George Clooney is not one to mess around. He brings his A-game to this existential tale told on screen , tightly adapted from the Joseph Heller book. The series does stay true to most of the material and characters.

YoYo Yossarian is the central figure , personifying the central dilemma - what's Catch-22? It's perplexing. Ad absurdum. Logic that defies reason.

To quote, "Catch-22 specifies that a concern for one's own safety, in the face of danger, real and immediate, is the process of a rational mind."

Self-preservation is what guides any rational being, including Yossarian.

Hugh Laurie plays Major de Coverley, a play, like many of the names, on a majorly cowardly guy. Milo Minderbinder hooks him up with sardines.

The chapters in the book are named after the major characters, and the episodes are named serially. Sometimes, simplicity is key to sarcasm.

The hospital is YoYo's short-lived refuge, because of the yapping Texan.

The series follows the book quite faithfully, and does a good adaptation.

As Milo Minderbinder begins his global commercial conquest with a full conflation of his many, many business interests, he makes an off-the-cuff remark to YoYo and Orr: "When this is all over , we should go into business together." This is the setup for Heller's sequel, Closing Time.

You must understand , if you have not (or do not want to - although I highly recommend it) read [in both tenses as relevant - past and present] the book , that this TV series is pretty , pretty depressing.

Read that sentence again with and without the parenthesis. I'll wait.

Alrighty then , as the epitome of rubber-faced men Jim Carrey intoned.

By Episode 5 , the group of US airmen around YoYo has thinned out. The characters that the book develops are not as fleshed out in the series , and understandably so. I do not envy the screenwriters in this regard , because Joseph Heller delved (too) deep into many of the characters.

Suffice to say that the series digs just deep enough for us to feel sad for those who die , angry at those who get away with murder , and peeved at the whole "system" in general. That is the aim of the book: empathy.

At least , that's what I think after seeing this quite faithful adaptation , as I am sure I have already written [said , for the podcast ] above/earlier.

If you haven't seen the series after reading the book , I'd say go for it.

If you have seen the series without reading the book , I'd say go for it.

If you've done neither , I recommend doing what you prefer first , then doing the second. I have a feeling you'll watch the series first. Will you?