Happy Birthday to You

Today is someone special's birthday and I am using this medium to record it for a bit longer. I hope this year brings all the joys and happiness you have been waiting for and that you find contentment! And the sunny skies above - also for you..

I started reading the Catch again... the Catch, in my world, is Catch-22. For some unknown reason, I have lost count of the number of times I have read this book. I sometimes worry about why I like this book. the main character - he cannot be called the 'hero', because he is far from 'heroic' - John Yossarian is quite cool, slightly mad and subversive, very very rational and full of nonsense. I am not sure if the fact that I like this person, worse, identify with him is a good thing. He thinks a lot, he does not want to die a meaningless death, he could not care less abot his country or the war.. he does stand up for his friends and helps people and falls in love (or only lust?) but he is also egotistical* and impatient.

The book itself does not lend itself very well to chronological ordering. Each chapter is about a person and spans any length of time. Overall the story is about 2 years long and is told with 42 characters (chapters). In fact, the flow of time is stretched in numerous sentences itself, when the sentence starts in the present, and jumps into the past and then stays there for the rest of the chapter!

I read this about the Catch somewhere and it makes sense - You will either love it or hate it.

* thanks Shahid!