Author: Source Wikipedia
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781230600161
Size: 46.51 MB
Format: PDF, ePub, Mobi
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Languages : en
Pages : 32
View: 624
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Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 30. Chapters: Catch-22 characters, Nately, Joseph Heller, Yossarian, List of Catch-22 characters, Doc Daneeka, Orr, Milo Minderbinder, Captain Aardvark, B-25 Mitchell aircraft in Catch-22, Scheisskopf, Major Major, Chaplain Tappman, Pianosa, C.I.D. Investigators, Colonel Cathcart, Closing Time, Catch 22, Catch as Catch Can: The Collected Stories and Other Writings. Excerpt: Catch-22 is a satirical, historical novel by the American author Joseph Heller, first published in 1961. The novel, set during the later stages of World War II from 1944 onwards, is frequently cited as one of the great literary works of the twentieth century. It has a distinctive non-chronological style where events are described from different characters' points of view and out of sequence so that the time line develops along with the plot. The novel follows Yossarian, a U.S. Army Air Forces B-25 bombardier, and a number of other characters. Most events occur while the Airmen of the fictional 256th squadron are based on the island of Pianosa, in the Mediterranean Sea west of Italy. Among other things, Catch-22 is a general critique of bureaucratic operation and reasoning. Resulting from its specific use in the book, the phrase "Catch-22" is common idiomatic usage meaning "a no-win situation" or "a double bind" of any type. Within the book, "Catch-22" is a military rule, the self-contradictory circular logic that, for example, prevents anyone from avoiding combat missions. In Heller's own words: There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more...
