Catch-22

This is an okay book written by Joseph Heller. Bombardier Yossarian has had enough of World War II and he wants out. His desire, however, is thwarted when his Commanding Officer raises the number of missions the men must fly to fulfill their service requirements. So, Yossarian decides to file for his release – and is then confronted by the Great Loyalty Oath Crusade. In order to be discharged, he has to be declared insane. But to prove his insanity, he must continue his bombing missions, because only an insane person would willingly keep flying. It is this twisted bureaucratic logic that Yossarian struggles against in order to be set free.

There were a few funny lines. I didn’t like the repetitive dialogue and the inability for most of the characters to respond to simple questions. The book was published in 1961. It has a non-chronological style. In popular usage, a Catch-22 represents a no-win situation, but in the novel it refers to self-contradictory military orders. Heller wrote a sequel in 1994 called Closing Time. He served as a bombardier during World War II, but says he didn't have a bad officer.