I’m short on time today but I wanted to get this up and running for people to start discussing the book!
My first thoughts are that the book was much better than I anticipated and that the first half or so reads like the Mad Hatter, March Hare and Doormouse all went to war.
Heller noted that the book was a criticism of postwar capitalism rather than war, and that has always made it even more interesting to me.
OMG! Catch-22! One of my all-time favorites! “There was only one catch and that was catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind.”
I don’t remember the rest of the passage but I remember what Yossarian (all those esses!) said, and I gotta agree. “That’s some catch, that catch-22!” What use did Heller not put the phrase to, in this amazing book?
Being new to the book club, do we assume everyone’s read the book to the end, or should we use spoiler tags when referring to stuff late in the book?
One of my favorite lines from the book: “Even people who were not there remembered vividly exactly what happened next.”
The organization of the book is interesting, too. The first part is as pbbth said, very Mad Tea Party, hopping around in time and space. However, after we learn the whole truth about Snowden, the story moves along linearly. I love it. I find Catch-22s all over the place nowadays in the computer era. I tried to call for tech support, but was told that I could only access tech support on the computer, but of course the problem was that the computer was connecting to the internet. Catch-22: you are if you aren’t and you aren’t if you are.
I would say we don’t learn the whole truth about Snowden until the penultimate chapter, which is a jump way back in time.
But on the whole the story moves forward a lot more linearly after its mood turns a lot darker when McWatt’s plane chops Kid Sampson in half which is where the line I quoted earlier is from.
Assume that everyone has read to the end of the book. And if you are reading the thread you should assume that people will be talking about the end of the book so don’t be surprised by spoilers!
This is my favorite book! I love the realistic madness of the Great Loyalty Oath Crusade. And Major _____ de Coverly grunts “gimme eat” ending the whole thing immediately. I feel like the US has been in the GLOC ever since 9/11 and we’re just waiting on our de Coverly to come dismantle the whole thing with a grunt.
It seems so hilarious and exaggerated, but I was in a war* and Catch-22 and MAS*H are the most realistic depictions I’ve seen of what I’ve experienced. It’s all absurdity and chaos within a Kafkaesque framework with a bunch of irresponsible jokers and the occasional gung-ho kool-aid drinking hardass to spice things up.
I wasn’t a grunt or anything though, just a technician in a maintenance platoon. That’s probably why I identify more with MASH and other works depicting REMFs (or “FOBbits” as my generation might call us – though I did a fair amount of work outside the wire in my first tour).
Also, ever since Edward Snowden released all those NSA files, I’ve been asking myself “Where are the Snowdens of yesteryear?”
*“The enemy,” retorted Yossarian with weighted precision, is anybody who’s going to get you killed, no matter which side he’s on, and that includes Colonel Cathcart. And don’t you forget that, because the longer you remember it, the longer you might live.”
But Clevinger did forget it, and now he was dead.*
My favorite lines, paraphrased because I’m too lazy to look them up:
“They’re shooting at me.” “They’re shooting at everyone!” “What difference does that make?”
and
“What kind of a name is Yossarian?” “It’s Yossarian’s name.”
Really enjoyed the book and read it several times. It’s been a long time, and I’m probably due for a re-read. Glad I stumbled upon this thread.
Yes, indeed. The nightmare nighttime walk that Yossarian takes through Rome - the one that ends in the bordello, where Aarfy has killed the plain-faced maid - is harrowing.
A piece of lit crit I read on the novel pointed out that the book’s clock, which shows the true order of events as they happen, is the number of missions the men have to fly.
:dubious:
(We really need a “shakes fist at punning post” smiley, don’t we?)
(I’m late, this month. I may chime in later–here’s hoping it won’t be a case of raising a zombie.)