Despite my four years as an undergraduate student reading everything in the canon of American Literature for my college classes, I never read this book. I figured that finally, as I'm about to turn 40, I should read this seminal American novel. I'm glad I did. And, as someone who enjoys etymology, I thought it was about time I delved into the source of this oft-used phrase without just reading a Wikipedia entry or synopsis from the appropriate volume of Gale's 20th Century Literary Criticism.

It took me quite a long time to truly enjoy reading the book, but once Heller's quirky humor and antiquated writing style grew on me I was able to relax and enjoy things. Yossarian is an amazing and one-of-a-kind character. I see a bit of myself in his manic and maniacal personality. He's dumbfounded by the insanity of his wartime existence, and his intellectual acumen only makes his engagement of life all the more frustrating. I felt for the guy, I sympathized with his plight, despite the passage of 50 years since Yossarian entered the literary world. I now understand why the book remains relevant, but I think there are less people around in the 21st century who can relate to the protagonist's perceptions.

But perhaps more interesting is this book's attempt to depict aspects of World War II in a humorous, or absurd light, in fictionalized form, which isn't something you find written or portrayed anywhere else. Not knowing the history of this book, and not willing to look into it before writing this review, it almost seems heretical for Heller to suggest that anything like what this fictional account portrays actually occured. Did the average American actually laugh while reading this, or was it accepted as just the hallucinated humorous invention of a man who wanted to poke fun at the stodgy whitebread conception of our World War II heritage? I mean, my god, could you imagine what would happen if someone tried to write a similarly themed book about our present wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? First, no name brand publishing house would print it, and secondly, the author would be censured, vilified and probably shot by a right-wing crackpot.

I do take issue with some of the moral peccadilloes and word choices from this mid-20th century work, but I think it's just a reflection of the times it was written. There's suggestions of pedophilia, and the horrible treatment of "comfort" women occurs liberally throughout, but I guess that's just a reflection of the male bravado indicative of the influence of somewhat contemporary novels written by Hemingway and the drunken boyish immaturity of Fitzgerald. If we can take the "N" word out of a Twain novel to conform to contemporary standards should we edit the blatant misogyny from other books to make them more palatable, too? Actually, I blanched more at some of Heller's strange etymological creations and use of adverbs such as; disgruntledly, obstreperously and sententiously; and some of these bewildering adjectives: boulderous and vulturous. The Goodreads spellchecker doesn't even recognize two of these words! Oh well, it's not like I was reading Shakespeare, Captain John Smith or Increase Mather.

I actually feel sorry for all of the college and/or high school students who are forced to slog through this antiquated bestseller. Sure, it has some amazing insights into humanity, but the delivery and feel are too old fashioned to enjoy and accept in an American society that is so vastly changed from when this book was written. I believe the humor is too obscure and too esoteric for contemporary readers to grasp, unless they are discussing this book in the musty confines of an ivory tower literature elective. That said, let me include one of my favorite hilarious exchanges from the novel:

[A] fat, gruff colonel with a mustache and an enormous pink face that pressed down very close to Yossarian and radiated scorching heat like the bottom of a huge frying pan [said,] "Where were you born?"

"On a battlefield," [Yossarian] answered.

"No, no. In what state were you born?"

"In a state of innocence."

Perhaps this is the crux of the novel? We are all born in a state of innocence, and as we experience life, and some of us are subjected to some of the extremes of life, such as war, our perception of life turns incredulous or bitter. This ends up being the ultimate Catch-22. No matter how insane and illogical life gets, and no matter how angry and upset we may become, you just have to laugh at the absurdity of it all. When you can accept that things are crazy, you're no longer crazy anymore. That, my friends, is Catch-22.