Catch 22 Joseph Heller
Discuss This Book--Heller's novel takes us through a incrediibly humorous, always contradicting story. It takes place during World War II. Though Heller introduces a wide variety of characters (all of whom are serving in the air force), the main character is Yossarian. Yossarian is a defiant young man whose only objective is to keep himself alive.
During the various missions he is sent to carry out, none of his actions are aimed at completing his mission, but rather they are aimed at saving his own skin from enemy fire. When one particularly dangerous mission is announced, he sneaks out in the middle of the night and tampers with the placement of the enemy line, to keep himself from flying the mission.
Every time Yossarian nears the number of missions required to be sent hime, the number of missions is raised. He is regularly admitted to the hospital, in an attempt to keep from flying missions, and is constantly asking doctors to send him home on grounds of insanity. Doc Daneeka, however, refuses to do so because of Catch 22. Throughout the book many things are blamed on this mysterious "Catch 22" - which is never actually seen written down in a book by any of the characters.
Near the end of the book Yossarian is given the opportunity to go home, however he has to pretend to be friends with a rather disagreeable Superior. At first Yossarian sees no problem with this, and jumps at the chance to go home. Upon further thinking, though, Yossarian decides that he can't do that, and instead of taking such an easy route home, he decides to run away.
I loved the book. It's incredibly funny from beginning to end, delving into the officers' personal and professional lives, divuldging secrets and insecurities, while illustrating the circles that the government runs while trying to complete the simplest of tasks.
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