Catch-22
I just finished reading Catch-22 for the second time in my life. I don’t think there is any other novel that pivots so wildly from hysterical laughter to the depths of depression. Reading it must be something like being manic-depressive.
It’s a terribly beautiful novel, and I can’t help thinking that if more people had read it the US might not be embroiled in war right now. Perhaps it should be required reading for anyone who wants to join the military. Then again, for all I know Dick Cheney loves the book and sees himself as Cathcart, or Peckem, or Milo…
About halfway through I decided to mine it for quotes but never did, mainly because I found myself (again) too engrossed in reading. But here’s one from near the end that I think represents the book well, in an odd way.
Yossarian quickened his pace to get away, almost ran. The night was filled with horrors, and he thought he knew how Christ must have felt as he walked through the world, like a psychiatrist through a ward full of nuts, like a victim through a prison full of thieves. What a welcome sight a leper must have been!
A welcome sight indeed. Run on Yossarian, but never stop jumping; jump all the way to Sweden.