Catch-22

出版者:Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

作者:Joseph Heller

页数:568

出版时间:1995-10

价格:168.00元

装帧:Hardcover

isbn号码:9780679437222

丛书系列:Everyman's Library

具体描述

Arguably the best novel to come out of World War II, in which Heller strips away the veneer of martial glory to expose its insanity, and gives our language a new paradoxical phrase to describe mankind at the mercy of its own institutions.

As revealing today as when it was first published, this brilliant novel by the author of Picture This expresses the concerns of an entire generation in its black comedy. World War II flier John Yossarian decides that his only mission each time he goes up is to return--alive!

作者简介

Joseph Heller’s debut novel Catch-22 will always be remembered as a brilliantly scathing indictment of war and one of the great absurdist comedies of 20th century American literature. However, it also created a painful catch-22 for its author at the expense of his subsequent works, which he would eventually explore in his final novel Portrait of an Artist as an Old Man.

Biography

Sometimes life traps you in an unfortunate situation that is impossible to escape from because of a set of inherently absurd rules. Take Joseph Heller, for example. The very first novel he published was among the most biting, powerful, hilarious examples of contemporary literature, a genuine classic of 1960s anti-war literature. Yet, Heller was forever trapped by that novel, unable to achieve similar success with his subsequent works no matter how fine they may have been. Both that painful predicament and that auspicious debut novel are known as Catch-22, and one hopes that an absurdist such as Joseph Heller had to at least appreciate that irony a little.

Catch-22 (1961) was somewhat based on Heller's own experiences as a B-25 bombadier in the Twelfth Air Force during World War II. It is the story of John Yossarian, a malingering bombardier stationed in Italy during the war. He lives in constant terror of being killed, so he flies each of his missions with the sole goal of returning alive. Unfortunately, Colonel Cathcart keeps increasing the number of missions he must undertake in order to complete his service. Yossarian's only way out is to prove that he is insane. Of course, the only way he can do that is to willingly take the most dangerous missions the air force has to offer. Yossarian's ridiculous, unwinnable situation is the Catch-22 from which the novel gets its name.

Heller uses Yossarian's situation as a means to satirize and criticize the military and dehumanizing bureaucracies in general. The novel follows a disorienting logic of its own, owing more to Lewis Carroll's Wonderland than any war-themed novel before it. Consequently, Heller's unique approach to his subject had a deep influence on writers such as Kurt Vonnegut (Slaughterhouse Five) and Tom Robbins (Villa Incognito). In 1970, Catch-22 was adapted into a star-studded feature film by director Mike Nichols (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ; The Graduate). Although many viewed the film as a disappointment, it had its fair share of highly inspired sequences, and in all fairness, the whimsical structure of the novel does not easily lend itself to the cinematic medium.

With a genuine classic on his hands, Heller then took his time producing his second novel. Something Happened did not appear until 1974, but it continued many of the themes present in Catch-22. This time around he directed his poison pen at the dehumanizing effects of the big-business world. Heller's tangy blend of pessimism and humanism would be the driving force behind the majority of his work that followed, including Good as Gold, Closing Time (a sequel to Catch-22), and the play We Bombed New Haven. However, none of his subsequent efforts came close to matching the success or influence of Catch-22, a fact that irked Heller until his death. His final novel, the posthumously published Portrait of an Artist as an Old Man, explored this very theme as writer Eugene Pota struggles to decide upon a subject for his final novel.

Despite his own misgivings about his career, Joseph Heller will forever be remembered as a giant in American literature, even if it is only due to his first novel... and that's the kind of Catch-22 in which most writers would kill to be trapped.

读后感

生命不过是一个荒诞的玩笑。刘晓波曾说，一场文革，够写10部《第22条军规》，可我们一部都写不出来。尽管足够荒诞，但我们缺乏面对荒诞的勇气，更缺乏用微笑嘲弄死亡的心智。  

《不管三七二十一》 －再讀約瑟夫•海勒的《第二十二条軍規》 假如漫長歷史與浩瀚地理可以合一；假如生於大明萬歷卒於大清順治後來被譽為話本小說、戲曲、民謠皆獨具成就的文學家－蘇州人馮夢龍，與紐約布魯克林區的猶太移民後裔、二戰時期的美國空軍中尉後來成了美國黑色幽...  

1、奥尔的逃离 成功只属于有准备的人，奥尔，一个大智若愚的人，精心的为了去瑞典做着努力，锻炼着每一项在去瑞典用的上的技能，包括吃生鳕鱼。每次执行任务都要把飞机沉在海上或者迫降，尽管技术非常好。终于有一天在精心的准备的迫降在海上后，坐在黄色的救生艇里，握着...  

原著曾是一本畅销书，语言生动有趣，这个版本也翻译的极好。尤其是看着作者用一本正经的语调叙述非常荒诞的事物，往往让读者捧腹大笑：为了生活中理所当然的荒缪而笑,为了世界的黑白颠倒而笑. 相形之下，译林版的翻译就是干巴巴的，完全无法表现出原著中那种以严肃的口气讲述冷...  

在一个等级和强权的社会里，他人是一个可怖的地狱。 这样的强权需要靠一定的标志和环境来维持，例如上级的制服、军队的制度。在罗马，邓巴扔掉了几个军官的衣服，那将军说“我们的制服也扔了？那可真聪明。没有制服，我们永远无法让人相信我们是上级。”（p423） 没有等级和...  

用户评价

胡萝卜之夜

前半部分读起来很无趣，也可能是读不太懂的原因。故事高潮在后半部分，战友一个接一个牺牲，作战任务确还在不断增加，而这些只是在上位者为了升职为了话题强行制造的。对下宣言是为了国家为了荣誉。一条虚构的第二十二条军规。书中人物很有象征意义，不一而足。结局更像一个愿望，梦想还以荒诞？

圆鼓鼓的脸蛋那里真是笑死我了，好可爱

前半部分读起来很无趣，也可能是读不太懂的原因。故事高潮在后半部分，战友一个接一个牺牲，作战任务确还在不断增加，而这些只是在上位者为了升职为了话题强行制造的。对下宣言是为了国家为了荣誉。一条虚构的第二十二条军规。书中人物很有象征意义，不一而足。结局更像一个愿望，梦想还以荒诞？

圆鼓鼓的脸蛋那里真是笑死我了，好可爱