Joseph Heller
1961
Around 450 pages
Catch-22 is one of my favorite novels. Even amusing novels aren't often laugh out loud funny, but this book never fails to make me chortle. This is a refreshing take on the war genre, which isn't usually a laugh riot.
The novel is episodic and follows anti hero John Yossarian, a U.S. Army bombardier, and his squadron based on an island off the coast of Italy. As you would expect, the squadron is picked off one by one, with some endings sadder than others. I could have done without the rape, and I wish "Aarfy" a violent reception in literary hell.
Heller is a master at balancing the absurd and the tragedy of war, which is a delicate operation that could have easily tipped over in either direction. This is such a quotable book, with some of my standout lines being:
- “Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you.”
- “He knew everything there was to know about literature, except how to enjoy it.”
- “Anything worth dying for is certainly worth living for.”
Definitely one of the funniest books I've read, and my favorite war time novel. Essential reading.
Interesting Facts:
Heller said that the novel had been influenced by Celine, Waugh and Nabokov.
Heller wrote a sequel in 1994.
UP NEXT: Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
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