What's the catch? Catch-22.

If you've ever heard something described as being a "catch-22," congratulations, you've been alive some time between now and 1961!

For those of you reading this in the future, however (hi future!), after the overlords make dictionaries illegal, a "catch-22" is essentially a no-win situation. In your future life, you might refer to this as "every day."

Captain John Yossarian, a bombadier stationed in Italy during World War II, has desires that most of us have, such as not wanting to die. His desire to not want to die drives him to get sent home. He tries to fly as many missions as are required by him, but the powers that be continue to increase this number, seemingly in analog to his almost attaining enough missions to get sent home. So, he tries another tactic: he tries to get sent home because he's crazy.

You're crazy if you want to fly more missions, and if you're crazy, you should be grounded, and quite possibly sent home, but if you ask to be grounded, because you're crazy, well, then, you're trying to save your life, and quite possibly the lives of others, because, let's be honest, who wants to fly in a plane with a crazy guy, especially while dropping bombs all over the Italian front? The problem with that, is since you're doing something rational by asking to be grounded, well, then you're sane. And that circular logic is, effectively, Catch-22.

The book itself is an amazing work of fiction that is otherwise spoiled by vivisectionist English teachers everywhere. But if you read this, provided you get to that last page, you'll have a better appreciation for how the government really runs things (I believe that this book, or maybe a technical rewriting of it is the core rulebook for all government agencies).

It's particularly more enjoyable if you do in fact work for the government. ( )

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller (1996) ( )

I've mixed thoughts about Catch - 22. I appreciated the intelligent way it was written to convey the madness of war. I smiled at the dark humour and thought deeply about what it said but on occasions I found myself wishing for the end of the book to speed towards me, the frenetic nature of it just wore me out. I finished, but felt as if I'd been in a fight. Then again perhaps that was intended. ( )

"It must be nice to be in Sweden now, the girls are so sweet. And the people are so advanced." ( )

All I knew about this novel going into it was that it popularized the term “Catch-22” and that it was a satire set during WWII. Since I’m not very fond of books about army life and wars, I went into this one with the expectation that I would probably dislike it, only to find that it was much more entertaining than I could have imagined. At the center we have the bombardier John Yossarian, who desperately wants to stay alive and is trying by all means available to him to avoid flying more dangerous missions, though he is forever thwarted by Colonel Cathcart who increases the number of missions required of the men every time they reach his ever-increasing targets to ensure none of them can return home in hopes to earn greater esteem from his superiors. Heller’s wry humour and hilarious observations about human behaviour turns even some of the most violent and harrowing situations into opportunities for a laugh, although for some, altogether different responses—anger, sadness, frustration—might be considered more appropriate. The crudeness and zaniness of the characters and situations, the unflinching descriptions of injuries, death and aggression are sometimes difficult to read through, but they also contribute a feeling of immediacy which make this novel still relevant today, almost 50 years after the original publication. ( )