Catch-22 1961 Literature

Joseph Heller

It’s V.’s brother in essence. The main difference I can think of is just that V. doesn’t even have a plot. One could maybe even draw a line of comparison between this and John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces. Heller’s Catch-22 is a fantastic novel with arguably the most recognizable and also best book cover of all time, riddled with geeky Kafkaesque satire and a cast of characters that is both expansive but also incredibly endearing. I’ve heard a good book is one that makes you laugh one page and cry the next and Catch-22 might be the embodiment of such a phenomenon. The book’s been hailed as a masterpiece by everyone and their grandma but usually their grandma as kind of the crown jewel of post-wwii (funny given the fact the book takes place during World War Two) American fiction you don’t read in high school. The fact you might need to look up a timeline to understand this book on a chronological level isn’t super devastating to its quality, although I’m not even gonna pretend I don’t think I owe it more rereads in the future. Snark is probably my favorite character despite how little he shows up, Orr probably being a close second. The interaction between Cathcart and Milo towards the end is really really funny. Point being, for a ~450 book, it doesn’t feel exhausting or boring at any point. Deserves its status, I’d say.