This is going to be a long one, so stick tight.. Catch-22: A dark satirical novel about Captain John Yossarian, a World War II bombardier stationed in Italy. The book is all about him trying to survive the war and escape it in any way he can, since a “catch-22” in the bureaucratic Air Force regulations prevents him from being grounded. Many of examples of Catch-22 are in the book, and it is now a popular idiom, here's an example: "There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions." The theme of bureaucracy and the absurdity of war here is illustrated in very creative ways, and is really one of a kind, here's another example: Milo Minderbinder, one of the characters, uses the resources of the US military to serve his own economic interests, going so far as he was payed by the Germans to bomb their own airbase!
This is probably my favorite fiction book of all time because the themes and how they are illustrated could not be any more absurd and comical, and it's shown that they really aren't anymore absurd than what war is! Just bear in mind that this book was written in regards to all the proxy wars and money wars that were happening and not WWII. Specifically Heller was talking about the 50s with McCartyhism (Captain Black's Loyalty Oath), the Cold War and Korean War.
Last edited by WarrenSkip on Thu Jul 12, 2018 2:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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