'Catch-22' by Joseph Heller: 50 years later

Even today, half a century since Catch-22’s publication, the novel still upholds great significance to the contemporary society it now addresses. It is a novel which has maintained its admiration because the necessity for a moral strengthening within our society is still a relevant concern to proclaim. As Joseph Heller declares himself, in 1998, during an interview with politician Alan Gregg:

                 It [Catch-22] deals with situations and feelings and people of a certain type that always exist and it is still relevant today as it was when the book was written. Politics has not changed for the better, bureaucracy has not changed, our industrial and commercial world hasn’t changed, and the individuals [...] have not changed.[1]

            Thus Catch-22 warrants its literary presence within contemporary culture. It is a novel that is still needed today because the crucial problems it addresses have remained. Its criticism and protestation, against the power wielded by political and bureaucratic institutions, is still necessary; its promotion of individualism and moral reasoning remains significant; and, its proclamation that accepting irrationality can radically lead to unscrupulous laws, like Catch-22, continues to be of warning to society.

    Catch-22: Is the novel still relevant to modern soldiers?

    Article by Virginia Brown from BBC News Magazine


    "The classic novel that coined the term describing impossible situations is celebrating its 50th birthday. So how close does Catch-22 come to accurately portraying today's military?" ...

Continue Reading at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15446588

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[1] Allan Gregg’s interview with Joseph Heller (1998), Video interview at http://wn.com/Joseph_Heller (viewed on: 08/05/2011).

Book Review: 'Notes from a Small Island' by Bill Bryson

Published by Transworld Publishers (1996), paperback, 352 pages,

£5.89 from Waterstones at:

www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/bill+bryson/notes+from+a+small+island/4068226/

When Bill Bryson decided to move with his family back to the U.S.A after nearly 20 years of living in Britain, he declared that before his departure he must tour Britain for one last time. As he travels the island, from its booming cities to its quaint nooks and crannies, Bryson explores the reasons why he loves the British nation: from its ridiculous choice of place names like Shellow Bowells and Titsey, to its refreshing ability to create humour under the direst of circumstances. Through tracing back to his memories of Britain when first travelling the land, Bryson relives the glowing impressions the country aroused that so greatly enticed him to remain. 

In preparation for reading this book in a public place I would strongly recommend, to save yourself from scenes of embarrassment, mastering the skill of stifling laughter. On more than several occasions when reading this book I succumbed to snorting – always attractive. This book is constantly amusing and mostly hilarious. Both in his witty musings of the absurdist British traits and in his ability to enter into silly situations, Bryson’s work is a markedly humorous read.

This book is greatly complimentary of the British nation and if you are a native and in need of a lovely ego boost I would recommend the read. Here is one of Bryson’s observations of Britons which I was rather surprised to read:

‘One of the charms of the British is that they have so little idea of their own virtues, and nowhere is this more true than with their happiness. You will laugh to hear me say it, but they [Britons] are the happiest people on earth. Honestly. Watch any two Britons in conversation and see how long it is before they smile or laugh over some joke or pleasantry’ (pg 98).

And I thought Brits were just really good at queuing. Obviously there are more reasons to read this book than to receive a bit of flattery; nonetheless, Bryson’s depictions of Britain’s quirks do make you feel warming towards the nation, imploring you to read further. If you want to learn more about Britain, its past and present, its progression and deterioration, from an entertaining and insightful writer, then this is a wonderful book to read.

'Regeneration' by Pat Barker

Published by The Penguin Group (1991), paperback, 250 pages, £8.99, buy on amazon at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Regeneration-Pat-Barker/dp/0141030933/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319469600&sr=8-1


Regeneration is the first novel of the Regeneration Trilogy and is subsequently followed by The Eye in the Door and The Ghost Road.


Regeneration is set in July 1917 during the First World War when Siegfried Sassoon had just publicly released A Soldier's Declaration protesting against the  continuation of the war. In consequence, Sassoon was labelled 'shell-shocked' and thus committed to Craiglockhart Hospital for his 'recovery'. The protagonist, Dr W.H.R Rivers, is a psychiatrist who adopts experimental treatments which possess substantially more sensitive therapies compared to electrical treatments common at the time. Barker explores the psychoanalytical treatment that  Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen and several other fictitious, but nonetheless prominent, characters receive by Rivers and uncovers the horrific scars the war has left on these soldiers. This is a novel that interweaves fact and fiction exploring the real characters of Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen and Dr W.H.R Rivers through embellishing fact with the vivid imaginings of the author.

The First World War was a period that gained notable attention within literature of the 1990s. Sebastian Faulks’ Birdsong, Susan Hill’s Strange Meeting and Ian McEwan’s Atonement are just a few of the novels possessing such a focus. The recurring theme of suffering which emanates from such an horrific event is an issue which was thoroughly explored in such works, however, it is Pat Barker’s novel Regeneration which, in particular, illustrates the traumatism and hysteria endured by a great number of soldiers fighting in World War I. Barker analyses the affects of war neuroses and the experimental treatments which attempt to heal soldiers who have rapidly disintegrated into vulnerable beings.  Pat Barker illustrates that the trauma lies not only in the soldiers but in the whole of society, repressing the memory of war into an inaccessible corner in the back of citizens’ minds. Trauma was suffered by everyone in some way, and as we explore the extent and horrors of its wounds, we quickly learn, as Rivers does, that ‘Nothing can justify this. Nothing, nothing, nothing.’


I highly recommend this book, especially if you have an interest in war literature and psychoanalysis: it is highly emotional and thought-provoking and successfully conveys the complexity and fragility of humanity. Perhaps not one to read on holiday though!