Catch 22
TVNZ is showing soon a new series based on the book Catch 22. I read the book a few years ago on a recommendation and I wasn't expecting to like it but I loved it. Catch 22 is explained by one of the Doctors. It is WWII and in a camp of pilots who go out for bombing raids.
One of the pilots approaches the Doctor and asks him to send him home as he is crazy from dropping bombs on people etc. The Doctor points to one of the pilots eagerly setting out and says, "That guy is crazy." because he wants to kill people. Because the pilot had asked to go home he clearly couldn't be crazy and that is Catch 22.
If you want there is also an old movie based on the same book. Someone has put it up on Youtube in parts so you can watch the movie there. It is definitely showing its age though.
Or if you prefer to read notes then check out Sparknotes which has a chapter by chapter summary.
And if you want to check out some interesting facts about the book and movie then here is an article done by Mental Floss
One of the first scenes in the book is when the main character Yossarian is censoring soldiers letters while he is recovering in hospital. He of course being bored and not caring about the reasons starts to blacking out random words or words that don't matter like THE. But soldiers letters really were censored back in the day and even today sensitive matters are removed. But with the advent of social media it has been increasingly hard to keep troop movements secret. You can read up about the history of censoring of soldier letters here. But if you want a more modern perspective and about the issue of social media posts with soldiers here is an article the New York Post wrote.
The bureaucracy around the book is mocked with Catch 22. It is explained a little more here.
You can listen to Joseph Heller speak himself about his books.
Pick one of these questions and write a response to it.
1. The structure of a text influences the way we understand important ideas.
2. At a key point in a text the writer offers a significant challenge to the way we think.
3. The most convincing texts take us on a journey involving both joy and despair.
4. A worthwhile text encourages us to think about familiar things in new ways.