Joseph Heller: Catch-22 (EBook, français language, 2004, Grasset)
epub, 518 pages
français language
Published June 1, 2004 by Grasset.
Catch 22, l'Article 22, est un « attrape-nigaud » qui permet à un colonel américain d'imposer un nombre de missions sans cesse croissant à son escadrille de bombardement basée dans une petite île de la Méditerranée pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale... Yossaran, héros tragi-comique de cette épopée burlesque, est décidé à tout tenter pour sauver sa peau : il estime que sa seule mission, quand il s'envole, consiste à atterrir vivant. Simuler la folie dans cet univers délirant lui paraît le meilleur moyen de tirer au flanc. Hélas, l'Article 22 stipule : « Quiconque veut se dispenser d'aller au feu n'est pas réellement fou. » Cette première oeuvre de Joseph Heller compte parmi les meilleurs romans américains de l'après-guerre.
Catch 22, l'Article 22, est un « attrape-nigaud » qui permet à un colonel américain d'imposer un nombre de missions sans cesse croissant à son escadrille de bombardement basée dans une petite île de la Méditerranée pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale... Yossaran, héros tragi-comique de cette épopée burlesque, est décidé à tout tenter pour sauver sa peau : il estime que sa seule mission, quand il s'envole, consiste à atterrir vivant. Simuler la folie dans cet univers délirant lui paraît le meilleur moyen de tirer au flanc. Hélas, l'Article 22 stipule : « Quiconque veut se dispenser d'aller au feu n'est pas réellement fou. » Cette première oeuvre de Joseph Heller compte parmi les meilleurs romans américains de l'après-guerre.
It's one of the best book about war I ever read. Funny, sad, insane, truthful. Most of all it shows the absurdities of war.
It's one of the best book about war I ever read. Funny, sad, insane, truthful. Most of all it shows the absurdities of war.
This was a tough read. It's really not a comedy, but more of an absurd tragedy. if you don't believe me, try applying a "divine fulcrum" to an acquaintance, and wait for the hilarity to ensue.
I am sure this book allowed Heller to work through his PTSD, because I felt it myself.
This was a tough read. It's really not a comedy, but more of an absurd tragedy. if you don't believe me, try applying a "divine fulcrum" to an acquaintance, and wait for the hilarity to ensue.
I am sure this book allowed Heller to work through his PTSD, because I felt it myself.
1) ''Nately was instantly up in arms again. 'There is nothing so absurd about risking your life for your country!' he declared.
'Isn't there?' asked the old man. 'What is a country? A country is a piece of land surrounded on all sides by boundaries, usually unnatural. Englishmen are dying for England, Americans are dying for America, Germans are dying for Germany, Russians are dying for Russia. There are now fifty or sixty countries fighting in this war. Surely so many countries can't all be worth dying for.'''
2) '''I'm nuts. Cuckoo. Don't you understand? I'm off my rocker. They sent someone else home in my place by mistake. They've got a licensed psychiatrist up at the hospital who examined me, and that was his verdict. I'm really insane.'
'So?'
'So?' Yossarian was puzzled by Doc Daneeka's inability to comprehend. 'Don't you see what that means? Now you can take …
1) ''Nately was instantly up in arms again. 'There is nothing so absurd about risking your life for your country!' he declared.
'Isn't there?' asked the old man. 'What is a country? A country is a piece of land surrounded on all sides by boundaries, usually unnatural. Englishmen are dying for England, Americans are dying for America, Germans are dying for Germany, Russians are dying for Russia. There are now fifty or sixty countries fighting in this war. Surely so many countries can't all be worth dying for.'''
2) '''I'm nuts. Cuckoo. Don't you understand? I'm off my rocker. They sent someone else home in my place by mistake. They've got a licensed psychiatrist up at the hospital who examined me, and that was his verdict. I'm really insane.'
'So?'
'So?' Yossarian was puzzled by Doc Daneeka's inability to comprehend. 'Don't you see what that means? Now you can take me off combat duty and send me home. They're not going to send a crazy man out to be killed, are they?'
'Who else will go?'''
3) ''Morale was deteriorating and it was all Yossarian's fault. The country was in peril; he was jeopardizing his traditional rights of freedom and independence by daring to exercise them.''
4) ''Catch-22 did not exist, he was positive of that, but it made no difference. What did matter was that everyone thought it existed, and that was much worse, for there was no object or text to ridicule or refute, to accuse, criticize, attack, amend, hate, revile, spit at, rip to shreds, trample upon or burn up.''
The first third of this book made me think about what a horrible writer Ayn Rand was. To have one idea, one that was pretty despicable, that could be easily stated in full in about two sentences, and then write scenarios that express that one idea ad nauseum... well, it's nauseating.
Heller, too, has a single idea to present here: war, its operations and administration, its causes and goals, is simply absurd. At every level, absurdity. The worst thing that could happen is to be the lone sane person capable of recognizing the absurdity of all of it, to be inescapably dog-paddling in the middle of a pool of absurd.
For a long time, while Catch-22 is merely comically absurd, this repetition is suffocating. It bears little resemblance to the world I am familiar with and to the way people behave. I started getting that same feeling I had slogging …
The first third of this book made me think about what a horrible writer Ayn Rand was. To have one idea, one that was pretty despicable, that could be easily stated in full in about two sentences, and then write scenarios that express that one idea ad nauseum... well, it's nauseating.
Heller, too, has a single idea to present here: war, its operations and administration, its causes and goals, is simply absurd. At every level, absurdity. The worst thing that could happen is to be the lone sane person capable of recognizing the absurdity of all of it, to be inescapably dog-paddling in the middle of a pool of absurd.
For a long time, while Catch-22 is merely comically absurd, this repetition is suffocating. It bears little resemblance to the world I am familiar with and to the way people behave. I started getting that same feeling I had slogging through Atlas Shrugged. "O, Come On, I get it already. I don't agree with you, but you've made your point!" Eventually, though, Heller begins to hint at events that just are not laughable on any level. As the novel becomes tragically absurd, it gets considerably better.
The progression of the novel is pretty masterfully achieved. While I chuckled inwardly a bit in the initial chapters, and lost patience with the repetition for several more, and then slowly was shown this light and a meaning, I have to believe Heller aimed for just my response in each section. I guess I respect the way I was played even if, in the end, I'm not really convinced.
Re-reading it in chunks and at leisurely speed. One of the most influential books ever.
I really loved this book; tacking the mental issues suffered during war time would be really difficult, but Joseph Heller’s satirical take and amazing writing made it easier to both understand and read. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything like this; it was humorous, it was very enjoyable.
Hilarious, classic, and just a good read. Enjoyable through and through.
Hilarious, classic, and just a good read. Enjoyable through and through.
Hilarious, classic, and just a good read. Enjoyable through and through.
Hilarious, classic, and just a good read. Enjoyable through and through.
Hilarious, classic, and just a good read. Enjoyable through and through.
Hilarious, classic, and just a good read. Enjoyable through and through.
See my review of Cat's Cradle.
See my review of Cat's Cradle.
[August 2018] I don't know if this is the fifth time I've read it or the sixth. Or seventh. Doesn't matter; it might be my last. It's just not as funny when daily we hear of real-life Aarfys, Milos, Cathcarts and Korns and other cockroaches in too-powerful positions.
I will always love this book. Every page has crushing examples of how horrible humans can be; yet every few pages Heller reminds us how kind we can be too. While it's certainly not The Great Novel About The Human Experience—for one, there are no female characters—Heller covers huge swaths of the big ones: courage, cruelty, greed, compassion, blind moronic obedience. (Come to think of it, maybe this is the perfect book for the present republican administration). Most importantly—this is what keeps the reader going—Heller highlights it all with a tone of utter absurdity. Sometimes it's delighted absurdity, sometimes exasperated, but always …
[August 2018] I don't know if this is the fifth time I've read it or the sixth. Or seventh. Doesn't matter; it might be my last. It's just not as funny when daily we hear of real-life Aarfys, Milos, Cathcarts and Korns and other cockroaches in too-powerful positions.
I will always love this book. Every page has crushing examples of how horrible humans can be; yet every few pages Heller reminds us how kind we can be too. While it's certainly not The Great Novel About The Human Experience—for one, there are no female characters—Heller covers huge swaths of the big ones: courage, cruelty, greed, compassion, blind moronic obedience. (Come to think of it, maybe this is the perfect book for the present republican administration). Most importantly—this is what keeps the reader going—Heller highlights it all with a tone of utter absurdity. Sometimes it's delighted absurdity, sometimes exasperated, but always engaging and thoughtful.
This is an important book; and I don't mean one to have gathering dust on your bookshelf. If you haven't read it, please do.
It won't change your outlook on life, but it's definitely a must-read for anyone who appreciates literature.
It won't change your outlook on life, but it's definitely a must-read for anyone who appreciates literature.
There is a laughter about this book, but it is a maniacal laughter. If we did not laugh, we might just go insane. Heller does an amazing job of using humor and irony without glossing over the atrocities of war.
I am not generally a fan of âwarâ fiction, but wars and their justifications do become part of our mythology and our political discourse. Consequently, books that challenge the accepted political myth structure are important even if they are about war.
All of which is far too heavy an introduction to b:Catch-22|168668|Catch-22|Joseph Heller|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1359882576s/168668.jpg|814330, which is a satyrical romp that savages bureaucracy, bogus bravery, and capitalism. Set in later World War II, it centers around the experiences of Yossarian, an American airman based on an island near Italy. Like a:Kurt Vonnegut|2778055|Kurt Vonnegut|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1357661500p2/2778055.jpg's b:Slaughterhouse-Five|4981|Slaughterhouse-Five|Kurt Vonnegut|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337996187s/4981.jpg|1683562, this is an important book that has changed our language ("catch 22" was a term invented by Heller), and our discourse. It is also hilariously funny.
Likely to appeal to people who like a:Tom Robbins|197|Tom Robbins|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1351102884p2/197.jpg, a:Kurt Vonnegut|2778055|Kurt Vonnegut|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1357661500p2/2778055.jpg, or a:Milan Kundera|6343|Milan Kundera|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1216972285p2/6343.jpg.
I am not generally a fan of âwarâ fiction, but wars and their justifications do become part of our mythology and our political discourse. Consequently, books that challenge the accepted political myth structure are important even if they are about war.
All of which is far too heavy an introduction to b:Catch-22|168668|Catch-22|Joseph Heller|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1359882576s/168668.jpg|814330, which is a satyrical romp that savages bureaucracy, bogus bravery, and capitalism. Set in later World War II, it centers around the experiences of Yossarian, an American airman based on an island near Italy. Like a:Kurt Vonnegut|2778055|Kurt Vonnegut|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1357661500p2/2778055.jpg's b:Slaughterhouse-Five|4981|Slaughterhouse-Five|Kurt Vonnegut|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337996187s/4981.jpg|1683562, this is an important book that has changed our language ("catch 22" was a term invented by Heller), and our discourse. It is also hilariously funny.
Likely to appeal to people who like a:Tom Robbins|197|Tom Robbins|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1351102884p2/197.jpg, a:Kurt Vonnegut|2778055|Kurt Vonnegut|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1357661500p2/2778055.jpg, or a:Milan Kundera|6343|Milan Kundera|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1216972285p2/6343.jpg.
A massive classic. War is hell, or boring as hell, or both. Gave us the classic phrase after all. You can't refuse to fly missions on the grounds of insanity because no sane person would want to fly missions. Catch-22!
A massive classic. War is hell, or boring as hell, or both. Gave us the classic phrase after all. You can't refuse to fly missions on the grounds of insanity because no sane person would want to fly missions. Catch-22!
