Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Everyone that has a basic high school education is aware of this book’s existence. Furthermore, anyone who has been alive since Heller released it is familiar with what a Catch-22 is, whether or not they know what the Catch-22 is.

I met this book in high school. I started reading it, and returned it a few days later thinking it wasn’t very good. I was surprised since Mrs. Oakes had never never led me astray before. Now that I’m slightly older and perhaps wiser, I found that there was a lot to be enjoyed about this title. I have to thank my dear friend Ashton for this rediscovery. She had been attempting to read Catch-22 and was not enjoying it. One day while we were chatting on the phone she threw down the gauntlets and announced, “I’ll read it, if you read.” I know, it’s a very adult thing to have happened. Thus began my journey to Pianosa.

Whenever I pick up a book I always investigate the covers. Admire the artwork (Has any other novel’s artwork gone as unchanged as Catch-22′s?), and read the reviews on the back. The first line to be found on this edition follows a particularly optimistic train of thought: “One of the funniest books you will ever read…” I smiled and took that in stride.

In the beginning this truly is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. The reader is introduced to a lovely cast of characters on the Mediterranean Island of Pianosa. They are all members of the United States Army. It is the midst of World War II. Their lives are full of shenanigans. Especially the life of Yossarian. He is the protagonist of this novel. Many of the events in the books will connect back to him some how, and he’s responsible, directly or indirectly, for many of the events. He’s paranoid that everyone is trying to kill him, and has decided to live as long as possible or die trying.

As the book progresses the shenanigans become less and less lighthearted and more heartbreaking. Heller has designed the story to introduce the reader to the inconvenient, yet laughable, aspects of the military’s established set of rules that governs its officers and enlisted men. It is in the phase we learn the first catch.

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 missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he were sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle. (p. 46, ch. 5)

Eventually the reader is forced to see a much darker aspect of the military and life in World War II. The incidents that occur are no longer happy-go-lucky, but are full of death and demise. Many people we’ve been introduced to and learned to care about die or mysteriously disappear. The worse offender commit heinous crimes, but see nothing wrong with them. A particularly difficult to read part of the book teaches us the horror like side of Catch-22.

Catch-22 states that agents enforcing Catch-22 need not prove that Catch-22 actually contains whatever provision the accused violator is accused of violating.

or

Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can’t stop them from doing.

Naturally this is where the laughter is harder to come by. The reader is forced to see all of the ugliness in the world, and that there are real people who have to deal with it everyday.

My reading partner disliked portions of this book because they can be read as largely anti-woman. There are whores, there are misogynistic jokes, there are times when the women truly are treated like objects whose sole purpose for existence is to be groped and fooled around with. I felt like as much as I don’t respect these actions, they are true to the time. However I also feel it’s worth mentioning.

As I think about the book more I believe it’s possible to draw that aspects of this book are where the creators of M.A.S.H. found their basis. Both are funny on the surface, and no one seems to remember either of them for a particular poignancy regarding absurd bureaucratic endeavors in the military. Just sayin’

I don’t believe I’ll pick this book up again. At least not for a little while. I’ve learned why it’s respected as one of the best books of the 20th Century, but I’ve also learned why Catch-22 is the only book by Heller anyone ever cares about. Read it, it’s worth knowing the story and learning the lessons.

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I arrive at home. I shuffle around said home, picking things up, cooking, doing homey things. Eventually I settle on the couch. The television appears to be on. Sometimes I watch it and am entertained, sometimes I hardly hear it. The latter is a nasty habit which should be broken. My laptop is warming my legs. Here I stare at the third such device of the day for X amount of hours until I decide I should sleep and/or attempt to read whatever book I’ve selected for the time being. No matter my ambitions, intentions, nor optimism my time dissolves and fades away. So it goes.

Then it’s December.

I have blogs I want to write, and books I want to read. Stories and ideas pile up in the catacombs of my brain and want to be freed. It’s time to break this pattern, before December decides to disappear as well.

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I have a to-do list though! I even have drafts! I’ve got books to write about. Since the last time I’ve read these: A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons, My Father The Spy: An Investigative Memoir, and I’m almost done with Catch-22.

See Y’all Soon!

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Minecraft is a game where you most basic goals are to mine for assorted blocks, and then build things with them. What can you build? Anything your imagination allows.

Last week, I think, my pal Tyler back in Texas white-listed me on his Minecraft server. Which then opened up his giant map to me, and I could build whatever I wanted, wherever I wanted. After some initial exploring, and i walked around the map for a while I chose a location for my first big project.

This is where I decided to create something from one of my favorite games ever, Portal. I have more coming on the Portal series, but if you want to know more about it, or have never heard of it, I recommend looking it up. It’s one of the funniest game series I’ve ever played.

One of the most memorable characters from portal isn’t a character, so much as an inanimate object, that just so happens to be programmed to feel pain. The companion cube is a object used in Portal to help the player solve puzzles. You grow to love the companion, to the point even that it stays with you in real life, or into other videos games.

With that said, I present to you, my giant Minecraft Companion Cube. The cube is 23 blocks tall, wide, and long. It took me a few hours to put it all together, and is way more impressive in the video game environment. This is only phase one of a building project I’m planning. I’ll share more as it comes.

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The next week, it was gone.

Skip ahead to April, and it’s my birthday. The night before my birthday wife is teeming with excitement over the gift she got me, though she’s also a littler nervous about it. At 12:02 A.M. on my birthday she rolled over in bed and asked if she could give me my gift now. I ever so kindly obliged her, I mean who am I to stop her from being so gracious?

Upon her return to the room she handed me this:

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To digress a bit, I recommend checking out the Easton Press, they have created some amazing leather bound editions, including a full set of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I discovered that set just this past Tuesday, and would love to take it home, even with it’s $2,500-$5,000 price tag.

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I love pork. I think the pig is one of the best animals for eating. There are so very many things that can be done with it, and now Villas has given us an entire book about it. I have poured through the book to learn as much as I can, and there are quite a few recipes I have plans to adventure into making this summer as the weather improves for outdoor cooking. If you love pork, ham, bacon, and any other food items that comes from the succulent swine then check out this book.

I can’t leave however, without voicing my opinion that Villas is kind of an ass. It doesn’t take away from the book, but it does make me not really care for his writing. He is of a particular belief on what the definition of particular words including barbecue and southerner should mean. I don’t mind his definitions, but the way he constantly asserts them into his writing becomes obnoxious rather quickly.

To close, buy this book, if for no other reason because it won a 2011 James Beard Foundation Award for American Cooking. If you’ve never heard of the James Beard Foundation, and you consider yourself a lover of food, then you need to go check them out right now.

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Currently I’m torn on using PVA as an adhesive or something that will allow me to disassemble the book if ever need. Although maybe I’ll stick with something simple and easily accessible for my first project. I’ll post some pictures of the finished project, and next time I sit down to construct something I’ll see if wife will take some…action shots(?).

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Stumbled onto this tonight. Decided to share.

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You see, I have a real problem when it comes to writing, whether I’m blogging, reviewing or creating fiction. I always start with an idea, but instead of just letting it flow out of me I start thinking about it. That’s when it all goes down hill. Bradbury talked about being an emotional writer and letting his characters tell him what they wanted to say or do and what they were saying. I would like to do that. I want to actually allow my ideas to flow from my being and not become pent up relics somewhere in my brain. I have a few stories that I’ve started and haven’t finished, or finished but would like to clean up. I am going to do that this year. Writing more, and allowing myself to be open and free in my writing is my newest goal. I will not say I’m going to write more blogs, or even that I’ll share with whoever reads this more. I will say that I’m just going to do it. If you get to see some of it then yay, if not then feel free to check in on whether or not I’m doing what I said I’d do.

Wife introduced me to 750 Words, and it’s wonderful. You should give it a try. It really gets the words flowing from me like nothing else has in a long, long time.

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2010 has been a good year.

Despite the fact that when it began I was probably at the most rotten place I’ve ever been in my life. After months of unemployment I was working a temp. job. It was one of those classically horrifying cubicle places. I now have a new respect for Office Space, and anyone who makes their living in a cubicle.

I eventually moved on to a new job at a bookstore. This is the best job I’ve ever had. As with any job there are moments of uneasiness and instability, but overall I love it. I’ve made some great friends from working here, and learned a lot more about myself and my abilities. I also have a continuous stream of books.

In August my family came to visit that was awesome. I was able to show them around Lincoln and had a great time for a solid week. I can’t wait for that to happen again.

In October a great friend from high school, however rare those are, came to Lincoln to cover a football game. It was amazing. We spent 3 days hanging out and walking around downtown Lincoln. There are some snazzy pictures from that.

In November, wife and I went on a trip to Chicago and Ft. Wayne, Indiana. I love my wife and the trips we take together. No matter how nervous I am about traveling, she makes it better!

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