The Absurdity of Bureaucracy
17 December 2015

tWell, the one thing that you can say about this book is that it introduced a new phrase into the English language – Catch-22, which basically means that you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. If we are to say that this is its only achievement then I have to say that it is one pretty awesome achievement because it seems to have pretty much become a staple of our language. In fact people who have never even read the book, let alone heard of it, probably know of and use the phrase. The thing is that upon this second reading of this book I have come to realise that it has not only has it coined a much used phrase into our language, but it has also have a significant impact upon modern literature. Okay, I might be wrong, but I would go as far as suggesting that Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Red Dwarf, and even The Simpsons, have been heavily influenced by the book (as well as Kurt Vonnegut, though he was more of a contemporary of Heller).

tBefore I continue I am going to have to warn you that there will be spoilers. If you are reading this review because you want to know whether to read this book or not then I will simply tell you to stop reading this review right now, grab a copy of the book, and read it instead. The fact that it has coined a much used phrase simply goes to prove that it is a part of the canon of modern American literature. Seriously, you don't need a review to convince you to read this book because simply want to find out whether you want to read this book or not is evidence enough that you should read this book.

tAnyway, now that all of the people that have not read this book are no longer reading this review (I hope) I can now start talking about the content of this book without worrying that it is going to spoil it for anybody. So, if I were to categorise this book I would, without hesitation, refer to it as absurdist literature in the vein of Waiting for Godot. Okay, Samuel Beckett isn't funny, but this book is, but that doesn't necessarily mean that absurdist literature falls into either category – it can be comedy - and in the same vein it can be quite serious. So, while Catch-22 is absolutely hilarious, it uses comedy it expose the hopelessness and meaninglessness of modern society as well as the stupidity of modern bureaucracy.

tAs I was reading this book I resisted the temptation to jump to a couple of other websites (Wikipedia and Sparknotes) to see what they had to say about the themes that are evident in this book, namely because I wanted to work it out for myself. I ended up giving into temptation and going to Sparknotes (which is supposed to be the internet version of the Cliff Notes) and discovered that I had indeed worked it out for myself. However, I do have to point out that while Spark Notes is trying to paint itself as this hip and cool place for school students to go to study their highschool texts, when I read the commentary on Catch-22 I have to say that I found it really dry and boring. In fact I reckon they should sack the guy that writes their notes and hire some of the Goodreads reviewers because we would end up creating much better content than the people they are currently paying.

tSo, what is the theme of the book? I can sum it up in one simple work – bureaucracy. In fact the whole premise of the book is the absurdity of the bloated bureaucracy. I remember watching a movie back in the 90s called The Net where everybody was pretty much enslaved to what the computer said. If the computer said something then it had to be true simply because the computer doesn't lie. Well, that may be the case but the computer is also as stupid as the person who is entering the information, and to be honest with you there are a lot of stupid people entering information into computers these days. For example here in Australia they have this register called the Written Off Vehicle Register (WOVR). If a vehicle has been entered into that register then it has basically been written off and is not allowed to be driven on the road. So, if you have this perfectly fine car that has nothing wrong with it, and somebody accidentally enters the rego (license) plate onto the WOVR, then it doesn't matter whether your car is roadworthy or not, as far as anybody is concerned (namely the police) it shouldn't be on the road. Don't even ask me about the hassle you have to go through to get your car removed from that register.

tThe thing is that bureaucracy is as smart as the stupidest clerk in the room, and we see this time and time again. For instance Yossarian moves the bombing line on the map, and all of a sudden everybody believes that the allies have scored a significant victory. Another example is that one of the main characters, who hates flying, but has to clock up a number of hours, is placed on a list of people on a plane, despite the fact that he isn't on the plane. So, when the plane crashes everybody believes that he is dead, despite his protestations to the contrary. It doesn't matter what he says, or does, because is name was on that piece of paper, and because the plane crashed, he is now officially dead.

tThe way time is construed in this book is really interesting. For most of the book the action is set in this almost timeless universe. It is as if nothing changes – at all. In fact we find ourselves constantly jumping backwards and forwards in time to various events. Heller doesn't use the strict timeline that most authors use because he is creating this timeless aspect of it - much like Groundhog Day. Nothing changes and everything goes on as it has gone on before. The only way that we know that we have jumped forward, or backward, in time is the number of missions that the soldiers have to fly. However as we get to the end of the book, and the main characters begin to die off, time suddenly starts to become important and we start to move forward. It is as if things are starting to change, and the world that we had become used to, where everybody goes about their lives, is no longer there. It is as if we are longing to return to that Groundhog Day because everything is familiar. All of the sudden those characters that we have grown to know and love are no longer there and the world, bleak as it was beforehand, becomes ever more bleaker.

tThe final thing that I wish to note about this novel is that it is very character centric. Each of the chapters (with the exception of I believe three) are named after specific characters, and have these characters as the main focus. However, while the focus may be on a specific character we always have Yossarian and his mates intruding into the chapters to remind us that there is cohesion to the novel. The main protagonist is Yosarian, a soldier who no longer wants to go up in a plane, namely because of one disastrous mission that he went on, and is in and out of hospital, looking for ways to be able to get home. This is where Catch-22 comes into the picture because we are told that to get into hospital you must have a fear of something, but if you fear death, which is the basis of most fears, and because it is natural to fear death, then there is nothing wrong with you, so you must fly more missions.

tIt isn't the story that makes this book – there is none – it is the characters, and I have to say that the characters are truly great characters, such as Major Major, who was born with the last name Major, was given the first name Major by his father, and then discovered that he had the middle name Major, and because of a smart-alek computer, was promoted to Major on the first day of joining the army. So, having the title Major Major Major Major he cannot be promoted, or demoted, because there is only one Major Major Major Major in the entire US army and nobody is going to do anything the jeopardise that.

tAnyway, I could go on, but I think I have written enough, and will leave with only one thing – if you haven't read this book then go and read it because you really don't know what you are missing.

For those who are interested I have written an blog post exploring this ideas much deeper.

Catch 22- If you are crazy, insane, then you are grounded from flying anymore combat missions. However, if you apply for this status, then you are deemed to be too rational to be insane, so you are denied the request. That's the gist of the idea, and it is so applicable to so many situations in life that the term has been added into our everyday language.

Catch 22 is a satire, but not just any satire; it is the mother of all satires. And it doesn't just poke at the US military, it pokes at everyone, everywhere, everyday, at the way we accept the status quo, not questioning the absurdity of some of the rules of society.

Capt. John Yossarin takes the moral high ground in his view of life, except maybe for sex; he is somewhat morally deficient when it comes to sex. But he understands the absurdity of Catch22, he just can't convince anyone else.

This novel is pure genius, that's not to say perfect. It's a bit too long, and it's overly repetitive in some scenes, but that was Heller's intent, his way of driving home his points. I give it 4.5 stars, 9/10. Almost perfect, just not quite.

Popsugar Challenge 2020 - a book with twenty in the title

Three chapters in i knew I'd feel the same about this as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. A male heavy cast dribbling absolute nonsense. The only females in this book were sex workers and they weren't even allowed their own dialogue. 

I was not invested in this at all, I couldn't care a less about any of the characters. There is no plot, the dialogue is beyond repetitive therefore in a parallel world where im not reading via kindle i am tossing a physical copy of this book over the balcony.

I really must learn to DNF.

детально розказую на моєму ютубі: https://youtu.be/knSdVe2gUoI?si=7oFCf...


— Вони хочуть мене вбити, — спокійно мовив Йосаріан.
— Ніхто не хоче тебе вбити, — вигукнув Клевінджер.
— Тоді чому вони в мене стріляють? — спитав Йосаріан.
— Вони стріляють у всіх, — відповів Клевінджер. —Вони хочуть убити всіх.
— А в чому різниця?

…

хоч це і сатира, але сатира гірка.

як на мій погляд, то смішного в книзі мало, адже куди не глянь — всюди пастка. пастка-22.

Геллер показує нам армію як окрему верству населення, яке живе за правилами, неписаними для цивільних.

в тексті є боротьба внутрішня і зовнішня, жага до життя і таке відчайдушне бажання бути просто звичайною людиною, а не солдатом.

на жаль, книга буде актуальна доти, поки людство воює. а, отже, ще багато час��.

Грандіозна книга. Важка і смішна. Сатирична, сюрреалістична, трагічна... Після прочитання неможливо залишитися "незміненим". Буквально перевернула мене.

Still a stone cold classic. Loved every page of it.

Insanity is contagious.

O man, it’s really crazy. I doubt if I could say anything revealing about Catch 22. It’s been ages I read it for the first time and it was like a breath of fresh air in a stale room. If you grew up in an oppressive country where mediocrity was a virtue and a lot of stuff banned, where many situations felt like infamous Catch 22, when it was safer just not saying about some things reading such absurd and grotesque stories allowed you, paradoxically, keep your common sense and ignore awkward reality.

Catch-22 is a satirical story about the unit of American bombardiers who in time of war are staying on the island of Pianosa on the Mediterranean Sea. The main character of the novel, Yossarian, is a man with morbid aversion to dying. And from the beginning, trying with every available way to get permission for return to the country, is on and on impeded by the title Catch-22.

Besides him we get to know a colourful collection of characters, to mention: major Major Major Major - like an anguish Henry Fonda, Orr with his cheeks like crab apples, Nately who had a bad start because came from a good family , Dunbarr, Texan who turned out to be good-natured, generous and likable. in three days no one could stand him and many, many others. Oh, and let's not forget about the mysterious soldier in white .

Novel is divided into chapters titled with the name of the person to whom it refers. And the best advantage of it is of course its humor and an huge dose of absurdity. In Catch 22 sane people are mistaken for madmen and lunatics for mentally healthy ones. But most of all this is a book that not only amuses the readers, it also, by ridiculing grotesque regulations, bureaucracy and pompous statements shows them the absurdity of the war and helps taming own demons and fears. And undeniably, Heller's black humor, sense of irony and drama are here perfectly mixed.

This book is very overrated. Frankly, it is just bad. Why do some people constantly call this one of the greatest books of the 20th century? One of the world's greatest mysteries. If you want to read a good war satire, read Slautherhouse-Five by ole man Vonnegut. It is still not the best, but surely is at least two times (if not three) better than this weird Heller thing.

I’m guilty of compulsively buying new releases and leaving those ‘Must Reads’ near the bottom of my shelves, so it’s thanks to Hulu for adapting this classic that made me pick it from the pile.
It might sound strange but I’d rather read the book, but also get the benefit of being able to talk to those that have watched the show...

The reader mainly follows bombardier Yossarian who’s currently serving for the U. S. Army Air Forces in Italy during the Second World War.
This unique story told in a non chronological third person narration pokes fun at the lunacy of War, with Heller himself having serving in Italy as a teenager in 1942 theirs a real sense of his experiences slightly exacerbated.

With the only real way of keeping tack of time passing through the novel by Colonel Cathcart’s constant raising of the required combat missions before a solider can return home.
Talk about moving the goalposts!

It’s such a complex but rewarding novel not least due to the amount of characters that are continually introduced.
Some are more interesting that others and we’d all have our favourites, there’s no point in trying to keep track of all of them.
Just like the environment they inhabit these people feel disposable, the reality is that most of them won’t make it to the end of the novel.

I don’t think this book will be for everyone, the humour is an acquired taste. I’m so glad that it clicked for me.
It’s definitely the type of book that you’ll know your love after 50 pages.

I really need to start delving into my pile more (not least because it’s starting to get out of hand) and I’ve got so many great novel awaiting for me to enjoy.

Absurdist plays are one act for a reason.

Seriously, I know there were points to make about the repetitive ridiculousness of bureaucracy/war/capitalism/life, but over 450 pages of variations on the Catch-22 joke?

I did find myself more affected than I would have guessed by some of the deaths, and some of the lines were clearly awesome.

Underlined bits:
In a world in which success was the only virtue, he had resigned himself to failure.(277, about the Chaplain)
Because he needed a friend so desperately, he never found one. (95, about Major Major)
Since he had nothing better to do well in, he did well in school. (95, about same)
Clevinger was one of those people with lots of intelligence and no brains, and everyone knew it except those who soon found it out. (77)
Kraft was a skinny, harmless kid from Pennsylvania who wanted only to be liked, and was destined to be disappointed in even so humble and degrading an ambition. (64)
it was neither possible nor necessary to educate people who never questioned anything(44)
In an airplane there was absolutely no place in the world to go except to another part of the airplane. (42)
Actually, there were many officer's clubs that Yossarian had not helped build, but he was proudest of the one on Pianosa. It was a sturdy and complex monument to his powers of determination. Yossarian never went there to help until it was finished; then he went there often, so pleased was he with the large, fine, rambling shingled building. It was truly a splendid structure, and Yossarian throbbed with a mighty sense of accomplishment each time he gazed at it and reflected that none of the work that had gone into it was his. (27)
There were terrifying, sudden moments when objects, concepts and even people that the chaplain had lived with almost all his life inexplicably took on an unfamiliar and irregular aspect that he had never seen before and which made them seem totally strange: jamais vu. (214)
"You put so much stock in winning wars," the grubby, iniquitous old man scoffed. "The real trick lies in losing wars, in knowing which wars can be lost. Italy has been losing wars for centuries, and just see how splendidly we've done nonetheless."(255)


Lots of repetitiveness, even in that short list.
Reminds me of Confederacy of Dunces. I feel I was bored and frustrated in a similar way, but probably won't reread either to search for actual parallels beyond obvious "supposedly hilarious classics I outright hated" classification.

I believe that the novel Catch-22 is the best antiwar satire ever created and it boasts the unique disdainful atmosphere that is practically inimitable.
Army turns an individual into a puppet on strings and the book is a marionette theatre of such puppets where the protagonist seems to be the only person capable to possess true human feelings.

He was going to live forever, or die in the attempt.

The value of a human life is above all so life and war are incompatible.

*3.5 stars*