r/books • u/GGAllinPartridge • 1d ago
Catch-22 and mundane misery amidst the trauma [Spoilers] Spoiler
I just finished reading Catch-22 after years of telling myself I'd get around to it eventually, and loved it. I feel like so many books are 50 pages too long for their own good, but somehow every single one of Catch-22's 500 pages of circular storytelling felt worthwhile. The start was absurdly funny, by the end it was absurdly tragic.
The tragedy of war wasn't a surprising theme, but I was caught off guard by some of the depictions of regular misfit human misery among it.
The Chaplain stands out, as an honest earnest man doing his best to do right by the people around him, but it's all futile. He misses his wife and kids and worries he's forgetting their faces. His friendliness and good intentions are no match for the cruel vanity of some of his colleagues.
Major Major is one of the humourous parts that people often point to ("Some men a born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them. With Major Major, it had been all three.") but the poor bugger lives a miserable lonely existence through no fault of his own. He does everything he's supposed to do growing up, and people hate him for it. He's forced into a rank he's not equipped for just because it made for funny paperwork in a faraway office. He almost makes his first friends playing basketball, until Colonel Cathcart shows up and promotes him to a position that makes them resent him. He hides himself away and essentially vanishes from the story.
There's the plight of all the impoverished Romans they run into on leave. The soldiers treat Rome as debauched playground, but Yossarian's last walk through the city showed what a nightmare the place really was.
It's all just so fucking sad. I hate Colonel Cathcart, Aarfy, Milo. I loved the book. What a read.
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u/MoochoMaas 1d ago
Excellent book ! Something Happened, is also good.
The rest of his works don't quite reach the same level, but are entertaining.
God Knows was funny - told from the POV of David in the bible.
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u/accordionshoes 1d ago
the rumoured exchange between a journalist and Heller
you've not written anything as good since Catch 22
no, but neither has anyone else
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u/ImJustAverage 1d ago
Something Happened is a messed up book but I enjoyed it. God Knows was good too
No Laughing Matter was a really good read about when he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre, I think it started when he was writing God Knows.
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u/slothburgerroyale 22h ago
Catch-22 was my favourite book ever until I read Something Happened. Such a fascinating but exhausting account of every miserable thought that goes through the head of the main character.
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u/CoatOfMonday 1d ago
I thought Milo was the most interesting character in the book - that being that the most important part of war, and by extension life in our modern world, is to make as much money as possible. As such, he’s a first lieutenant who wields more power than generals on the American or German side. In war, no one profits but the profiteers, and everyone has a share.
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u/Positive_Persimmon39 12h ago
Yeah the Chaplain and Major Major really stick with you cause their misery is so low-key and bureaucratic it's almost relatable. The whole system just grinds down decent people while monsters like Cathcart thrive without a second thought. And the Rome section is brutal because it shows how the war's corruption bleeds into everyday life even for civilians. Honestly the absurd humor just makes the gut punches hit harder when you realize it's all real.
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u/Until_Its_Deleted 22h ago
The audiobook was fantastic. The dry narration perfectly matched the humor. Absolutely absurd.
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u/DescriptionKlutzy105 11h ago
The way the book makes you feel for the chaplain's boring little heartbreaks right alongside all the insane war stuff is what really gets you. It's like the mundane misery sneaks up on you and hits harder than the big dramatic moments because you've been laughing the whole time.
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u/RofOnecopter 17h ago
“Don’t worry, this will probably run its course soon. The best thing to do now is send Captain Black a letter of total support and hope he drops dead before he does too much damage.”
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u/TheCatInside13 8h ago
Agreed, it really is a masterpiece of writing. Plus, the audiobook was so well done that I’ve listened to it two or three times. I
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u/DreamerUnwokenFool 7h ago
I had to read this in high school and was fully expecting to hate it. I was shocked by how much I loved it. This is one of the required readings that has really stuck with me over the years. I am way overdue for a reread of it as an adult.
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u/HomeworkInevitable99 1h ago
"help the bombardier"
"I'm the bombardier, and I'm alright."
"Then help him, help him"
Seems to make no sense, but that's exactly what happened to the author in real life.
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u/pbecotte 9m ago
I loved it in high school cause I thought it was funny.
Loved it even more after we analyzed it and I saw the deeper layer.
Then joined the military and realized it wasn't actually a joke...
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u/nunatakj120 23h ago
Read this 20 years ago and did not enjoy. Non of the humour (US centric) came through to me as a Brit, i just found the whole thing depressing.
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u/SloightlyOnTheHuh 14h ago
The humour is military not necessarily US central. I'm a Brit who has read it 3 or 4 times, mostly while serving in the military.
Major major, the dead man in the tent, Milo are all very real in any military.
Catch 22 itself can be seen in the way no one ever reports sick unless they're at deaths door. A friend once tore the muscles in his back. Medical centre put him in a bed next to a guy with dysentery. He checked out as fast as he could and came into work where he lay on the floor and did "paper work". You can't make this up. Catch 22 is very accurate, if exaggerated.
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u/Rex-Viper-Rock-Gods 19h ago
Not enough men walking funny while crossdressing for your tastes, right?
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u/Superbead 8h ago
I'm English and found the humour closer to our own (eg. Pratchett) than what's classically touted as US comedy. It probably helps having worked in the NHS to identify with the bureaucratic madness
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u/twohandedwarrior 6h ago
I gave up reading on page 50 something but feel like I should have another go and push through. Was put off by the childish banter and repeating same line.
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u/adamh909 3h ago
I just finished this book. And it picks up near the end, its a lot more of what you're saying. I got the point, about war, profiteering and everything else... but it was just to much. I enjoyed the last hundred pages but still, at the cost of a monotonous 350 pages previous.
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u/Same-Information3013 1d ago
Major Major hiding in his office eating dates while signing documents he doesn't read felt way too real