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Catch-22 in Various Forms

 




I just finished watching the 2019 television series version of Catch-22 staring Christopher Abbott. Probably 40 years ago, I watched the 1970 movie version with Alan Arkin. Probably like 50 years ago, I read the novel by Joseph Heller.

In Catch-22 we follow Yossarian, a bombardier stationed on an island in the Mediterranean Sea during World War II. Yossarian is told that once he flies 25 missions, he can go home. But as he and his fellow crewmates get close to 25, they raise the line to 30 missions, then 35, then 40, and so on. We see Yossarian trying to navigate this psychological hellscape.

As it has been some 50 years since I read the novel, I would be hard-pressed to say how faithful each screen version was to the original source. That being said, I think it would be hard for a two-hour movie to do true justice to the rich characters from the book. A series should be able to do a better job. And it does . . . but I still think we did not get to know Yossarian’s friends as well as we should. Going on my dim memories of the book, it just seems like I got to know them better in the book. But overall, I did really like the series. It moved me. It made me laugh. It made me think. Abbott does a good job playing the sometimes perplexed, sometimes terrified, sometimes wise Yossarian.

At the same time, and not to throw you completely off base, I am currently reading John Irving’s The Last Chairlift. There are similarities between Irving’s writing and Heller’s. In both we have heavy doses of comedy and tragedy. I like Irving’s novels, and this is a trademark of his work: quirky humor, mixed with very tragic tragedy. Both Irving and Heller like to immerse you in a world of rich, complex, and sometimes bizarre characters. And Irving is a master of foreshadowing. You always know the tragedy is coming. There is a sense of impending doom between the laughs.

With Catch-22, the sense of impending doom is supplied by the war. The comedy is supplied by the absurdity. Yossarian tries everything he can to keep from flying. In one scheme he decides to plead insanity. He tells the doctor he is crazy. The doctor agrees he is crazy, but there is a catch, the doctor tells him: Catch-22. In order for Yossarian to be sent home he has to ask for it, but if he asks to go home, it proves he’s not crazy, because no sane person would want to stay.  “That’s some catch, that Catch-22,” Yossarian says. “it’s a doozie,” the doctor agrees.

It's a doozie.

Star Liner


Comments

  1. marcmaislenJanuary 2, 2023 at 9:58 PM

    Always Enjoy your take on literature. In fact, Catch 22 became an iconic phrase of my generation.

    ReplyDelete

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