - Natey who is in love with a whore who simply wants to sleep. Not to mention the dead man in Yossarian's tent. Didn't understand? Well this is war kids... there is not much to understand in this insanity. To anyone who is yet to read this book, here is my sincerest request - read it. It is amazing... nuff said. There is a story about how an interviewer once told Joseph Heller that he could never quite recreate the magic of Catch 22 for which he replied - "Well who has?". Very true. Very true indeed.
I just want to end this post with some of my favorite one liners from the book... hope this entices you to grab a copy -
He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt.
He had observed that people who did lie were, on the whole, more resourceful and ambitious and successful than people who did not lie.
Yossarian owed his good health to exercise, fresh air, teamwork and good sportsmanship; it was to get away from them all that he had first discovered the hospital..
My absolute favorite -
Anything worth dying for, is certainly worth living for.
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