Closing TimeClosing TimeThe sequel to Catch-22, with a selection of the same characters and the same wit and wisdom you expect.
It started off reasonably, though not with the now famous star of Catch-22, Yossarian, but instead with one of the minor characters, Sammy Singer, a friend of Yossarian's. He explains about his life, he's old now, he tells of his pain, his hurt, how his life is now, how his life was, and so it is throughout the book, we have constant history of the characters, the non-linearity of personal history and recollections, it's curious but ineresting. That however is not the story, that's the background, in the fore-front we have Yossarian, still as cynical as ever, and still as sane as ever (I was thinking that perhaps if the world is mad, and you wish to be sane then the best way to do so would for the mad world who thinks of themselves as sane to think of you as mad, in that case Yossarian must considered insane by many of the characters). He is constantly likeable, the conscience of M+M E+A (M+M Enterprises and Associates), and perhaps, if you delve, the conscience of the world. We meet up with Gaffney one of the many private eyes that were following now, a character of near omniscience, who leads to most of the memorable scenes. But the thing was it was all rather tame to begin with, amusing, yes; witty, yes; engaging, yes; but different, no. You see it was familiar ground from the original, maybe seen with the advantage of maturity and/or age, but still the same book. Until the latter half. Then things started to get different, to get weird.
George C. Tilyou, a dead character, an unusual idea. It worked, I think, I don't know, I'm not 100% certain I got where Heller was coming from all the time, the whole conclusion I understood what was happening, but maybe not exactly what the underlying meaning was, and I am sure there was some. Afterwards I kept thinking about what it all meant, and I came up with several ideas...
we have the constant argument over the title of the music, Apocalypse or the Faust one, with Apocalypse winning in the end, a reflection on society. perhaps?
you could say that Gaffney WAS God, and that perhaps Milo was Satan and so the world end was brought about, with that final good-evil battle, and yet Gaffney loses power underground, the realm of Satan?
you could argue that Yossarian was Faust who sold his soul to Milo, but still believed he had control.
you could go for Yossarian's child being symbolic of the future and yet the future was to be destroyed, though Yossarian wanted, eventually, to save the unborn and Melissa.
everyone seemed to have died or was dying of cancer (save Yo-Yo...), you could argue that mankind was turning cancerous, a cell gone out of control, that it was going to destroy the body, the world they lived in.
you could argue many things... it just seems to promote so many questions and answer none...
But then, isn't that what a good book's supposed to do... It promotes a lot of thought, and is entertaining all the while, maybe not as easy to read as Catch-22 but equally rewarding.
Score 9/10
Page last updated on 13th March 1999
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