Final Comments on Catch-22

I guess this is where we can all wrap up with our final comments and reflections on Heller's snazzy little book. I think some good topics would be final thoughts on what Heller specifically was trying to communicate about WWII and war in general through his book, whether you guys still think Yossarian is just as crazy as all the other characters, what you feel the irony brought to the book, why there was continually all the silly silly silly character interplay, et cetera et cetera. Remember the developmental threads we decided to follow during the book club meeting, i.e. why Yossarian appears to be the central character. Blog away!

I think it might be time for a proper post.

HI GROUP! Our blog is looking a little lonely, so I thought I might liven it up a bit.

First of all, there was a movie made of Catch-22 in 1970, and some of the casting is kind of funny. You can see it here. Some of my favorites:


Bob Newhart as Major Major Major Major

and


ART GARFUNKEL as Nately. (Did you know Art Garfunkel has read nearly 1000 books in the past thirty years? And that he numbered and catalogued them?)

Now we have some super-exciting pictures of old men on our blog. You can thank me tomorrow in class.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I am seeing a lot of similarities between Catch-22 and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. There is a prevading sense of "Why do we even bother?" in both, whether it is Rosencrantz questioning his own existence, or Yossarian avoiding real life -- his role in the war -- by hiding out in the hospital. I think that there are many topics that we discussed in relation to R&G that also apply in a major way to Catch-22. For example, our book club conferences about why Yossarian is the main character seem to hark back to whether we are the main characters in our own lives. Just because a story is from Yossarian's point of view doesn't make him the most interesting character.