Catch-22 is a satirical book places you in the minds of normal people during abnormal times. Based during the time of World War 2, the book delves into the lives and fears of a group of bomber pilots in Italy; it focuses on the death defying missions they undertake, and life surrounding the death of comrades, their liaisons with nurses and widows and their sordid desire to continue their missions despite the adversity of danger and death.
It is an experiment in comedy and surrealism surrounding the diverse dangers and feelings of World War 2.
I actually watched the movie before picking up this book; for me the movie was funny, but really didn’t convey the full horror that the characters felt; it was very satirical though and dealt with many surreal issues. The movie intrigued me and therefore I purchased the book.
The book contained the same satire, the same strange and often sordid humor and more importantly the surrealism.
The book is written in a way that uses satire and comedy, infused with danger and fear to create and build some pretty normal and yet powerful characters; it is a deep look into human nature and how it tries to deal with adversity and abnormality and often fails.
It is excellently written and through the writing becomes very deep and thought provoking, despite the inherent comedy. It’s really a book about characters, with the backdrop being the insane circumstances of WWII. It draws a fine line between sanity and insanity, showing how the human brain often cannot handle everything that is thrown at it, but somehow has a mechanism to deal with this fear and anguish.
I found myself taking a perverse pleasure in the interactions between the characters. The group was real to me, and through the use of paradoxes, contradictions and sarcasm managed to draw a very vivid picture of a troubled group of people.
What is amazing to me is that although the backdrop is very gruesome, this really is secondary to the actual characters – there is a plot in there somewhere, but it’s more about the characters and how they deal with loss; it demonstrates everything that is good and bad about humanity.
What is interesting is that the traits shown by most of the characters in the book are normal – you can see them every day around you; it’s the combination of these traits with the insanity around them that makes the whole thing strange, profound and very surreal.
I did not fully understand the book on first read, and I’m sure that after the fifth read I still do not truly understand the full context of the book – this is the beauty of it, the more you read it, the more you discover and the more you understand – it’s as if it was meant to be one huge surreal paradox.
I go back to this back once a year and always thoroughly enjoy the satire and the complexity – it’s one of the best books I’ve read and will definitely be worn out by the time I leave this earth!
It is an experiment in comedy and surrealism surrounding the diverse dangers and feelings of World War 2.
I actually watched the movie before picking up this book; for me the movie was funny, but really didn’t convey the full horror that the characters felt; it was very satirical though and dealt with many surreal issues. The movie intrigued me and therefore I purchased the book.
The book contained the same satire, the same strange and often sordid humor and more importantly the surrealism.
The book is written in a way that uses satire and comedy, infused with danger and fear to create and build some pretty normal and yet powerful characters; it is a deep look into human nature and how it tries to deal with adversity and abnormality and often fails.
It is excellently written and through the writing becomes very deep and thought provoking, despite the inherent comedy. It’s really a book about characters, with the backdrop being the insane circumstances of WWII. It draws a fine line between sanity and insanity, showing how the human brain often cannot handle everything that is thrown at it, but somehow has a mechanism to deal with this fear and anguish.
I found myself taking a perverse pleasure in the interactions between the characters. The group was real to me, and through the use of paradoxes, contradictions and sarcasm managed to draw a very vivid picture of a troubled group of people.
What is amazing to me is that although the backdrop is very gruesome, this really is secondary to the actual characters – there is a plot in there somewhere, but it’s more about the characters and how they deal with loss; it demonstrates everything that is good and bad about humanity.
What is interesting is that the traits shown by most of the characters in the book are normal – you can see them every day around you; it’s the combination of these traits with the insanity around them that makes the whole thing strange, profound and very surreal.
I did not fully understand the book on first read, and I’m sure that after the fifth read I still do not truly understand the full context of the book – this is the beauty of it, the more you read it, the more you discover and the more you understand – it’s as if it was meant to be one huge surreal paradox.
I go back to this back once a year and always thoroughly enjoy the satire and the complexity – it’s one of the best books I’ve read and will definitely be worn out by the time I leave this earth!
