Catch-22, by Joseph Heller

[Jamie]

This book reminded me of why I like murder mysteries. In a murder mystery the rule of law holds and the detectives and/or the police make sure to find and follow the facts to convict the right people and protect the innocent. There is no such absolute in this novel. Through the excuse of war and the ease with which power-hungry or inept men can abuse power overseas during war, there is no recourse for the men stuck flying endless combat missions in this story. Nor, for that matter is there any real chance for justice or safety for the civilians in Rome and the other towns these pilots spend non-flight time in. Blaming the war doesn't really get at the real reasons why. The pilots and soldiers can assault and rape the women they find without anyone bothering them about it, just as the soldiers' and pilots' superiors can use these men's lives as tools with which to gain unearned promotions and false but glowing reputations. The men at the top are safe enough, for the most part, and Milo, the unscrupulous business man/con man who can be such a believable friend when it suits him. One has to hope that when all these people transition back to peacetime, the rule of law will once again count for something, but realistically, we all know for such men the law doesn't count for much still.
I don't know that I liked this book much- it reads like an attempt at writing comedy for the most part, but falls a bit flat as both comedy and straight fiction. But the subject matter and the story are still worth reading and thinking about. And I could sympathize with the main character; it has always bugged me how a person's own people are so willing to kill him during wartime for 'desertion', 'cowardice', or any other form of not wanting to commit murder under the guise of war or not following whatever whims turn into orders during war.
I gave this book 4 stars. I'd go with 3.5 if we had half-stars on Goodreads.

[Kristel]

Read and reviewed 2015, My second reading of it. I thought it was good the first time, this time, perhaps I was paying more attention. It was shocking to read the satire of WWII. You just don't expect it but reading Wiki after helped me understand that the book was written by an author who was a bombardier in WWII, suffered probably PTSD, took a few years to write it and it was strongly influenced by the politics of the 50s. I found it funny but underneath it isn't funny. War is ugly but by writing in this way (much like Tim O'Brien, in The Things They Carried) you can write about the trauma and avoid some of the PTSD reexperiencing. I think the circular telling worked because we slowly learn about Snowden. The storyline is not chronological and is told from different perspectives. Yes, I think Heller tried to wow us with vocabulary but over all I think he is an excellent author and the book deserves the accolades it has gotten.