This book needs no introduction. Catch-22 is a satire on war chronicling its uselessness through a sprawling and incomprehensible bureaucracy, the business side of war (M & M Enterprise), what soldiers do to get away (whores and hospitals). I've never watched M*A*S*H but both probably share a lot in common. At first it reminded me a lot of Three Men in a Boat except I can follow a lot of the comedy. There is definite cleverness in the prose but the first 70 pages or so are kinda insufferable

The stage is WWII on Pianosa, a small Italian island next to Corsica

All but five chapters ("Bologna, "Thanksgiving", "The Cellar", "The Eternal City" and "Catch-22" are named after a protagonist on the island and soon we are painted a vivid pictures of what goes on on the base (very little as it happens). It kinda bothers me that some chapters do focus on the title character but most of them go astray (Major Major Major Major was pretty on point but Wintergreen only talked about him for 3 pages before going off on Appleby). Milo has 2 chapters named after him though ostensibly, most of the book is about bombardier Yossarian and his struggle to stay alive

There's a long running joke about the general of the outfit who keeps raising the number of missions pilots have to fly to be discharged. The irony is used so bluntly that it becomes pleasurable. The novel also discusses "deja vu" at length which leads me to think it was a novel idea in the 60s. Heller uses it to illustrate the repetitiveness of war, induced through its lack of purpose

One thing that I couldn't keep track of was the different army grades, for instance who's higher graded, a major or a captain? This office rank page helps (there is another one for enlisted)

Doc Daneeka probably had the worst fate in all the misfortune of the war, and that is counting the numerous deaths that pepper the novel (the final body count is actually brutal)

It's amazing that Heller is able to make us keep track of all the characters. This is done by repeating some of the events from different perspectives. Good fitting ending


Quotes
"But there's a catch"
"Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of cmobat duty isn't really crazy. There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind"
"Colonel Cathcart had courage and never hesitated to volunteer his men for any target available"
"That crazy bastard may be the only sane one left"
"..he was the squadron intelligence officer, which meant he was more intelligent than everyone else in the squadron"
"At least you've got a chance. You're in combat and might get killed.But what about me? I've got nothing to hope for"
"He began to wonder with genuine concern just waht sort of shithead the pentagon had foisted on him"
"It's not my business to save lives, Doc Daneeka retorted suddenly"
"We're sending you home"
"Getting stabbed by that bitch was the best thing that happened to me"


Notes
This novel made me realize how "flak" (antiaircraft artillery) is a term used in air warfare. The Wikipedia article is excellent, as always