Catch 22- My Thoughts

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller is a book that many people have probably not read. That is unless they had taken a course that made it part of their required reading to earn a favorable grade.  I must have missed class the day it was assigned, because I had never read Catch 22, even though I was quite familiar with the phase, Catch 22. (Catch 22 = Dammed if you do, Dammed if you don't.)  I don't know what exactly possessed me to read Catch 22. It could have been the curiosity about where such a phase came from, or it could have been that my husband spoke warmly of the book. I suppose it doesn't really matter what brings a book into my hands to read, because devouring words is a pass time that I enjoy.

My friend, Andy asked me what I thought of Catch 22. The answer to that question left my mind utterly blank. What did I think of this classic novel? Part of me flip flopped from love to hate on it and then back to love.  I don't think it is love or hate when it comes to Catch 22.  I think that saying I loved it or hated it, would be too simple of answer, and not a true answer at all. It took me a long time to figure out how I really wanted to answer that question.  (By really long time, I mean it took me seven months to come up with an answer.)

Let me start by saying that I did not hate the novel.  The novel frustrated me, because I could see a lot of the dammed if you do, dammed if you don't situations being replicated in my professional life. Those sort of situations are like a coin that leaves everyone unsatisfied with the out come.  The frustration that I find professionally at times, made me frustrated when reading the book, because I just wanted to smack the characters and tell them to quit being idiots.  It is really hard to smack fictional characters, and if anyone can tell me how to do it, I would be very much interested. The thing is even though some of the characters border on ridiculous, you can't help but feel sorry for them because they don't know any better, and even if they do know better, they don't know how to change it.

It is that conundrum of how do you reach your goals without a clear path.  That gave me a lot to think about in this book. This book is about men that want to fulfill their duty, keep their sanity and go home. Much like the normal work day. It sounds simple. Sometimes the simplest thing is the hardest thing to do. I can understand why my husband  praises the book.  I can completely understand why the phrase Catch 22 is popular, even to those people that have never read the book, because there have always been situations that there are no absolutely correct solutions for.

I wouldn't say that I have a love for the book, but more of a respect for the book and all that it made me ponder.  I feel like I am a better person for having read the book, and I think that even if it isn't your cup of tea, that sometimes you need to read books like Catch 22, just to balance out your point of view and remind yourself that sometimes there are no easy answers.  We all just do the best that we can to maintain the grip on the sanity we do have and sometimes we have to do something a little out of the normal just to balance ourselves out.


P.S.- Andy, Sorry it took me so long to get back to you.  Next time will be quicker.