Strange that, Nigel - I thought Catch 22 one of the funniest books I've read. Re-read it many times as a late teenager then again age 30 or so only to find it had lost its impact. I did adapt some of the lines to help deal with the lies of students when I was trying to investigate some incident. 'Where were you when you didn't 'find' John's £10 note?' or, 'Which bit of him didn't you punch?' and similar frequently led to an unintended confession. Though I've not read it now for thirty years its description of the drive to find an opportunity for profit from even the worst human activity still seems completely true as does the inescapable logic of the Catch 22 itself. Milo Minderbinder is such a brilliant depiction of an amoral profiteer you can't help but admire and laugh at his logic - he makes Private Walker in Dad's Army seem like a sweet child!

The film however left me dead bored, despite the flying sequences. I imagine, for most of us, that the key sequences are the ones with real wartime aircraft being flown rather than the plummy dialogue, 'What, what, eh?'. That's why I like 633 Squadron even though I remember they destroyed a Mosquito in one of the crash landing sequences. Imagine what that might be worth now?!!

I still think it's a great book. I've worked in numerous unpleasant institutions where not enthusing over their version of the Great Loyalty Oath and some sort of Pledge before doing anything results in being seen as a traitor to the organisation. I think Heller had a great understanding, like Orwell, of the way people can be corrupted and persuaded into saying black is white even when they know it isn't! Both these two (Orwell in Animal Farm rather than 1984 which is just grim) manage to make exposing greed both awful and very funny at the same time. I suppose the humour is what appeals to me: I've worked for quite a few Comrade Napoleons who were always right