**OPINIA Z 16 PAŹDZIERNIKA 2011**

I never suspected that I would be reading such a weak sequel to my beloved book. Surely, most readers will state that since the original has the name: Closing Time, then the Polish version with "Paragraph 22" added to the title is just a marketing gimmick of dubious quality. However, that's not the case! This is a true continuation of the adventures of Yossarian, Milo, the chaplain, and several other characters from the original.

Before delving into the book, I checked the reviews. They weren't flattering, pointing out more or less the same things that I criticized in my reviews of Heller's other novels. The guy wrote only one book! During reading, I had ambivalent feelings because on one hand, I wondered why everyone considered this title weak as I had read worse. On the other hand, damn it! How could one create such a weak novel. It turns out that this is not a monstrosity written by a very bad author like "The Alchemist" or the recently reviewed "The School of Beauty in Kabul". "The Last Chapter" is just the most ordinary weak book written by a guy who can form sentences and has ideas for content. Which is perhaps the saddest thing.

So, what could be added to the continuation of "Paragraph 22"? A lot, even too much. Yossarian is 70 years old, works for Milo, and gets involved in organizing a wedding for three and a half thousand people (close acquaintances) at the bus station. Milo and Wintergreen create an invisible bomber that no one sees and, in fact, it's not clear if it even exists. The chaplain pisses heavy water and pees tritium, for which there is no concession.

New characters also appear. Sammy is the one who alternately woke up and lost consciousness on that fateful day in the plane when Snowden showed the world his deepest secret. Lew Rabinowitz served in the infantry. Claire is his wife. Michael is Yossarian's son, and M2 is Milo. All these old and new characters are still nothing. We will also find here: Schweik, Dr. Strangelove, Kurt Vonnegut, and even Heller himself.

The plot is hard to summarize because each of the mentioned characters has their own story to tell, and the reader hopes that by the last chapter, everything will be tied up/solved. Not a chance. The book is constructed as if it were a film: "Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb". At the end, it seems that someone forgot to screw on/write the endings.

But since this is a continuation of "Paragraph 22", then even a weak book might be saved by good humor. And here lies the problem because Heller adds a bit of fresh humor (which has as much in common with freshness as Heller hasn't yet put those popular jokes in every household into his books) seasoned with humor from "Paragraph 22". Literally! These are the same jokes. I wouldn't mind if these were just those anecdotes, but Heller added a "commentary", started to explain the jokes that should never be explained. The whole magic of the previous part lay in the unsaid. Here, the humor has been spoiled, and not by the translator or the guy on the street who got to do the second part of the masterpiece. It was Heller who did it!

In the book "Portrait of an Artist" (which I haven't read), Heller creates the character of an author who tries to write a novel as spectacular as his previous works. It is obvious that he is writing about himself. Why couldn't he create another masterpiece? If we set aside "Paragraph 22" and look at what else this author described in his books, we will see that his favorite themes are: Jews, the relationship between Jews and goyim, politics and intrigues, the problems of the main character with his family, a multitude of lovers, business, money, contacts (it sounds like: "apathy, greed, corruption... - whoever knows, knows). I understand if this were a series of books. But no, these are separate novels that theoretically don't overlap, and yet they are almost identical in atmosphere, humor, and situation.

I once said that Heller's misfortune was that his debut was masterful, and then he couldn't write anything more wonderful. Today, I will write the same thing, just differently. Joseph Heller is the author of one book, maybe two if we count "God Knows".

http://majinfox.blogspot.com/

I bought myself a copy of this yesterday. It was for just $5.99! I did this to honour the fact that Catch-22 cured me of my 5 month reading hiatus of misery. You know, those five months when I just couldn't seem to get into reading. But then Catch-22 came along and changed everything. It was like a light in the darkness. And this new copy I bought matches my Catch-22 cover. That's a nice bonus. However, I'm not crazy about the font. It's just not to my taste. But still, I thought I'd ~treat~ myself. After all, it's not every day that you find a book that can break you out of a reading slump. So, even with the font issue, I'm quite happy with my purchase.

The compelling reason for finishing this book was only that Catch 22 was so good. It had set a high standard, and one hoped that the follow-up would maintain that level of excellence. Book seemed like the start of a number of terrific threads picking up from Catch 22. There were initial glimmers of promise, with interesting storylines and characters emerging. Unfortunately, the clever beginnings faltered. Instead of building on the momentum, we spent way too much time on people and events that could have been their own story without ever mentioning Pianosa or Yossarian. This detracted from the overall coherence and connection to the original. Maybe Joseph Heller could have concentrated on Yossarian reaching a conclusion about what Snowden's death meant. For as pivotal a theme as it was in Catch 22, it seems to have lost its life changing significance in Closing Time. It was a missed opportunity to further explore the profound impact of that event on Yossarian's character and his view of the world.

So the Catch 22 crew (or at least some of it) is back.

I didn't know there was a sequel. It's quite a surprise to see these familiar characters again.

All of them are older now. While not all of them are necessarily wiser, they do carry the weight of their past experiences.

They may not be that different from how they were in their younger years. However, there is a certain charm and nostalgia in seeing them reprise their roles.

I didn't think this was quite as good as Catch 22. The original had a certain magic and uniqueness that was hard to replicate.

But still, this sequel is good. It has its own merits and interesting storylines.

Although, a bit of impossibility does intrude at times, which can be a bit distracting.

Overall, it's an enjoyable read for fans of the original, but it may not reach the same heights as the classic.