During my initial semester at Indiana University in the early 1970s, I first encountered Joseph Heller’s 1961 novel Catch-22 when a fellow student replaced the nameplate on his dorm door with “The Dead Man in Yosarrian’s Tent.” This certainly fit into the personality of our floor where you could hear Dr. John’s “Right Place, Wrong Time,” playing in an endless loop on someone’s turntable any time day or night. Rest in peace, Mac Rebennack.
It wasn’t still I started working after college that I read Catch-22 and immediately understood why the book appealed those rebellious youth of the 1960s who questioned authority. It made a personal impression especially since the book had what I interpreted as a positive ending – a roadmap for survival. For decades, I kept a hardback copy with intentions of rereading it just in case. But would a book of my young adulthood hold up four decades later? It was time to try. Working for years in layers of crushing corporate bureaucracy, I needed some tips on survival even though my situation wasn’t nowhere as grave as making bombing runs over occupied Italy in World War II.
Recently, I took the book on a brief vacation, but soon found Catch-22 more irritating than comforting with its endless absurdist conversations and countless two-dimensional characters. I left the unfinished book on the shelves of the bed & breakfast buried amongst copies of other bestsellers (Catch-22 eventually sold over 10 million copies). It was a little disappointing like the experience I had with a yellowed paperback of Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968) when after umpteenth description of someone getting really f**ked up, I pulled that plug and sent that book to the recycle tub. And “so it goes” in the words of Kurt Vonnegut.
The Hulu Version of Catch-22
I didn’t realize that my renewed interest in Catch-22 coincided with the Hulu six-part dramatization of the Heller’s novel starring George Clooney. After punting on the book, I still was willing to see a version on the home screen. This wasn’t the first time someone tried to bring the novel to the screen. In 1970, Mike Nichols directed a film version of the book with Alan Arkin (as Yossarian), Jon Voight, Bob Newhart, and Art Garfunkel leading a star-studded ensemble. (Currently available on Amazon - see its trailer below.) In the Hulu version, Christopher Abbott plays the main character Captain John “Yo-Yo” Yosarrian. The extra hours -- Six 45-minute episodes compared to a movie run time of two hours—were put to good use to develop characters and capture the mood. In contrast, the gorgeous sepia cinematography gives the Hulu version a major edge over the noisy, dusty Nichols movie. Hulu's version is really an Italian vacation postcard with clear blue skies and pristine beaches, but Yosarrian’s ever present fear that his comrades and he will be being splattered inside a B-25 bomber or engulfed in flames is always present. Abbott’s silent countenance of dread speaks volumes in portraying Yosarrian’s pain and desperation.
Alternate Endings
My only major complaint about the Hulu version is the ending which does not follow the book or Nichols' movie. Both the book and Nichols does have an upbeat ending – it shows us a possible way out. Or more specifically, Captain Orr, Yosarrian’s tent mate (he’s not the dead guy), who is a bomber pilot considered even crazier than Yosarrian, figures it out. The Hulu version, which features a lot of screen time for Abbott’s buttocks in the final episode doesn’t work quite as well as a suitable ending. How can I really recommend the Hulu version when I know the original conclusion? How can I erase this memory? My problem is close to a Catch-22, if you watch the Nichols movie or read the lengthy book first, you may be dissatisfied and not even bother with Hulu version. On the other hand, if you watch the Hulu version you’ll probably like it, but the ending will leave you dissatisfied – especially since you now know there is alternative ending.
We can't win. It’s enough to drive a person crazy.
