Most intriguing character in "Catch-22"?

[jmowreader]

For some strange reason the book and movie "Catch-22" have been in my mind lately. I don't know why, but they are.

Anyway, who's the most intriguing character, besides Yossarian that is?

Colonel Cathcart comes to mind for me. Never before in the history of cinema was there a more corrupt military officer than Colonel Cathcart. Jack Nicholson's Colonel Jessup, who orders wall-to-wall counseling sessions in A Few Good Men, may come close. But no one beats Colonel Cathcart.

Toward the end of the piece, Milo needed to rid himself of the Egyptian cotton he'd bought before he understood the cotton trade; he sold it to the Luftwaffe in exchange for having his squadron bomb its own base. Anyone else doing that would still be in jail on Trading With The Enemy charges; Cathcart approved the mission.

[Pepperbelly]

1. Chocolate-covered Cotton ... yuck.

So MANY interesting characters.

Hungry Joe.

Nately.

Remember the Texan in the hospital?

[jmowreader]

15. Doc Daneeka was kinda fun

They kept putting Doc on Hungry Joe's flight manifests; when Hungry Joe committed suicide by flying into the side of a mountain in front of Doc, they marked Doc as KIA even though he was still working in the squadron.

[jeff30997]

2. Milo.

He reminds me of Prescott Bush and tricky Dick Cheney.But less evil.

[charlyvi]

3. Major Major was cool....

Also the kid who kept crashing, forget his name; the one Yossarian refused to fly with, then realized he was crashing on purpose, for practice. Yossarian realizes it when he hears that the kid has managed to get to Switzerland, or some other safe place.

[Pepperbelly]

4. That would be Orr ... nt

[charlyvi]

7. Thanks.

It's been a while since I read the book.

[jeff30997]

5. Great movie ! I should see it again.

[liberalhistorian]

6. I don't know, because I thought that was

one of the most pretentious, ridiculous, artsy-fartsy pseudo-intellectual pieces of crap I'd ever had the misfortune of reading and I've never managed to get more than halfway through it. My parents were both English teachers, and they split on it. My mom liked it, my stepdad felt the same way I do. And I've found that that's pretty much been the case for everyone else I know who's read it, they either love it or absolutely hate it.

Now that I've invited the torches, pitchforks, and flaming bricks to come raining down on me, let me say that I'm well aware that others may feel that same way about some of the books and writers that I hold dear, and that art is ALWAYS subjective, whether it's writing, music, painting, sculpture, theater, whatever. One person's trash is another person's treasure.

[jeff30997]

8. Hey guys! Bring the torches, pitchforks, and flaming bricks !!!

And last but not least: We'll force you to read My pet goat to the Chimp before he goes to sleep!:evilgrin:

[liberalhistorian]

9. AHHHHHHHH!!!!

OH NOOOOOOOOO, now I've really done it!! HEEEEEEELLLLLLLLPPPPPPP!!!!!

[RobinA]

16. No Pitchfork Here

When I was in 10th grade, '73ish, everybody was reading and assigning this book. I tried to read it several times and thought it was stupid. Everybody seemed to love it. So '04 rolls around and things get weird, and I figure maybe it's a good time to revisit "Catch-22." I'm older now, maybe I'll "get" it more, blah, blah, blah. So I started it about a month ago. I STILL think it's sophomoric. I'm determined to finish though. I want to loathe it knowledgably.

[liberalhistorian]

18. "Loathe it knowledgeably", that's a good

way to put it. I've tried several times over the years to finish it, each time thinking that maybe this time I'll finally "get it", but it never happens. And sophomoric is certainly another good way of describing it!

[NightTrain]

20. That was how I felt about ULYSSES the times I tried to read it.

Never got past around page 70, though, because I never had a fucking clue what I had just read!

[liberalhistorian]

21. Ulysses is a special case, you have to

read it differently than any other book. You have to read it out loud, even closing your eyes at times, and just listen to the language while forgetting about trying so hard to understand it in the traditional sense.

[Wilber_Stool]

10. Chaplain Tappman

He just wants to be liked and everyone just hates him.

[PragMantisT]

11. I like the old Italian guy who keeps saying,

"Better to live on your feet than die on your knees."

Or maybe Aarfy, in the book at least. I can't stand Charles Grodin.

And of course ex-PFC Wintergreen. What a name.

[MisterP]

17. speaking of Grodin, doesn't he resemble Bush;

the face, the snit-fit acting?

[ItsThePeopleStupid]

12. was it Major Major?

The guy who wanted his life to last as long as possible and, since boredom makes time go by slowly, decided to do absolutely nothing...

[jmowreader]

14. I liked the Major Major character in the book better

In the book his name was Major Major Major Major. His family name was Major, his dad had "Major Major Major" entered as his name on his birth certificate, and when he got drafted he went from private to major in two days.

In the movie, he was a captain until the major who was commanding officer got killed, so they gave a Captain Major a field promotion because he was the only "major" on the base. "But I don't know anything about being a major!"

[Parrcrow]

13. Milo Minderbinder

welcome to the syndicate

[BiggJawn]

19. And EVERYBODY has a share!

I think of him every time I read of the heroic exploits of those brave KBR/Halliburton Mercena...Uh, "contractors"....

Brave "civilian workers"...Shit, they'd shoot their own mothers if the price was right.

[TrogL]

22. Nately

and the relationship with his whore

[NightTrain]

23. IMHO, the film didn't bo the book justice.

And if I hadn't read the novel first, I wouldn't have been able to follow the film at all!

[Spirochete]

24. Ex-PFC Wintergreen

was interesting. He was only in the book version, though.