Book Title:

Catch-22

Author:

Joseph Heller

Reviewer:

 Matt Casagrande

Summary:

 Set just off the coast of Italy, Catch-22 is a story of an American WWII bomber squadron. The main character, Captain Yossarian, is a bombadier who doesn't care if he hits the target or not. He only cares that he gets back alive. Yossarian attempts to get himself grounded on the pretext of him being crazy, but he realizes there is a catch. The doctor tells Yossarian that he can ground him for being insane, but Yossarian would have to ask to be grounded. Yossarian then asks, and the doctor tells him that anyone who asks to be grounded is not crazy. Therefore, he could not ground Yossarian. That was the catch, "Catch-22." Yossarian also can't figure out why people he's never met before are trying to kill him. To eveyone else in the squadron, he is simply crazy.

  Originally, each man in the squadron had to fly 25 missions before he could return to the U.S., but Colonel Cathcart then raised the number to 50, then raised it again, and again. This decreased morale with the men, because each time they neared the number of missions they had to complete, he would raise the number. The men believed they would keep flying until they died. This is probably the basis for their insanity. As the men's insanity increases, they find many creative things to do with their time, including their own black market business.

Catch-22 is a war novel like no other. It portrays the realities of war in a comedic, yet tragic manner.

Opinion:

 In my opinion, Catch-22 is a humorous, eccentric, like-no-other novel. Although a bit lengthy and monotonous in places, this book will continue to surpirse you.

Rating:

 4 stars out of 5