Catch-22

When you read a book that is a classic, and much of it you dislike, you ought to know there is something special about it, some catch you are missing. So was the case with me when I was reading Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.

It had been a craze (when I was young and fresh into service), for people to throw the phrase Catch-22 at you to imply ‘you are caught in a no-win situation’. I had wanted to read this book to find out what exactly the phrase meant, but somehow never got to do it. Those who did read it, or so they claimed, merely narrated the hilarious episodes about Yossarian.

Finally, I read it, and I didn’t like it (have I started emulating Yossarian?). Okay, the first hundred odd pages were great, hilarious, and pointedly satirical. Then there comes a time when it’s enough, but the author doesn’t seem to realize it. He goes on and on with the same jokes, same situations for another 300 pages. This is where many give up reading further; I too contemplated it, but somehow sustained. All the time, I wondered if the novel had a plot, a story, or it was just lampooning every character.

In the last, 15 or so, pages comes the redemption, the reward for persistence.

Yossarian, the protagonist, gets thrashed the most. He is a US Air Force bombardier, posted in Italy towards the close of World War II. He does his best to bomb anywhere other than on targets to avoid ground fire. He mixes soap in food, so that bombing flights have to be cancelled. He is happy that weather is bad and hopes it always remains so. Very often, he gets hospitalized feigning illness. He secretly moves a ribbon on the map, to indicate that the targets have already been destroyed, and there is no need to go for an attack. He refuses to fly missions for fear of death. He is pitiable when his fellow fliers get killed. The last part is understandable.

He is out and out a coward, and there has never been another more glorified coward, in reality or fiction.

In the end, Yossarian decides to stand up to his commanders. Face court-martial, they threaten him, or accept an odious deal by telling a lie that would help the top brass. He accepts the deal, but then his conscience bothers him, and he changes his mind. He redeems his cowardly image by another act of cowardice; he runs away.

Joseph Heller’s style of narrative, controlled use of strong adjectives, his ability to evoke the exact emotions of pity, sorrow, and anger right through all the humour are what I liked the most. Though it appeared there was no story except for sordid jokes, the theme finally emerged: The high-ranking officers would go to any length to further their causes of promotion, rewards, recognition, and monetary benefits (through shady business deals) at the cost of the lives of juniors.

Another unique style in the book is that each chapter is titled after and based around a character. Thus about 40 characters get a chapter each to bring out their traits. In a funny way, characterization is done in depth.

What I didn’t like were too repetitive scenes and oft-repetitive funny lines that become predictable. Then the narrative moves back and forth in time so frequently that one is confused whether the story is progressing in real time or it is the back-story in flashback.

I’ll still rate it five-star. It is a landmark in literature in the genre of satire.