Catch 22 - Hardcover

Joseph-heller

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1857152204 ISBN 13: 9781857152203

Publisher: Everyman's Library, 1995

Synopsis

Džozefs Helers (1923 - 1999) dzimis Ņujorkā, trūcīgā ebreju ģimenē. 1941. gadā pabeidzis Ābrahama Linkolna vidusskolu un sācis dienestu ASV gaisa karaspēku daļā, kas bija dislocēta Korsikā. 1949. gadā ieguvis maģistra grādu Kolumbijas universitātē, kā Fulbraita stipendiāts studējis Oksfordas universitātē, pēc tam strādājis par reklāmas tekstu sastādītāju. Pēc romāna "Āķis 22" iznākšanas strādājis Jeila un Pensilvānijas universitātē daiļrades pasniedzēju. Džozefs Helers miris Ņujorkā.

Bombardētāja Joseriana izdoma ir nebeidzama, kad jākaļ plāni, kā glābt savu ādu no drausmīgajām izredzēm, ko sniedz karš. Viņa pūles ir pilnīgi saprotamas, jo tūkstošiem cilvēku, kurus viņš ne reizi nav sastapis, cenšas viņu nogalināt. Joserians mēģina izvairīties no briesmu pilnajiem uzdevumiem, kuros spiests lidot, taču viņu lamatās notver birokrātijas apburtais loks - "Āķis 22", no kura grāmata ieguvusi savu nosaukumu: cilvēks tiek uzskatīts par jukušu, ja labprātīgi turpina lidot bīstamos uzdevumos; jukušos atvaļina; bet, kolīdz viņš lūdz atbrīvot no šādiem uzdevumiem, uzskatāms par saprātīgu un var turpināt dienestu.

Līdzās "Krietnā kareivja Šveika dēkām pasaules karā" "Āķis 22" tiek ierindots 20. gadsimta izcilāko satīrisko darbu vidū, kuru aizspogulijas loģika būs aktuāla tik ilgi, kamēr vien būs kari. Tā ir bezgala nopietna un skumja, bet tajā pašā laikā sasodīti jautra grāmata.

About this title

Review

There was a time when reading Joseph Heller's classic satire on the murderous insanity of war was nothing less than a rite of passage. Echoes of Yossarian, the wise-ass bombardier who was too smart to die but not smart enough to find a way out of his predicament, could be heard throughout the counterculture. As a result, it's impossible not to consider Catch-22 to be something of a period piece. But 40 years on, the novel's undiminished strength is its looking-glass logic. Again and again, Heller's characters demonstrate that what is commonly held to be good, is bad; what is sensible, is nonsense.

Yossarian says, "You're talking about winning the war, and I am talking about winning the war and keeping alive."
"Exactly," Clevinger snapped smugly. "And which do you think is more important?"
"To whom?" Yossarian shot back. "It doesn't make a damn bit of difference who wins the war to someone who's dead."
"I can't think of another attitude that could be depended upon to give greater comfort to the enemy."
"The enemy," retorted Yossarian with weighted precision, "is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on."
Mirabile dictu, the book holds up post-Reagan, post-Gulf War. It's a good thing, too. As long as there's a military, that engine of lethal authority, Catch-22 will shine as a handbook for smart-alecky pacifists. It's an utterly serious and sad, but damn funny book.

About the Author

Joseph Heller was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1923. In 1961, he published Catch-22, which became a bestseller and, in 1970, a film. He went on to write such novels as Something Happened, God Knows, Picture This, Closing Time (the sequel to Catch-22), and Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man. Heller died in December 1999.

Edition details

• Publisher: Everyman's Library
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1857152204
• ISBN 13: 9781857152203
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 480