I believe there are two kinds of good novels or good movies. One kind is where the plot – the story – is all important and it moves the characters and another is where the characters are more important and they move the plot along. While in the first kind it is imperative for the author to have a good unique story, in the second kind it becomes mandatory to portray powerful characters. And there isn’t a more powerful character portrayed in English fiction than Don Corleone.
It is said that Mr. Mario Puzo – author of The Godfather – spent close to 3 years with the head of a mafia family to understand the mafia’s customs, its mechanisms and its structure. The Godfather is his portrayal of the don and his story of one of the most powerful mafia families in America. Mr. Puzo puts all his storytelling expertise on show in this novel – something he hasn’t been able to replicate in his later works – and as a reader that is as good as it gets.
As I have said up front, there isn’t a more powerful character portrayed in English fiction than Don Corleone. And Mr. Puzo doesn’t take long to establish that. Through the opening sequence of the Don’s daughter’s wedding he quickly lets everybody know who the boss is. Immediately you are in awe of this man they call The Godfather. And that man keeps you in that state throughout the novel. This is actually quite contrary to how he presents himself. He is very restrained in the way he talks and the way he acts. He chooses his words carefully and acts of extreme nature are reserved for just those kinds of occasions – extreme. He is remarkably intelligent and a very shrewd judge of people. He is an astute tactician who thinks far ahead of the situation. Besides all this – he claims – he is simply a man who wants to provide for his family and look after their safety.
The story is pretty straightforward. Corleone family is one of the strongest Mafia families in America. They control the unions and have the best contacts. But the main source of their prosperity and strength is gambling. As they are at the height of their powers a new gangster (Solozzo) approaches Don Corleone with an offer to trade in drugs. Don refuses the offer and also refuses to offer his blessings to the trade. Solozzo knows without Don’s blessings and his contacts it will be impossible for him to run drugs. So, he hatches a plan to acquire Don’s contacts by taking him out of the way. This results in an all out Mafia war and the novel describes how the Corleone family fares with it.
There are a few subplots, too, to complement the main plot. Some serve to establish the supremacy of the Corleone family, some to move the plot along, some to tie up the loose ends and others as a means for characterization. The story moves along at a good pace and is packed with great moments. And that makes a compelling viewing, too, as was seen in the well adapted motion picture. There is nothing ingenious or complicated about the storyline. And, at the risk of repeating myself, what keeps us glued to the novel is the characters. Tough, varied and cool characters.
And while we are talking about great and cool characters, we cannot afford to not talk about Michael Corleone – the youngest son of Don Corleone; the one who takes over the family business after the Don’s retirement. He is the smartest of the siblings – as smart as the Don himself – and he is just as ruthless. He goes to any lengths to right the wrong that has been done to his family and spares none who were a part of that wrong. Initially he is a patriotic American raised in American tradition who also enlists in the army to be a part of the war. But, as his family comes under distress he has to forego his former life and take the plunge into this white collared American underworld. He is everything that a Don’s successor should be. What makes this character infinitely cooler is the fact that Mr. Al Pacino played this part in the adapted motion picture.
You see, as much as I want to disassociate the motion picture from the book – because I think it doesn’t do justice to the book – I have to mention it here for the way Mr. Marlon Brando and Mr. Al Pacino have portrayed the characters of Don and Michael Corleone respectively. I read the book first and then saw the movie, yet their portrayal remains the defining interpretation of both these iconic characters for me. And so, I will recommend watching the motion picture to all those who haven’t done so yet (though I do realize there must be very few).
So far I have talked extensively about only two characters and only very briefly alluded to others. But rest assured, all of them are more interesting than most others whom we call great characters in other novels. Take for instance the other two fascinating characters Luca Brasi and Albert Neri – another pair of predecessor and successor. Don’s theory about how to control such men, their exploits and the terror they strike in the enemies’ heart make for a very interesting reading. Then there is the bull headed Sony and the cunning Barzini’s and Tessio’s. The wimpy Fredo, the intelligent Tessio, the loyal Tom Hagen, the jolly Clemenza who is lethal with a garrot and many others have their fair share of space in this universe.
What’s good about the book apart from characterization that I have mentioned so exhaustively? As I have said already, the storyline isn’t much to write home about and the pace is steady. Mr. Puzo’s detailed description of how a mafia family works, their customs and their structure makes for an educated reading. Though the narration is mostly linear, Mr. Puzo’s occasional departures to non linearity are good for their shock value. He never tries to complicate his plot too much and keeps his focus on the people throughout. Yet, somehow we never get involved too much in the narrative emotionally. While we are interested in turning the page to read what’s coming up, we never feel what the characters feel in the novel. We don’t feel their pain, we don’t rejoice in their happiness nor are we engulfed in their sorrows or dilemmas. We read it all in a detached way. Perhaps it is because of the environment created in the novel. The family tends to keep itself restrained to the point of being impersonal. Everything is for business and not for passion. Another reason could be that Mr. Puzo refuses to infuse any moral dilemma in the novel. While it helps in keeping things simple, it also keeps them uninvolving.
Apart from these few drawbacks, the book is a great reading experience. I have always thought that The Godfather is the ultimate guy Novel. Because it is about something that all guys are crazy about, apart from women of course – it is about power. The whole book is driven by people’s lust for power. How to gain it, how to retain it, how to increase it is all that people think. And in this quest for power emotions and women become a secondary thing. The pleasures of normal life almost become nonexistent and sacrifices need to be made. And someone somewhere always wants that power badly enough and is willing to be more ruthless than you are. It is a risky life and one cannot live peacefully in such an environment and raise a normal family. The Don and Michael Corleone understand that and hence their want of turning all their operations and money to legal forays.
This book became immensely popular in America upon its release – it still is recognized world over as a classic. It made gangsters stylish and cool. You can see the influence of the book in the motion pictures that released in America after the book. In fact, it still influences movie making everywhere.
In short, this is a book you cannot not read. (I know it’s clichéd and it is cheap. I also had to accommodate negation for this sentence to make any sense at all. But then, I absolutely had to include the line in this review somehow, didn’t I?)
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Book Review - Catch-22
There is great joy in watching the genius unfold itself in front of your eyes – speaking metaphorically of course. It’s when Sachin Tendulkar starts batting; it’s when Lata Mangeshkar starts crooning ‘Aapki nazro ne samjha’; it’s when a A. R. Rehman song reaches its crescendo; it’s when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are playing a grandslam final; it’s when a Christopher Nolan movie unravels its mysteries that we begin to comprehend the limitless nature of human capabilities and wonder at how beautiful its exposition is. The experience of witnessing that beauty is often exhilarating and great fun. And it is a similar feeling as you read through Joseph Heller’s Catch-22.
I am not really sure whether this book is the work of a genius or just a genius work for I have not read any other book written by Mr. Heller. But, I have read Catch-22 and that, I feel, more than makes up for any other book from any other author that I have missed reading on. It is undoubtedly one of the greatest pieces of satire in the English fiction. But it’s not just a satire; it is a commentary on the infinite stupidity and absurdity that we see all around us; and it is funny – laugh out loud funny, if you please.
Catch-22 is set on the island of Pianosa and in the times of the Second World War. It is about a bombardier named Yossarian who is trying to save himself from the unpleasant consequences of war. And who can blame him? If all the people you know and even the people you don’t know are out to kill you, even you will think of nothing but how to stay alive. And so Yossarian does all he can and uses all the ingenuity at his disposal to stay alive. He wants to finish all the missions he has to fly and be relieved from his war duties as soon as possible. But, his problem is whenever he is nearing the completion, his superiors raise the number of minimum missions that everybody has to fly. His only hope is to be declared insane so he cannot fly any missions. He figures that should be easy, because with all those people out there to kill him, he had to be insane to fly any missions. And therein lies the catch. He is considered insane if he continues to fly any missions and because of his insanity, he is unfit to fly any missions. But, if he makes a formal request to be relieved of duty, this very act of making a request proves he is sane and fit to fly missions. And, of course, if he doesn’t make the request no one will relieve him of his duty. Quite a catch, isn’t it? As simple as it is brilliant.
Through this unusual setting Mr. Heller sets out to criticize the idiotic nature of the war and the bureaucratic procedures of the world. And he does it ruthlessly. He takes the colossal stupidity apart with such detail that sometimes you wonder where does the reality stop and where does the fiction begin. He tackles it with a great and a dark sense of humour. He pokes fun at everything that comes his way in telling this story.
And that’s one thing that takes this satire to a whole new level. There are several moments that made me laugh till I got tears in my eyes. My friends – who shared the apartment with me at that time – would be bewildered at this. One moment I would be perfectly fine and reading the book in all sincerity and the next moment I would be in absolute splits. The jokes come at you in a way you are least expecting. I mean, you know there will be jokes coming your way in this book, but they are never predictable and before you know it you have already let out a snort at them. This book is filled with insanity and that insanity is absolutely hilarious.
Another thing that I find special about the book is the unique way of storytelling. It is non linear and it tells the same sequence of events again and again and we have to be alert to derive a feasible chronology from the seemingly chaotic and all over the place narration. Where the storytelling really gets inspiring, though, is in changing the vantage points (pun intended) that we view the story from. We view the same events from the perspective of different people and with each iteration of events, the story becomes more coherent. It is like pieces of a puzzle falling into place. I might have made it sound like a very brainy exercise, but don’t be too alarmed, even if you don’t get all the intricacies of the plot it doesn’t in any way take away from the wonderful experience of reading this book. Anyway, once we become familiar with the story and its own quirky ways, Mr. Heller suddenly decides to show us the futility of war in a – I don’t know how to exactly put it – different tone. The book never loses its sense of humour but at the same time it becomes brooding, sombre and at times even shocking. And that’s why despite all the jokes and seemingly insincere take at the serious things, the book maintains a hint of a soul and makes its point effectively.
Saying all this, I must mention that this book is probably not for everybody. One needs a really wacky sense of humour and at the same time thoughtful sensibilities to really appreciate what the book has to offer. Without these one could be led into believing that the humour is insensitive and at times even crass. Without these one might be unable to discern its value as a social commentary as Mr. Heller disguises many poignant observations under the garb of humour. And finally without these one can be deceived into thinking that this book is a lot less serious about itself than it really is.
There is no wonder then that at the time of its release, this book divided opinion like any other book seldom does. The copy I have does not mention the edition it is a part of apart from saying it’s a special edition. But the foreword provides a valuable insight into the book’s early days. As I have mentioned above, upon its release it invited extreme reviews. Those who liked it were hugely impressed and those who didn’t blasted it mercilessly. And perhaps this is the reason why it has never been on any list of bestsellers. And that’s why initially people didn’t take notice of the book. But in a revealing survey done 3 years after its release, it was discovered that the underground book (I have no idea what an underground book is) that New Yorkers were talking about most was Catch-22. Then everybody started taking note and the sells picked up. There was even a time when John Chancellor – a noted journalist of the time and the one who interviewed Mr. Heller for his first television interview – was pasting privately printed stickers on the walls of the corridors and the executive rest rooms of the NBC building. The stickers read – YOSSARIAN LIVES (this fact is courtesy the preface I mentioned above). Trust the fans to be as weird as the book they love.
This then is an extraordinary book with an unusual protagonist who is a coward and is without any patriotic bone in his body. It contains an ensemble supporting cast of weirdos – every character, without exception – which make you laugh and at the same time make you think. And it is recognized as one of the greatest literary accomplishments of the 20th century. The measure of its significance can be understood by the fact that it has managed to coin a new term that we regularly use to depict a situation where you will end up in a soup no matter what course of action you take. But, as I have already warned you, and so I do again, it may not necessarily be your taste. But if you start taking a liking to it and catch its pulse, there is nothing quite like experiencing it.
So my recommendation is for you to get a copy for yourself and enjoy the ingenuity unfold itself.
I am not really sure whether this book is the work of a genius or just a genius work for I have not read any other book written by Mr. Heller. But, I have read Catch-22 and that, I feel, more than makes up for any other book from any other author that I have missed reading on. It is undoubtedly one of the greatest pieces of satire in the English fiction. But it’s not just a satire; it is a commentary on the infinite stupidity and absurdity that we see all around us; and it is funny – laugh out loud funny, if you please.
Catch-22 is set on the island of Pianosa and in the times of the Second World War. It is about a bombardier named Yossarian who is trying to save himself from the unpleasant consequences of war. And who can blame him? If all the people you know and even the people you don’t know are out to kill you, even you will think of nothing but how to stay alive. And so Yossarian does all he can and uses all the ingenuity at his disposal to stay alive. He wants to finish all the missions he has to fly and be relieved from his war duties as soon as possible. But, his problem is whenever he is nearing the completion, his superiors raise the number of minimum missions that everybody has to fly. His only hope is to be declared insane so he cannot fly any missions. He figures that should be easy, because with all those people out there to kill him, he had to be insane to fly any missions. And therein lies the catch. He is considered insane if he continues to fly any missions and because of his insanity, he is unfit to fly any missions. But, if he makes a formal request to be relieved of duty, this very act of making a request proves he is sane and fit to fly missions. And, of course, if he doesn’t make the request no one will relieve him of his duty. Quite a catch, isn’t it? As simple as it is brilliant.
Through this unusual setting Mr. Heller sets out to criticize the idiotic nature of the war and the bureaucratic procedures of the world. And he does it ruthlessly. He takes the colossal stupidity apart with such detail that sometimes you wonder where does the reality stop and where does the fiction begin. He tackles it with a great and a dark sense of humour. He pokes fun at everything that comes his way in telling this story.
And that’s one thing that takes this satire to a whole new level. There are several moments that made me laugh till I got tears in my eyes. My friends – who shared the apartment with me at that time – would be bewildered at this. One moment I would be perfectly fine and reading the book in all sincerity and the next moment I would be in absolute splits. The jokes come at you in a way you are least expecting. I mean, you know there will be jokes coming your way in this book, but they are never predictable and before you know it you have already let out a snort at them. This book is filled with insanity and that insanity is absolutely hilarious.
Another thing that I find special about the book is the unique way of storytelling. It is non linear and it tells the same sequence of events again and again and we have to be alert to derive a feasible chronology from the seemingly chaotic and all over the place narration. Where the storytelling really gets inspiring, though, is in changing the vantage points (pun intended) that we view the story from. We view the same events from the perspective of different people and with each iteration of events, the story becomes more coherent. It is like pieces of a puzzle falling into place. I might have made it sound like a very brainy exercise, but don’t be too alarmed, even if you don’t get all the intricacies of the plot it doesn’t in any way take away from the wonderful experience of reading this book. Anyway, once we become familiar with the story and its own quirky ways, Mr. Heller suddenly decides to show us the futility of war in a – I don’t know how to exactly put it – different tone. The book never loses its sense of humour but at the same time it becomes brooding, sombre and at times even shocking. And that’s why despite all the jokes and seemingly insincere take at the serious things, the book maintains a hint of a soul and makes its point effectively.
Saying all this, I must mention that this book is probably not for everybody. One needs a really wacky sense of humour and at the same time thoughtful sensibilities to really appreciate what the book has to offer. Without these one could be led into believing that the humour is insensitive and at times even crass. Without these one might be unable to discern its value as a social commentary as Mr. Heller disguises many poignant observations under the garb of humour. And finally without these one can be deceived into thinking that this book is a lot less serious about itself than it really is.
There is no wonder then that at the time of its release, this book divided opinion like any other book seldom does. The copy I have does not mention the edition it is a part of apart from saying it’s a special edition. But the foreword provides a valuable insight into the book’s early days. As I have mentioned above, upon its release it invited extreme reviews. Those who liked it were hugely impressed and those who didn’t blasted it mercilessly. And perhaps this is the reason why it has never been on any list of bestsellers. And that’s why initially people didn’t take notice of the book. But in a revealing survey done 3 years after its release, it was discovered that the underground book (I have no idea what an underground book is) that New Yorkers were talking about most was Catch-22. Then everybody started taking note and the sells picked up. There was even a time when John Chancellor – a noted journalist of the time and the one who interviewed Mr. Heller for his first television interview – was pasting privately printed stickers on the walls of the corridors and the executive rest rooms of the NBC building. The stickers read – YOSSARIAN LIVES (this fact is courtesy the preface I mentioned above). Trust the fans to be as weird as the book they love.
This then is an extraordinary book with an unusual protagonist who is a coward and is without any patriotic bone in his body. It contains an ensemble supporting cast of weirdos – every character, without exception – which make you laugh and at the same time make you think. And it is recognized as one of the greatest literary accomplishments of the 20th century. The measure of its significance can be understood by the fact that it has managed to coin a new term that we regularly use to depict a situation where you will end up in a soup no matter what course of action you take. But, as I have already warned you, and so I do again, it may not necessarily be your taste. But if you start taking a liking to it and catch its pulse, there is nothing quite like experiencing it.
So my recommendation is for you to get a copy for yourself and enjoy the ingenuity unfold itself.
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