Methods to Satirize Military Bureaucracy and Capitalistic Enterprise
Catch-22' was Joseph Heller's first novel and arose out of Heller's own experiences as a U.S. bombardier during World War II. It was published in 1961 and was subject to a great deal of criticism. It presented an unsentimental account of war, replacing the ideals of glory and honour with a nightmarish comedy of violence, bureaucracy and paradoxical madness. Most of the novel takes place in the last year of the war in Europe. It is set in Italy and is very much based on what actually happened, accurately depicting the capture of Rome and other such incidents.
Initially, the critical response to Joseph Heller's first novel was mixed, with some of the most prestigious reviews being quite negative. Richard G. Stern, in The New York Times Book Review, wrote that the novel "gasps for want of craft and sensibility" and that the book was "no novel." However, it could be said that these views were arrived at care of a misinterpretation of the story because, Catch 22, despite being met by a great deal of criticism, also received much praise. Nelson Algren (The Nation) found that the novel was not only antiwar but a repudiation of all the horror, greed, complacency, ignorance, and "endless cunning" in society. The New Republic called it "one of the most bitterly funny works in the language" and it became widely recognized as the greatest satirical work ever written.
It also came to be thought of as the signature novel of the 1960s and 70s, despite its World War II setting, spurring on Americans to question authority during two decades of hippies, protests and civil rights movements with Catch 22 fitting in perfectly. Its tone is shaped by the events of the 1950s (when it was written) and an attitude toward all wars, not just that one. Looking back, Heller recognized that World War II was a relatively popular' war for most Americans, a factor in some critical rejection of the novel. Catch-22 grew in popularity during the years of the Vietnam War, when the general
Initially, the critical response to Joseph Heller's first novel was mixed, with some of the most prestigious reviews being quite negative. Richard G. Stern, in The New York Times Book Review, wrote that the novel "gasps for want of craft and sensibility" and that the book was "no novel." However, it could be said that these views were arrived at care of a misinterpretation of the story because, Catch 22, despite being met by a great deal of criticism, also received much praise. Nelson Algren (The Nation) found that the novel was not only antiwar but a repudiation of all the horror, greed, complacency, ignorance, and "endless cunning" in society. The New Republic called it "one of the most bitterly funny works in the language" and it became widely recognized as the greatest satirical work ever written.
It also came to be thought of as the signature novel of the 1960s and 70s, despite its World War II setting, spurring on Americans to question authority during two decades of hippies, protests and civil rights movements with Catch 22 fitting in perfectly. Its tone is shaped by the events of the 1950s (when it was written) and an attitude toward all wars, not just that one. Looking back, Heller recognized that World War II was a relatively popular' war for most Americans, a factor in some critical rejection of the novel. Catch-22 grew in popularity during the years of the Vietnam War, when the general