Catch-22

Half a century has passed since the first publication, but “Catch-22” remains a cornerstone of American literature and one of the most famous books of all time. “Time,” “Newsweek,” “Modern Library,” and “London Observer” included it in lists of the “best novels,” and in the BBC’s list of the “200 Best Books” it ranks 11th. This original story about the service of U.S. Air Force pilots during World War II is full of absurd situations, no less absurd funny dialogues, wild characters, and ridiculous bureaucratic dilemmas connected with a certain nonexistent-but-all-the-same-effective “Catch-22” in the law: “Anyone who wants to get out of a combat mission is perfectly sane and, therefore, fit for duty”… This work is hard to call simply an anti-war novel. It’s a deep, all-encompassing satire on our everyday life, way of living, and the principles of “civilized” society.