Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

“It was miraculous. It was almost no trick at all, he saw, to turn vice into virtue and slander into truth, impotence into abstinence, arrogance into humility, plunder into philanthropy, thievery into honor, blasphemy into wisdom, brutality into patriotism, and sadism into justice. Anybody could do it; it required no brains at all. It merely required no character.” 

My Back to the Classics Challenge required a classic novel with a number in the title, and my Popsugar Challenge asked for a novel set during wartime. It seems like it was my destiny to land on Catch 22 under those circumstances. I was supposed to read this book in 12th grade, but somehow managed to avoid it. I've wanted to go back and give it another shot ever since. However, modern classics have never been my cup of tea. I'm not a fan of unconventional story structure and deliberate confusion, so I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about Heller's famously weird novel. I do want to learn more about this period in literature though (there's a whole section for it in my Classics Club Challenge), so I spent a good part of my spring break this year reading it.

The plot of the novel concerns Captain John Yossarian, a member of the U.S Army Air Force during WWII. He is stationed on Pianosa, a small island off the Italian coast. After flying in several dangerous missions, he develops a healthy fear of dying and becomes determined to get himself out of combat in order to save his own life. Many of his fellow officers are on the same mission, and the story follows several of them in their absurd attempts to avoid conflict. The tone of the story is completely irreverent and often quite funny. Heller takes multiple jabs at the disorganization, greed, selfishness, and bureaucratic nonsense that pervades the army, and makes his characters navigate utterly nonsensical situations in their quests to get themselves sent home. Thrown in with the moments of hilarity are moments that become shockingly serious and graphic. Many of the characters die in the horrific and tragic ways that people do in wars, and this contrast between the funny moments and the somber ones serves to deliver the occasional emotional jolt to the reader.

The structure of the novel is unique and very complex. The events of the story happen over about a two year spread, but are presented out of chronological order and from the points of view of many different characters. Starting to read this novel is a bit like being thrown into the deep end of a swimming pool - you have to splash around for a bit until you get your bearings. Eventually, as events start repeating and characters reference things you've read before, you start to grasp what's going on. Placing things in an exact time order, however, remains extremely difficult all the way through the novel.

Adding to the challenge of nailing down exactly what is going on with the plot is the inclusion of a kind of free-association flow of ideas. Chapters that start off telling one story will drift into a completely different story with no warning, leaving the reader to try and fit everything together in their mind as they read. It's a challenge to navigate through Catch 22, and I don't think that it's advisable, or even possible for that matter, to try and make everything line up perfectly in your brain. You have to loosen up on any inherent need for logic and predictability that you may bring to the table as a reader and accept that you aren't going to catch every reference or understand every event in this story. Once I gave up on the idea of understanding everything, I was able to enjoy each little, disconnected moment more.

The title of Catch 22 has entered into the public consciousness and become a common phrase used to mean, "a no-win situation," or "an unsolvable problem." It's used throughout the novel multiple times in this way. The first time we hear it, it's in reference to Yosarrian's request to be grounded by the army doctor due to mental illness. As Doc Daneeka explains,

“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," he observed.

"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed.”

This kind of circular logic and contradictory reasoning is present throughout the entire novel. It is a tool Heller uses to create humor, illustrate life's absurdities, and criticize some of the worst parts of human nature. His use of the technique is clever, and his writing style is highly distinctive. While I can't say that this way of writing is for me, I do recognize the artistry and uniqueness of the novel. It has definitely earned its place as one of the most notable novels of the 20th century, but a book like this isn't going to be for everyone. The reviews on Goodreads reveal many split opinions. It seems that people either hail this novel for its genius, or completely deride it for its unorthodox construction. I fall a bit more towards the middle of the spectrum - I appreciate it as a giant of the post-modern literary movement, but it's not a personal favorite for me. When it comes to classic novels, I lean towards more traditional fare.

One aspect of the story that I wasn't comfortable with was the treatment of women. Heller includes no major female characters at all in Catch 22, and the minor ones that pop up are defined exclusively in terms of their sexuality. Most of the women that appear are prostitutes, and the ones that aren't behave extremely promiscuously. Violence against women is prominent theme as well, with several male characters bragging about raping women, seemingly without any penalty. In one especially stomach-churning moment, Yossarian and one of his friends sexually assault a nurse in a hospital. Not only do they face no real consequences for the assault, but a few chapters later, the nurse becomes Yossarian's girlfriend. While one could argue that the novel is a satire, or a black comedy, I didn't find any of these instances particularly funny or important to the story. These instances of violence were written in such a way that they didn't really feel like a part of the joke Heller was making, and, unfortunately, they impacted my enjoyment of the novel.

At the end of my reading, I find myself still thinking about the overall message of Catch 22. Heller touches on many big ideas throughout the story, ranging from mental illness, to religious beliefs, to abuse of power in the military, to the insanity of war. I don't think he ever really lands on one solid theme to take away. Instead, he makes several very biting comments on all the ways the world is cruel and confusing for those of us struggling to survive in it. None of his characters were particularly likable and none of his plot events made complete sense, but I could still see reflections of the real world everywhere in its pages. What's more, despite being a dark and sarcastic take on humanity, it was truly funny throughout. Reading Catch 22 is a journey of contradictions, and a unique experience that I'm glad I tried.

Side note - I'm now halfway through my Back to the Classics Challenge!


Challenge Tally
Back to the Classics:(a classic with a number in the title) 6/12
Classics Club: (#6 on my list) 6/100
Popsugar Challenge: (a novel set during wartime) 20/40
Mount TBR: (previously owned) 15/60