Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Well, to sum up Catch-22 in three words: sex, sarcasm, and satire. That was about the entire book. It was the story of a WWII pilot and his experiences, plus those of many of his comrades. Another anti-war novel, I found it comparable to Slaughterhouse Five in many respects. The irreverency, the denial of the brave American soldier stereotype, and the proliferation of sex were present in both, but more so in Catch-22, if only because of its length.

Frankly, I was shocked at the number of sexual encounters depicted in this book, and the blase way in which they were treated. The rampant infidelity disconcerted me. But, I suppose, it is just another consequence of war.

Despite the flagrant explicitness, I found myself enjoying Heller's prose. His catch-22 was present even within his semantics. He got his point across very efficiently.

Of the entire book, though, perhaps the most shocking was the happy ending. So many 20th century authors gave their depressing novels equally depressing conclusions, but not Heller. The main character, Yossarian, discovers his friend is alive, and he takes off to join him. Remarque killed off his protagonist in All Quiet on the Western Front, Vonnegut's guy is stuck in the continual reliving of his life, but Heller sends Yossarian off with a beam of hope.

Gruesome violence, explicit sex, and incompetent leadership were eye-opening, but the basically happy ending was quite a different sort of shock.