Something Happened | Joseph Heller | Continuation of Catch-22 theme in Corporat American LIfe

Something Happened | Joseph Heller | What control!

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Something Happened

	Something Happened Joseph Heller Simon & Schuster, 1997 - 576 pages average customer review:based on 73 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Continuation of Catch-22 theme in Corporat American LIfe

I've read several of Heller's books despite the unfair reputation that Catch-22 is his only good novel. This is NOT true. While it's true that Catch-22 out shines his other books, let's face it--Catch-22 is one of the most brilliant novels EVER written. Anyway, if you like Heller's humor, try his next best novel--Something Happened. It involves the same theme of wasteful bureaucracy and meaningless work as Catch-22 but focuses upon the office intrigue of corporate America. The narrative of the main character manages to get raises by doing little, learning all the gossip, and staying out of trouble. Meanwhile, others are constantly concerned about their jobs in the conversations they share with him. The deadpan lack of activity is actually purposeful as Heller wants to stress the do nothing atmosphere of the corporate office where more time in spent generating rumors with the hope of getting promoted. The tragedy of this naturally is the artificial and cruel corporate induced stress for those devoted to make something of their life. It's a great read...

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What control!

Bob Slocum is facing a mid-life crisis: his whole life is falling apart around him. If that sounds like a familiar story today in the fictional world as well as the real, it probably is. What makes Heller's telling of this familiar story special is his voice: it is as matter-of-fact as possible. It was a brilliant stroke on Heller's part to speak in this voice because it truly makes his story as harrowing as could be. Slocum's 15-year-old daughter is going off the deep end filled with hatred and self-loathing; his son is acting like a stone monument; his baby boy appears to be retarded; and he's lost his love for his wife. On top of this he's about to take over another man's job in the office, a job he's not at all sure he wants. So life proceeds. The hateful/deceitful conversations he has with his daughter are masterfully developed and right-on believable. Heller captures the horrors of modern life (at least a segment of them) perfectly, though the book does go on too long. It's a harrowing book recounted in the most controlled prose style imaginable.

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Something Happened, ... Then Everything Changed

In the same vein as the prose written in "Catch-22", Joseph Heller proves to be a great writer in his work outside of his most known classic. With the same sharp wit, "Something Happened" is a very entertaining read. What is funny is often not far removed from reality. Perhaps this is what makes Heller a writer for the feelings of the common man.

Bob Slocum is an average man. He has a job, a family, but often lacks a purpose. Slocum's problem is that he fears so much and lacks confidence. To make matters worse, his daughter hates him, his son is an even more fearful and fragile version of him, his other son is severely retarded, and he hates his wife. Four of the first five chapters focuses on one those four characters. Through the revelations about each member of his family, we are able to learn a little more about Bob Slocum. For example, we learn in the second chapter about Bob's wife and that Bob has a healthy sexual appetite for women that are not his wife. In many ways, the fear experienced by Bob Slocum are both rational and realistic. The entertainment comes as Bob explores these fears and conquers them only to see that his family has changed with him.

At times, the writing can be crude and off-color, but one must realize the author is attempting to give an accurate impression of an average man. While Heller does allow the main character to become lost in his self-loathing at some points in the middle chapters, I enjoyed this book word for word. The size of the book can be intimidating, but do not let it discourage you from reading the book. It looks at the American family in the same way "Catch-22" looked at war. If you enjoyed "Catch-22", you should enjoy this book.

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Necessary reading

I had forgotten about Heller for thirty years until a literary friend reminded me of him and suggested this book. So, I've read it. And been mesmerized by it despite the fact that there really is no plot and it is not particularly likeable. Here we are, eavesdropping into the thoughts of a guy who has the upper middle class dream and yet is miserable. He thinks alright: about what he wants and how he'll get it, about the fact that getting what he wants is not satisfying, about how much he hates and distrusts everyone. But he never really examines his own life. His honesty is very limited in this sense. The guy, Bob Slocum, is not a very likeable fellow. He is selfish and self-indulgent and cruel and even solipsistic to an extent. But we cannot help but turn page after page of his mental ramblings.
I know that everyone considers this book to be about the effect of corporate America on the individual, but I think there is a lot more to it.
It is also the story of a particular individual and how he handles his life, or doesn't handle it. How he goes wrong. One reviewer said that this is a "sick book". I disagree. The book records the thoughts and actions of a rather sick individual but rather than applaud those thoughts and actions it holds them up for inspection.
This is also a book which is unforgettable. I find myself thinking about this guy and the tangled webs he weaves and shaking my head in frustration at his stupidity and cluelessness.
From a literary standpoint, this is an interesting book with its stream of consciousness ramblings and two and three page paragraphs. Works very well. Very well, indeed.
Both from the standpoint of great literature and that of psychology this is a book which should not be missed.

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