Castle of Indolence

" I am bored with my work very often now. Everything routine that comes in I pass along to someone else. This makes my boredom worse. It's a real problem to decide whether it's boring to do something boring than to pass along everything boring that comes in to somebody else and then have nothing to do at all. "
-- Bob Slocum in 'Something Happened' by Joseph Heller (which I procured for the princely sum of twenty rupees at Daryaganj. I love the cover of this edition which has a humungous, unflappable exclamation mark staring out at us.)

Joseph Heller's second novel is a completely different from its famous predecessor and deals with the fears (paranoia?) of a corporate executive, Bob Slocum, who is unhappy despite 'having it all' (attractive wife, three kids, big house, fat salary, as many mistresses as he wants). The absurd black humour of Catch 22 is replaced by the torturous stream-of-consciousness commentary of the misanthropic Slocum. The book's tone is reminiscent of the movie 'American Beauty' and also the blog Anonymous Lawyer. (I know I know ..comparing 'literature' to a mere blog is sacrilegious. Nonetheless). Though I loved the book, it's not for everyone. It's pretty lengthy (around 600 pages) and the merciless (and persistent) cynicism of Slocum and the generally depressing atmosphere of the book isn't easy to stomach.

The book's blurb actually sums it up best : In Catch 22 he (Heller) satirized the horrors of war: In Something Happened he has attempted something more ambitious and difficult- satirizing the horrors of prosperity and peace.