Joseph Heller's CATCH 22 - 50th anniversary

[mteal]

This is the 50th anniversary of Joseph Heller's masterpiece, CATCH 22, first published in 1961. Orson Welles loved the book and said it would make "the movie of the century". Alas, it didn't; the 1970 film version, directed by Mike Nichols, was a disappointment, despite having a stunning cast. Welles did have a role in that film, as General Dreedle, with Austin Pendleton (later to write ORSON'S SHADOW) is his bumbling son. It has it's moments, but can't hold a candle to Heller's novel, one of the great American anti-war novels of all time. One can't help but wonder what a Welles-directed CATCH 22 would have been like if he'd been given the chance. It might have become what he said it could.

[Nathan23]

Its my all time favorite novel. Even after 5o years I still get time to re-read it, I do this in every couple of years. Maybe now's a good time to get it down from the shelf again. I know Heller was unhappy and frustrated about not being able to write another novel that 'caught' readers like Catch 22. But he set the bar pretty high, and Catch 22 is a powerful read: tragic, hilarious, anarchic, nihilistic, often in the same paragraph. It's long, but Heller keeps all the plates spinning.

[mteal]

Yes, CATCH-22 was an impossible standard to duplicate, just as Welles found it impossible to live up to the expectations set by KANE.