Catch-22
- Thread starter Mott the Hoople
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Mott the Hoople
Sweet Jane
That was probably the most poignant scene about the cost of war in American literature.
Mason Michaels
Verified User
Catch 22 changed the way,I looked at the world
Mott the Hoople
Sweet Jane
Mason Michaels
Verified User
Me too. It also influenced my sense of humor.
Made me question everything!
Mott the Hoople
Sweet Jane
I learned that from my cynic of a father.
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Me too. It also influenced my sense of humor.
Much preferred M.A.S.H to be honest, have you read the Richard Hooker novel?
Mott the Hoople
Sweet Jane
Absolutely...it's quite good but I wouldn't consider it in the same league as Catch-22. Catch-22 turns a lot of people off because it's not an easy read due to the circular time sequences Heller used and the large number of characters in the novel and, to be quite honest, a lot of people don't get the humor of the completely absurd situations that Heller creates via circular reasoning. They seem to pick up on the absurdity but don't see the humor in it for some reason.
Having said that Robert Altman's "MASH" was definitely a better movie than Mike Nichols Catch-22 though both were very good movies. I can't think of an actor, past or present, who could have been a better choice to play Yossarian than Alan Arkin.
Oh and my favorite part of MASH was when Hawkeye and the gang were going to burn Shaking Sammy on a cross as a favor to Dago Red.
Where as the most important scene in Catch-22 is Snowden's secret which isn't funny in the least.
Mason Michaels
Verified User
MASH isn't in the same ballpark as Catch 22
Mason Michaels
Verified User
If you haven't read Catch 22,the movie is impossible to understand.
Been a while,I ordered a used copy.
Mott the Hoople
Sweet Jane
I agree with the 1970 movie but not the new Hulu TV Mini Series by George Clooney. You can watch that without having read the book and understand it.
Richard Hooker is a pseudonym for Dr Richard Hornberger, the "real life Hawkeye" who wrote M.A.S.H loosely based on his own experiences as an army surgeon in Korea.
The real Hawkeye standing outside The Swamp
And though the original novel is a fun read, its not a literary accomplishment or master work on the scale of Catch 22.
Mason Michaels
Verified User
Mott the Hoople
Sweet Jane
LOL I ended up subscribing to Hulu just so I could watch Catch-22. Now I'm trying to talk my wife into cutting the cable cord.
Mason Michaels
Verified User
I joined HBO just to get The Sopranos
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Richard Hooker is a pseudonym for Dr Richard Hornberger, the "real life Hawkeye" who wrote M.A.S.H loosely based on his own experiences as an army surgeon in Korea.
The real Hawkeye standing outside The Swamp
And though the original novel is a fun read, its not a literary accomplishment or master work on the scale of Catch 22.
So what? I much preferred MASH to Catch 22, I read the books and seen the films and TV. Everybody raves about Catcher in the Rye but I was left wondering what all the fuss was about.
Nobody around here ever accuses you of being all that bright anyway, so none of that is surprising.
Though I would be surprised if you aren't lying about having read Catch-22.
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You just can't help being nasty, can you?
Mason Michaels
Verified User
I felt the same about,Catcher in the Rye.
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Back in my hippy days it was de rigeur to read all of those stream of consciousness type books like On the Road, Electric Kool Aid Acid Test, Catch 22 etc. I recently picked up Zen and the Art of Motorbike Maintenance after many years and that was well worth the effort, maybe I should reread Catch 22? I used to listen to pretentious students raving about it at university perhaps that's what put me off it?
If you are interested there is a truly excellent book called A Piece of Cake written in the 80s and made into a TV miniseries, truly wonderful book about an RAF squadron in WW2. It has some memorable quotes.
"They're all a bit mad, you know. They wouldn't do it unless there was a damn good chance of getting killed, wouldn't they? So they can't be completely normal. They're not what you'd call model citizens, any of them. More like Vandals, I suppose. They're just itching to be turned loose with an eight-gun Hurricane on some lumbering great bomber. I mean that's your average fighter pilot's attitude, isn't it? Show him something, anything really, and deep down inside, his first reaction is: What sort of a mess could I make of that with a couple of three-second bursts? Herd of cows, doubledecker bus, garden party--makes no difference what it is, that's the thought in the back of his mind. Not surprising, really. I've often thought it's a damn good job they're in the RAF, otherwise they'd all be out there blowing up banks."
"The whole purpose of the armed forces can be summed up in one word – killing. Now, I don’t find that goal – in your words – marvellous, or magnificent, and try as I might I cannot bring myself to feel proud of it. Grateful, perhaps, as one is selfishly grateful for the existence of men who keep the sewage system working. But proud? No."
"One tries to be open minded. If anyone can show me the glamour in a man’s head getting blown off, I shall do my best to see it."
"You know… leadership is a confidence trick. You have to persuade men that you can do absolutely anything, otherwise they lose confidence in you and instead of following eagerly into the jaws of death they begin wondering whether perhaps they should go to the toilet instead."