Life would be beautiful if it wasn't for the war. Captain John Yossarian, a bombardier in the U.S. Army B-25 during WW2, is far from happy. The continuous take-offs and landings on the small Italian island of Pianosa, near the west coast of Italy, are no real fun. In fact, the isle is too small for runways. Flak may look pretty in the sky from below, but above, for Yo Yo (his nickname), the anti-aircraft fire can pulverize you into tiny, unrecognizable bits of debris.

He thought he was a loyal American until ambitious Colonel Cathcart raises the combat missions from 25 to 30, then 35, 40, 50, 55, 60, 70, and maybe soon 80? The cold Colonel Korn, his second in command, urges more missions if his boss desires to become a general. They are willing to make this sacrifice for their men, after all, both stay on terra firma. Mr. Yossarian thinks a man could be killed around here and he's not thrilled about that prospect. This occurs to him when he notices most of his friends are dying in the strife and he's not eager to join the unliving. Can he just go home?

The nervous warrior invariably seeks admittance to the hospital. He's a frequent visitor, sometimes to get out of flying and other times with real wounds, not always from the enemy. Now he needs to escape from the island, yet the people he meets there, doctors, nurses, and especially patients, are more unhinged than he. The strange one covered from head to foot in bandages or plaster creeps the others out with just a minuscule entrance to breathe, like a whale's blowhole. Alive maybe? That's highly debatable. Nevertheless, a certain nurse attracts him. There is joy in the most unpromising situations and nurse Duckett is attractive. Swimming in the sea and laying on the beach with her has its compensations.

Some, including Chaplain Tappman, a man not sure of his own duty in war or peace, advise him to be understanding. (There are shortages of qualified airmen for combat duty.) Milo Minderbinde, Captain Yossarian's mysterious pal, emerges from the mess hall to stardom as the always conniving entrepreneur doing deals. It doesn't matter if they are with enemies; business is business and the object is to make money. Spain, Egypt, Turkey, Portugal, Sicily, anywhere where there is a buck to make and planes can reach, he thrives in the madness. Still, while the airmen live, Yossarian and friends travel to Rome for relaxation. The best way is finding loose women who are not too particular about looks or manners or clean rooms and wild ways and will tolerate much for gratuities. Everybody calls everyone crazy in the book, which is quite accurate. War is insane but never unfashionable. Some believe this will happen on Earth for perpetuity. Joseph Heller's anti-war black comedy classic has given the world the phrase catch-22, meaning a dilemma where whatever you choose, you lose. This novel, though not for all, is a magnificent trip into the horrors of brutal, mindless discord. You have to laugh in order to survive.

Absurdist plays are often one act for a reason. Seriously, while I understand the intention to convey the repetitive ridiculousness of aspects like bureaucracy, war, capitalism, and life in general, 450 pages of variations on the Catch-22 joke? That's a lot.

However, I must admit that I was more affected by some of the deaths than I initially expected, and there were definitely some awesome lines.

For example, the description of the Chaplain as someone who, "In a world in which success was the only virtue, he had resigned himself to failure" (277). Or Major Major, who "Because he needed a friend so desperately, he never found one" (95). And Clevinger, who was "one of those people with lots of intelligence and no brains, and everyone knew it except those who soon found it out" (77).

The book also contains many other thought-provoking lines, such as "it was neither possible nor necessary to educate people who never questioned anything" (44). And the observation that "In an airplane there was absolutely no place in the world to go except to another part of the airplane" (42).

There is a lot of repetitiveness in these lines, even in this short list. It reminds me of "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole. I felt bored and frustrated in a similar way while reading both books, but I probably won't reread either to search for actual parallels beyond the obvious classification of "supposedly hilarious classics I outright hated".

Overall, while there are some interesting and thought-provoking moments in the book, the excessive repetitiveness made it a bit of a slog to get through.

Fue un flechazo. En cuanto Yossarian vio al capellán se enamoró perdidamente de él. Yossarian estaba en el hospital debido a que le dolía el hígado, aunque no presentaba ictericia. Esto desconcertaba a los médicos, ya que no mostraba los síntomas propios de la enfermedad. Si la dolencia acababa en ictericia, podrían aplicarle un tratamiento. Pero si no acababa en ictericia y se le pasaba, lo darían de alta. Sin embargo, aquella situación los tenía perplejos.

Unas pocas líneas y también yo pude decirlo: Fue un flechazo. Pero no con el capellán, sino con Yossarian y con la novela en general, un amor a primera línea. Sin embargo, este enamoramiento repentino no quita que, como los médicos, yo también pasase por algunos momentos de perplejidad.

Y por eso mismo, es una novela difícil de recomendar. La perplejidad, el enamoramiento y el humor absurdo no entusiasman a todo el mundo. Mucho menos si van los tres de la mano. Pero el que tenga la suerte de enamorarse pasará una temporada maravillosa.

Trampa 22 es una de las novelas más influyentes del siglo XX. Publicada en 1961, Joseph Heller comenzó a escribirla en 1953, basándose en parte en sus experiencias a bordo de un bombardero durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Cuenta la historia de los integrantes de un escuadrón de bombarderos estadounidense en Pianosa, durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Los personajes, numerosos y excéntricos, son difíciles de olvidar. Especialmente Yossarian, el protagonista, un héroe que ha decidido vivir para siempre o morir en el intento.

A pesar de que casi cada párrafo esté cargado de humor absurdo, el libro no es solo eso. También crítica la guerra, el comportamiento de los altos mandos y la causa que muchos no entendían. Esto se ve perfectamente en la propia Trampa 22, que establece que cualquier soldado que esté loco puede ser dado de baja, pero quien quiere abandonar el servicio no está realmente loco. Es una trampa que muestra el sinsentido de la guerra y la vida en el ejército.

A Full-Fledged Flying Circus

The review starts by awarding 3.5/5, rounded up to 4, for the clever puns and general humor in the novel.

The plot, or: How to get grounded in 10 easy lessons? :

(disclaimer: no responsibility can be taken for direct or indirect damage resulting from the use of the information contained in the novel and/or review).

Set during WW2 on Pianosa Island, a US Army Air squadron is the backdrop. Captain Yossarian struggles to survive, while Colonel Cathcart keeps increasing the number of combat missions a soldier must fly to return home.

Moreover, if one requests an evaluation to be declared unfit to fight and sent home, the very act of requesting is considered proof of sanity. This is the infamous Catch-22, which means Yossarian is in a difficult situation.

However, Catch-22 is just the tip of the iceberg. The novel is filled with all kinds of absurdities, shenanigans, scams, schemes, and petty feuds among a cast of ludicrously inept officers, frauds, and con artists.

The unchronological, polyphonic form of the novel reflects the breakdown of communication and the rise of upstarts, disinformation, and publicity.

In the end, Catch-22 presents a grotesque carnival of vices like conceit, malice, pettiness, callousness, cruelty, and ambition. It starts off as mostly slapstick and zany but later develops darker undertones, resulting in a complex and variegated novel.

Above, the building block of Milo Minderbinder's syndicate

\\n  Buddy read with Tara - 23/05/2020\\n

BOOK/MOVIE ADVICE :

The review then provides various book and movie recommendations in different categories.

Goofiness department:

Books like Sin noticias de Gurb and A Confederacy of Dunces are suggested.

Paranoia & personality split division:

Clans of the Alphane Moon and Lies, Inc. are in this category.

Bureaucratic absurdity and self-agrandizement locker:

Germany Year Zero - Rossellini and Under the Flags of the Rising Sun - Kinji Fukasaku deal with civilian life during and after the war.

Absurd:

Brazil - Terry Gilliam (along with all materials by Monty Python) and Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - Stanley Kubrick are recommended for their absurdity.

MUSIC:

Songs like Siberian Khatru - Yes, Man of War / Big Boots - Radiohead, and Soldier Side - System of a Down are also mentioned.

By the way, the reviewer notes a striking number of common traits between Colonel Cathcart in Catch-22 and Luzhin in Crime and Punishment.

Overall, the review provides a comprehensive look at Catch-22 and offers a wealth of related recommendations for further exploration.

Catch-22 is truly a remarkable book that stretches the boundaries in ways that are highly normative in the literary world. I simply couldn't help but fall in love with it for this very reason.

The timeline jumps in the story, which I found relatively easy to follow, although I can understand that for some readers, it might get a bit tedious. Fortunately, I didn't have much trouble with it, perhaps because I don't believe that having a perfect time-setting for every scene is of utmost importance.

The humor in the book is also fantastic. However, if I were to have one criticism, it would be that in the middle, the story seems to drag a bit, and there are about 80 pages that feel like extra weight.

Despite this minor flaw, I think that readers need to approach this book with an open mind and leave some of their pre-existing knowledge about how the world works, what's logical and what's not, and even what's good and evil, at the door. By working with the book's new rules of logic, bureaucracy, levels of authority, capitalism, and sexuality, readers will be able to better understand the story and its characters in what seems to be a world of absurdity.

I will definitely re-read Catch-22 with great pleasure, as I'm certain that with each new reading, I'll discover new ideas to think about, new situations to laugh at, and new tragedies to contemplate. It's a book that truly has something new to offer with every read.

**Catch-22: A Satirical Masterpiece**

Catch-22 is a novel that has left an indelible mark on American literature. The story is filled with absurdity and paradox, as seen in the famous clause of Catch-22 itself. It states that a concern for one's own safety in the face of real and immediate dangers is the sign of a rational mind, yet those who want to get out of combat duty are considered not crazy enough. This circular logic traps the characters, especially Yossarian, who is desperate to go home but is constantly thwarted by the ever-changing rules.

The novel is set during World War II, a time when many books were glorifying the war. However, Catch-22 takes a different approach, presenting a satirical and critical view of the military and the war machine. Heller's writing is both hilarious and tragic, as he shows the absurdity of war and the toll it takes on the soldiers.

The characters in the book are vivid and memorable. Yossarian is a complex and relatable protagonist, whose increasing insanity (or sanity, depending on how you look at it) makes him a fascinating character to follow. Lieutenant Nately, Milo Minderbinder, and Hungry Joe are also well-developed, each with their own quirks and flaws. The women in the book, while mostly objects of lust, are also described in a creative and often humorous way.

Catch-22 has had a significant impact on our culture. It has added words and phrases to our language, such as "Catch-22" itself, and has given voice to a generation of people who were dissatisfied with the war aims of the country. It is a book that everyone should read, not only for its literary merit but also for its ability to make us think about the nature of war and the human condition.

When the title of a book enters the English language, that immediately puts it on my reading list.

The concept of what constitutes'sanity' for men in war is highly problematic on two distinct levels. Firstly, we must consider who put them in this extremely difficult situation of war in the first place. Was it the result of political decisions, power struggles, or other complex factors?

Secondly, we need to think about what a'sane' person would do to extricate themselves from such a perilous situation. Would they try to resist, find a way to negotiate peace, or perhaps take some other course of action?

Another book that I firmly believe should be on a 'congressional reading list' holds great significance. It could potentially offer valuable insights and perspectives that might help lawmakers better understand the complex issues surrounding war and the human condition within it.

By reading such books, Congress members could gain a deeper appreciation for the challenges faced by those in war and perhaps make more informed decisions that could have a positive impact on the lives of countless people.

I firmly believe that Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is an absolute work of genius. Although it may have some imperfections, I couldn't care less. This book conveys a brutally honest message that I consider to be the Truth, despite the rather painful way it is presented, almost like an anatomy lesson. It's not just satirical and cynical; it's a powerful expose of the naked falsehoods of human civilization,呐喊着 in agony.

This is a book that delves into that crucial moment when one realizes just how awful the world truly is. Fortunately, most of us who have had our own existential slipcovers ripped away manage to find ways, like watching cat videos, to find our way back to enjoying another beautiful sunrise. Perhaps playful insanity is indeed the solution to humanity's and cats' horror of facing the uncertainty of survival.

In Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness', evil stems from our inborn duality. The character Kurtz, with no external forces to stop or control him within hundreds of miles - no societal peer pressures, no religious strictures, no legal punishments, and no one with his weapons or charisma - is tempted by the powers of a mortal god and ends up destroying the people around him, deluded into thinking he is bringing civilization to the wild chaos of the jungle. Kurtz believes Africa to be a place without righteous order or direction, resistant to rules, laws, progress, and religion, a dark, unknown, unmapped region. However, as he resorts to stronger and stronger measures to impose control, he accidentally unleashes the snake demon in his own heart. Too late, he discovers he has become a monster, and worse, without meaning or intent except that of a torturer. Or perhaps he realizes that the powers of a god are unbearable. In any case, by deciding to master the darkness in the jungle by releasing the darkness within himself, he loses the boundary that defined him as a civilized man and becomes one with the wild, evil jungle. The moral here is clear: don't give in to defeating the external Evil by unleashing the Evil within. Hold on to civilization with all your might. Its value lies in holding back Evil.

Catch-22 turns all of that inside out, quite literally. Mankind begins in a state of innocence and with good intentions. We are living in an Eden of delusion and dreams. There is no snake, no seed of darkness or evil within or without, only individuality and sensuality. Our societies blind us to reality while binding us to unreal perceptions of the mind. We motivate ourselves through ambition, philosophy, religion, the creation of enemies and purpose, all while indulging the body in sensual delights, not realizing for a while how temporary or ineffectual these are in moving forward. However, perhaps through war, as depicted in this novel, sometimes the fabric of purpose, meaning, and civilization that covers the body of human reality like clothes on our naked bodies can be accidentally removed, exposing our delusions. (John Yossarian, the main character, stops wearing his uniform and reports for duty naked for days after discovering the truth about being alive when the skin is literally torn off a man's flesh.) Rules become nonsensical, religion is nonsensical, philosophy is nonsensical, and good and evil are nonsense. In other words, civilization is shown to be nonsensical. Men have the uncanny ability to become the very thing they declare they won't be or allow to happen what they strive so hard to stop. Pure sensuality offers no permanence, only temporary and ephemeral sensations. Civilization isn't guiding us; it's making us blind fools. In the end, nature will assert itself. Strip off the fabric of delusion, and there is no intelligence, soul, or higher purpose. There is only blood, bone, liver, lungs, muscles, stomach, and intestines.

But what are we if we strip away everything and see the truth, the meaninglessness and purposelessness of breathing and dying? The book hints at the possibility of escaping into a different paradigm, a dream of our own making instead of being misled by the tropes of our societies (Sweden is presented as the Paradise in Catch-22). Pass out the parachutes and let's find a new way.

I can't review this one properly. I listened to it on audiobook over about a month and never really felt involved with it. Each time I resumed reading it, I could barely recall what had happened when I last paused it. I find this to be a very hard book to engage with due to its non-linear and fragmented structure. Each chapter tends to be a little vignette about the absurd situations experienced by the soldiers of the 256th squadron on the island of Pianosa. And more often than not, each chapter does not lead to the next chapter. While Yossarian is clearly the central character, the narrative point of view often switches to another character's who soon fades into the background or disappears from the book entirely. The frequent but temporary point of view switches make it hard for me to keep track of all the numerous minor characters.

On the positive side, the book is very cleverly written and often very funny, especially when it is focused on the absurdity of circular reasoning favored by the bureaucratic colonels and majors. I can see why this is considered a classic even though it is not particularly appealing to me on the whole. If I really wanted to review this book properly and fairly, I would have to read it in print format over a week or so. But there is no point in doing that as I have absorbed enough of the content to know that it is not for me. I won't dissuade anybody from reading it because I don't really know who will enjoy this book and who won't. Catch-22 is known to be a humorous novel with serious undertones, but if you are thinking of reading it just for a quick laugh, you may be in for a surprise (not necessarily in a good way).

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. It has a male-heavy cast that is just dribbling absolute nonsense. The only females in this book are sex workers and they aren't even allowed their own dialogue.

I was not invested in this at all. I couldn't care less about any of the characters. There is no real plot to speak of. The dialogue is so repetitive that it's mind-numbing. In a parallel world where I'm not reading via Kindle, I would be tossing a physical copy of this book over the balcony without a second thought.

I really must learn to DNF (Did Not Finish) books like this more often. Life is too short to waste on reading something that brings no joy or value. Maybe next time I'll be more discerning and choose a book that actually engages me from the start.

A brilliantly witty and cynical deconstruction of military bureaucracy, "Catch-22" is a remarkable novel. I found it to be genuinely funny, yet the style of humour did have a tendency to become somewhat repetitive. In fact, I often laughed out loud at the clever contractions and absurd conversations that filled its pages. However, I must admit that I did feel that the novel was a little too long-winded. This was especially true considering the lack of a traditional plot. The point that the author was trying to make was made long before the end, and there wasn't much new ground covered in the latter part of the book. Still, despite these flaws, "Catch-22" was very clever and provided a fun ride. It made me think about the absurdities of military life and the power of bureaucracy in a new and interesting way.

This book is so incredibly true that it borders on the ridiculous. At the same time, it is so blatantly false that it can be maddening.

Yossarian, our unlikely hero, along with his fellow bedmates in a military hospital and later with his platoon, finds himself living in the midst of shelling, explosions, flying body parts, and one extremely crazy mess cook. He is an escapist, a realist, a leader, and in some cases, even a pervert who turns into a wannabe savior. He can be mad one moment and then logical the next, depraved and then conscientious. But throughout it all, you will find yourself loving him.

Catch-22 is ingenious and hilarious, although at times it can be a bit repetitive. Of course, some may be exasperated by the way the entire book seems to be a testament to the different ways Heller can use the phrase 'catch-22'. However, if you persevere, you will be rewarded with complex and dazzling characters and an utterly ridiculous, gruesome, and novel plot!

No wonder it made the BBC 100 booklist challenge! It truly is a remarkable and thought-provoking piece of literature that continues to captivate readers to this day.