There was only one catch and that was Catch-22.
I have to be honest. One of the only reasons I decided to read this book was to find out what that expression means. I've never understood it before, and oddly enough, I never thought to ask. I'm happy to state that it finally makes sense to me now.
Yossarian is being told constantly that he's crazy. He's finally decided to put that fact to good use by using it as his excuse to be grounded and therefore not fly. There is a rule, after all, that says Doc Daneeka has to ground anyone who's crazy. Here's the catch: you have to ask to be grounded to be grounded, and anyone sane enough to want to be grounded is clearly not crazy. It's a no-win situation! I understand now!
Unfortunately, I am now extremely troubled by something else entirely. Just a few days ago my status on Facebook was, "Do crazy people know they're crazy?" According to Catch-22 they don't, but that is beside the point. Is it just coincidence that one of my random daily musings was actually answered in a book I happened to be reading? A very strange book to answer a very strange question. I must go now. My head hurts.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
A Reflection on Satire
I have read as far as chapter six of this strange book.
The story begins in a hospital ward for American soldiers during World War II. Slowly, we begin to learn that every single soldier in the hospital is only staying there to avoid the war. Though the story is clearly meant to be satirical (which it most definitely is) I can’t decide if this concept is actually sad. Are they saying the war is so horrible these men go as far as to fake an illness just to escape it? I started to think again about the things I had learned about satire this summer. Then I remembered the most important aspect of satire: the writer takes on a very serious tone when writing, therefore saving the humor only for a very smart, mature audience. I like to think of myself as a mature audience, which means I am under obligation to read this book from a satirical point of view.
After coming to this conclusion (and feeling very happy with the outcome of it) I came across something very interesting. The winter play this year is a very serious drama about women who went to work as nurses in Vietnam during the war and their experiences. The men, for their auditions, have to choose a piece of literary work that speaks to them about the difficulties of war and perform it. One book title on the list of suggestions caught my eye. It was, of course, Joseph Heller’s Catch-22!
Wait a minute. Slow down. Didn’t I just come to the conclusion that any mature audience would realize this book was meant to be funny, not dramatic? Could these directors really not realize it? Have they fallen into that dangerous trap of satire by interpreting this work as serious instead of humorous? I find it very hard to believe the directors are an immature audience. Of course, this would mean they were correctly interpreting the book when they said it was a serious description of war. Which would mean I was back to where I started.
Oh well, at least I’m enjoying the book.
The story begins in a hospital ward for American soldiers during World War II. Slowly, we begin to learn that every single soldier in the hospital is only staying there to avoid the war. Though the story is clearly meant to be satirical (which it most definitely is) I can’t decide if this concept is actually sad. Are they saying the war is so horrible these men go as far as to fake an illness just to escape it? I started to think again about the things I had learned about satire this summer. Then I remembered the most important aspect of satire: the writer takes on a very serious tone when writing, therefore saving the humor only for a very smart, mature audience. I like to think of myself as a mature audience, which means I am under obligation to read this book from a satirical point of view.
After coming to this conclusion (and feeling very happy with the outcome of it) I came across something very interesting. The winter play this year is a very serious drama about women who went to work as nurses in Vietnam during the war and their experiences. The men, for their auditions, have to choose a piece of literary work that speaks to them about the difficulties of war and perform it. One book title on the list of suggestions caught my eye. It was, of course, Joseph Heller’s Catch-22!
Wait a minute. Slow down. Didn’t I just come to the conclusion that any mature audience would realize this book was meant to be funny, not dramatic? Could these directors really not realize it? Have they fallen into that dangerous trap of satire by interpreting this work as serious instead of humorous? I find it very hard to believe the directors are an immature audience. Of course, this would mean they were correctly interpreting the book when they said it was a serious description of war. Which would mean I was back to where I started.
Oh well, at least I’m enjoying the book.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Quarter 2 Outside Reading Selection
This quarter I've decided to read Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.
I first became interested in this book in an Introduction to Satire class I signed up for on a whim this summer. The class was very peculiar... it was designed for ages 15-16 but taught by an over-enthusiastic Kindergarten teacher who laughed at anything anyone wrote (even if it wasn't very funny) and found the need to censor everything she gave us to read (including articles from The Onion and even a few passages of Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal.") On the second to the last day of class she passed out photocopies of the first few pages of Catch-22. We looked at the stapled packet in front of us in shock. What is this? we thought, An actual, well-known piece of adult literature that HASN'T been edited for immoral content?
And just as Yossarian fell madly in love with the chaplain at first sight, I had fallen in love with the writer's ridiculous sense of humor after just the first few pages. A man in the war, faking a failing kidney disease just to stay safely within the comfortable hospital walls. Forced to censor letters every morning, (ah! So there is censorship involved here somewhere!) he makes a game out of it. One day is Death to all Modifiers, in which every adjective and adverb was crossed out. Another day is The War on Articles. And the serious tone laced with ridiculous concepts that defines this genre we call satire is promised to continue for the entire novel.
I can't wait to officially start this book. I hope you enjoy my weekly thoughts and musings along the way as much as I'm sure to enjoy the book itself.
I first became interested in this book in an Introduction to Satire class I signed up for on a whim this summer. The class was very peculiar... it was designed for ages 15-16 but taught by an over-enthusiastic Kindergarten teacher who laughed at anything anyone wrote (even if it wasn't very funny) and found the need to censor everything she gave us to read (including articles from The Onion and even a few passages of Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal.") On the second to the last day of class she passed out photocopies of the first few pages of Catch-22. We looked at the stapled packet in front of us in shock. What is this? we thought, An actual, well-known piece of adult literature that HASN'T been edited for immoral content?
And just as Yossarian fell madly in love with the chaplain at first sight, I had fallen in love with the writer's ridiculous sense of humor after just the first few pages. A man in the war, faking a failing kidney disease just to stay safely within the comfortable hospital walls. Forced to censor letters every morning, (ah! So there is censorship involved here somewhere!) he makes a game out of it. One day is Death to all Modifiers, in which every adjective and adverb was crossed out. Another day is The War on Articles. And the serious tone laced with ridiculous concepts that defines this genre we call satire is promised to continue for the entire novel.
I can't wait to officially start this book. I hope you enjoy my weekly thoughts and musings along the way as much as I'm sure to enjoy the book itself.
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