CATCH-22
Book Review
GROUP 10
AGENDA
CONTEXT SETTING: WHAT’S THE CATCH?
THE BOOK: MAKING OF A CLASSIC
THE GAMECHANGER: KNOW THE AUTHOR
SNEAK PEEK: PLOT – CHARACTERS – STYLE
FROM THE CRITIC’S LENS: OUR EVALUATION
CONCLUSION: CONNECTING SOME DOTS!
THERE’S ONLY ONE CATCH, AND THAT’S CATCH-22
There’s something about this book…
• Sold over 10 million copies
• 11 editions published over last 50 years
• Coined a new phrase in the English language
• Adaptations: Movie, theatre, TV comedy series
But, that wasn’t all…
• Changed the paradigm of war writings: Powerful anti-war message
• Challenged the foundations of patriotism and obedience
• Reflected the irrationality/insanity of absolute bureaucracy
• Represented the new generation losing respect for illogical
authority – refusing to take anything at face value
DOES THAT RING A BELL??
NATIONALISM
WARS
CORRUPTION
NEPOTISM
FAVOURITISM
MANIPULATIVE
BUREAUCRATIC
CONTRADICTIONS
Half century later… Yossarian Lives!
THE BOOK
MAKING OF A CLASSIC
Full title · Catch-22
Author · Joseph Heller
Type of work · Novel
Genre · War novel; satire; Black humour,
absurdist fiction, satire, war fiction,
historical fiction
Language · English
Time and place written · 1955–1961, New
York
Date of first publication · 1961
Publisher · Simon & Schuster, Inc.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
IMPACT OF THE “ANTI-HERO”
1961 was the year when…
• Berlin Wall was built
• U.S. ends diplomatic relations with Cuba
• WWII, Cold War, and Vietnam War still on everybody’s minds
How it became one of the most influential book in modern literature…
• Huge impact on popular culture and literary circles
• Introduced the post-war world to the concept of ‘Black Humor’
• Gave the world its first true ‘anti-hero’
• Popularity with a strong cult following
THE GAMECHANGER
KNOW THE AUTHOR
• Was in the U.S. Air Force during
World War II
• Was a fighter pilot
• Won an Air Medal and a
Presidential Unit Citation
• Left military in 1945
• Received his English degree from
Columbia University. Then he went
to Oxford
• Later he became an English
Professor at Pennsylvania State
University
• Worked for magazines such as Time,
Look, and McCall’s
• Died of a heart attack
JOSEPH
HELLER
(1923-1999)
SNEAK PEEK
THE PLOT AND STYLE
PLOT
STYLE
• War novel, reflecting the absolute but
illogical power of bureaucracy
• Jumbled chronology
• Set up in an imaginary island, Pianosa
• Our protagonist – Captain Yossarian
• Conflict – Catch-22
• Takeaway – “No one can get off the ride”
• Episodes of memories, flashbacks and
character descriptions
• Point of view - focusing mostly on what
Yossarian does and what Yossarian thinks
and feels
• Tone – Flatly satirical tone
• More than 50 characters over 500 pages
SNEAK PEEK
CHARACTERS
YOSSARIAN
DOC DANEEKA
CHAPLAIN
MILO MINDERBINDER
SNOWDEN
“Rome was destroyed, Greece was destroyed, Persia was destroyed, Spain was destroyed. Why not
yours? How much longer. Do you really think your own country will last? Forever? Keep in mind
that the earth itself is destined to be destroyed by the sun in the twenty million years or so.”
FROM THE CRITIC’S LENS
OUR EVALUATION
"All over the world, boys on every side of the bomb line were laying down their lives for what
they had been told was their country, and no one seemed to mind, least of all the boys who
were laying down their young lives. There was no end in sight.”
• Grand irony played out in hundred ways
• A hilarious start turns into a very emotional and thought provoking tale
• A story filled with paradoxes and dark humour
• Criticism on bureaucracy
• The disenchanting Catch-22!
“
“Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but
if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and
didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to.”
CONCLUSION
CONNECTING SOME DOTS
As long as there are borders and nation-states, Yossarian lives!
The book delivers to us a cry of rebellion – a war against the war.
THANK YOU