A darkly comic and ambitious sequel to the American classic Catch-22.
In Closing Time, Joseph Heller returns to the characters of Catch-22, now coming to the end of their lives and the century, as is the entire generation that fought in World War II: Yossarian and Milo Minderbinder, the chaplain, and such newcomers as little Sammy Singer and giant Lew, all linked, in an uneasy peace and old age, fighting not the Germans this time, but The End. Closing Time deftly satirizes the realities and ... (show more)
A darkly comic and ambitious sequel to the American classic Catch-22.
In Closing Time, Joseph Heller returns to the characters of Catch-22, now coming to the end of their lives and the century, as is the entire generation that fought in World War II: Yossarian and Milo Minderbinder, the chaplain, and such newcomers as little Sammy Singer and giant Lew, all linked, in an uneasy peace and old age, fighting not the Germans this time, but The End. Closing Time deftly satirizes the realities and the myths of America in the half century since WWII: the absurdity of our politics, the decline of our society and our great cities, the greed and hypocrisy of our business and culture -- with the same ferocious humor as Catch-22.
Closing Time is outrageously funny and totally serious, and as brilliant and successful as Catch-22 itself, a fun-house mirror that captures, at once grotesquely and accurately, the truth about ourselves.
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The sequel to Joseph Heller's legendary Catch-22, this book picks up the story of Yossarian the Assyrian, the eternal cynic, in late life and immer... (show more)
The sequel to Joseph Heller's legendary Catch-22, this book picks up the story of Yossarian the Assyrian, the eternal cynic, in late life and immersed in the society for which he's always held such disdain. Although still packed to the gills with biting observation and dripping with sarcasm it lacks the frantic pace of Catch-22. Heller approaches the story with a more reflective air, which may be appropriate bearing in mind Heller's (and Yosserian's for that matter) age but I felt it diluted the effect of Heller's fragmented and often Minderbinding plot lines. I would still recommend anyone who enjoyed Catch-22 to pick up a copy of this book as there is a lot of gold in here but don't enter into it expecting quite the rollercoaster ride Heller strapped us into first time around.
Yossarian Lives! (show less)
This is one of the worst books I have ever read. That said, it's (almost) worth reading because of the tragedy that plays out in the background of ... (show more)
This is one of the worst books I have ever read. That said, it's (almost) worth reading because of the tragedy that plays out in the background of the narrative: Closing Time is really the somber tail of Joseph Heller's own ineptitude to live up to the glory that was Catch-22. But maybe I'm just justifying the massive waste of time the whole thing was.
We meet John Yossarian, an ex-WWII pilot, who contemplates the glory days of his youth, some 50 years behind him, while facing (or denying) his greatest fear, death. Unlike in Catch-22, Yossarian has no way to escape his place in the sky - that's heaven if you're a religious person.
Also unlike Catch-22, there's no prayer in the world that could save this book from smoldering in the ground. This one barely makes it off of the tarmac before noes diving.
Yossarian finds himself helping an old friend, Milo Minderbender, develop a secret weapon for the military in order to get out of the rut he's in with an advertising gig. This portion of the novel tries to muster up some ethical dilemmas. These conflicts are weak at best because of the muddle of arbitrary detail.
There are points where Yossarian romps through the seedy underground of a bus terminal and Heller pontificates on the many things we can find there: shit, piss, drugs, rape victems - it's shear shock value. The whole time I felt like I was being lectured at by an old man who is out of touch with the big scary world of Generation Y.
Reading this book is like staring into a magic eye puzzle, in which the lines blur into one nonsensical mess, and yet you are able to glimpse at the beauty that lies behind, that is, if you look at it just so.
Sticking with the metaphor, not everyone will find the angle.
If you are true fan of Heller's fiction or Catch-22, I would suggest taking a look. The other target audience appears to be any postmodern author facing the pangs of geriatric life and has achieved house-hold-name status with a sensational one-hit-wonder called Catch-22. Unfortunately for Joseph Heller, Joseph Heller passed away in 1999.
Harsh? Try reading a wedding scene that catalogs, in extreme detail, every napkin, chair, and doily in the damn building. This book feels like an inventory and a list names from an old man's time capsule. (show less)
This novel arrives both at the end of author Joseph Heller's life, and the end of Yossarian's (protagonist) life. Many of the characters are the same, Yossarian is still trying to "live forever or die trying", Milo Minderbender is still buying eggs for 7 cents a piece in Malta and selling them for 5 cents a piece for profit. There is the introduction of other characters such as Sammy Singer, and Giant Lew, both of which we hear of their childhood on Coney Island, and their post war ... (show more)
This novel arrives both at the end of author Joseph Heller's life, and the end of Yossarian's (protagonist) life. Many of the characters are the same, Yossarian is still trying to "live forever or die trying", Milo Minderbender is still buying eggs for 7 cents a piece in Malta and selling them for 5 cents a piece for profit. There is the introduction of other characters such as Sammy Singer, and Giant Lew, both of which we hear of their childhood on Coney Island, and their post war marriages. There is also the introduction of a doctor, who regards Cancer and any other forms of illness as a "healthy disease", not necessarily healthy for the host but healthy in terms of the rules of biology. This Neo-Darwinist perspective stops the doctor from treating patients because he feels it's disrupting biology; but it is also one of the sole moments of brilliance in an other wise slow moving novel.
So, what has changed? Heller, in his closing years, has grown attached to classical music, and he has witnessed the 70's, 80's and early 90's. He makes accurate critiques of the American society; even foreshadowing the Bush era, however determining that the notion of having a black president was unlikely (Oh, how far we've come). Heller is too busy critiquing, and while is critique may "reveal the shocking truth about ourselves" is does so with a dull blade. A blade that in Catch-22 was always sharp.
Heller also assumes that the reader will be able to follow his intricate chronology, and the scarily complex inter-connectivity of narratives; it's so daunting that at times it can be hard to digest. From the overly extravagant Subway wedding to the verbal torturing of Herman the German the book just felt.....long. Who knows, maybe it's just the side effect of living in the A.D.D. culture of the 2000's. It's a shame Heller cannot write a novel about that. (show less)
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This is a book I wanted to read for a long, long time, especially since Catch-22 is my desert island book, my all-time favorite, my "damn the man" book, a security blanket of sorts, all of which makes me ashamed to say: I'm giving up on Closing Time. It isn't because the book "isn't as good" as Catch-22...what book could be as good? It does have sporatic moments of sharp wit and hilarity, especially Yossarian's early hospital scenes, but it feels a little more forced this ... (show more)
This is a book I wanted to read for a long, long time, especially since Catch-22 is my desert island book, my all-time favorite, my "damn the man" book, a security blanket of sorts, all of which makes me ashamed to say: I'm giving up on Closing Time. It isn't because the book "isn't as good" as Catch-22...what book could be as good? It does have sporatic moments of sharp wit and hilarity, especially Yossarian's early hospital scenes, but it feels a little more forced this time around. A lot more forced, actually. The new additions of Lew and Sammy are interesting, and their chapters remind me a lot of talking to my grandfathers about WWII, their stories about coming home from the war, and the passing of the "Greatest Generation" era, all of which I find fascinating. But the book is dragging. I'm 150 pages in and it has done nothing but drag the whole time as if I am pulling the weight of history along with me. Catch-22 danced around the crux of the novel as well, but it was entertaining along the way and I felt like we were ramping up to something amazing the entire time. I'm not feeling that with Closing Time. Maybe Heller wanted the reader to feel that burden: this is, after all, The End. So that doesn't bother me as much. I think my biggest disappointment is with Yossarian. Is this why he struggled to survive the war? to sit on museum advisory boards, run around town with dull wealthy socialites, and work for years and years for Milo Minderbinder? At first, the whole idea of Yossarian working for Milo was amusing, being the company's "conscious" is a perfect gig for Yossarian, but when I considered all the terrible things Milo did to Yossarian and the other men back in the war...it hit me: would Yossarian really work for a guy that bombed his own base for money, thus trying to kill him? I don't see it. As I read along, I am realizing that Yossarian is a shell of his former self, sometimes funny and crazy as always, but sometimes it feels like he is selling out, is bored, or just doesn't care about much anymore. Maybe that is just who he turned out to be and I need to deal with that, but it isn't making for an interesting read. I know that leaving the book 1/5 of the way in makes me a rather unreliable person to comment of the quality of the book, but from what I have read so far, I think I'd rather keep my nostalgia in place and let Yossarian's fate after the war remain a mystery in my mind. I may regret this later, and Heller might totally turn the book around by the end, but for now, I am walking away from Closing Time. I don't want to see Yo-Yo wither away and become just like everyone else. I want that crazy bastard to live forever as he was, running out the door to find Orr, dodging the knife blade by inches. (show less)
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