When Louis Falstein's ''Face of a Hero'' was published in 1950,
Herbert F. West reviewed it favorably in The New York Times Book
Review, calling it ''the most mature novel about the Air Force that
has yet appeared. . . . a book that is both exciting and important.''
Still, the book and its author faded into obscurity.
When Joseph Heller's ''Catch-22'' was published 11 years later,
Richard G. Stern gave it a negative review in the Times Book Review.
He said that it ''gasps for want of craft and sensibility'' and called
it ''an emotional hodgepodge.'' Despite that indictment, ''Catch-22''
eventually became a phenomenal success -- a best seller, a film and
the cornerstone of a major literary career.
Now, in a strange twist, the two books have come together, and their
meeting has led to a provocative debate. In a recent letter to The
Times of London, Lewis Pollock, a London bibliophile, wondered if
anyone could ''account for the amazing similarity of characters,
personality traits, eccentricities, physical descriptions, personnel
injuries and incidents'' in the two books.
He asked if this were ''a remarkable example of synchronicity.'' That
letter has sparked conjecture in both Britain and the United States
about the origins of ''Catch-22.'' An article appeared this week in
The Sunday Times of London, followed by one the next day on the front
page of The Washington Post suggesting that Mr. Heller may have
appropriated material from Falstein's book.
On the telephone from his home on Long Island, Mr. Heller issued a
categorical denial. He said he was influenced in his writing by
Celine, Waugh and Nabokov, but not by Falstein. ''I never read the
book,'' he said. ''I never heard of the book or the author. To the
extent that there are similarities, they are coincidences, and if the
similarities are striking then they are striking coincidences.''
He added, ''If I went through the 'Iliad' I would probably find as
many similarities to 'Catch-22' as other people seem to be finding
between Falstein's book and mine.''
Robert Gottlieb, who edited ''Catch-22'' for Simon & Schuster, was
astonished at the suggestion that Mr. Heller might have borrowed
anything from Falstein or any other writer. ''I've never seen, heard
or felt Joe Heller doing anything remotely less than honest during our
40-year relationship,'' he said. ''It is inconceivable that he used
any other writer's work. For one thing, he's too shrewd to do
something so blatant. It's easier for me to believe that Falstein
anticipated 'Catch-22.' ''
Both authors were in the Army Air Force in Europe during World War II
as members of combat crews on bombers. Falstein was stationed in
southern Italy, Mr. Heller in Corsica (called Pianosa in his book).
For each, this was a first novel. Mr. Falstein died in 1995 at 86.
While it was easy enough for Mr. Heller to be unaware of Mr.
Falstein's book, it is implausible that Falstein was unaware of
''Catch-22,'' a highly celebrated book that dealt with a closely
related subject. ''Where was Mr. Falstein between 1961 and his
death?'' asked Mr. Gottlieb. ''If he felt his book was misused, he
should have said something about it.'' Falstein's son, Joshua, who is
a court stenographer, said this week that his father never mentioned
''Catch-22'' to him.
From a reading of ''Face of a Hero'' (published by Harcourt Brace and
long out of print), it is clear that each novel stands on its own.
Despite the common background in the military and some similar
incidents, the books are widely disparate in approach, ambition, style
and content.
''Face of a Hero,'' told in the first person by a gunner named Ben
Isaacs, is a harrowing but relatively straightforward dramatic account
of one man's wartime experiences. Isaacs, nicknamed Pops because he is
older than the other members of the crew, is obsessed by his hatred of
Hitler and Fascism.
''Catch-22'' is a Dantesque vision, a darkly comic surrealistic
portrait of men caught up in the madness of war. Mr. Heller's
protagonist, Yossarian, is a bombardier who comes to believe -- with
some justification -- that everyone is trying to kill him. With an
increasing desperation, he wants to complete his 50 missions so he can
go home, but keeps finding the number of missions needed raised by his
commanding officer.
An examination of the two books leads this reader to conclude that the
similarities between the two can easily be attributed to the shared
wartime experiences of the authors. In his first chapter, for
instance, Falstein introduces his flight crew, one of whom is
identified as ''the stringy young Texan.'' Coincidentally, Mr.
Heller's first chapter is called ''The Texan'' and one of the
characters is from Texas, but the scene is entirely different.
Yossarian is in a hospital. ''It was love at first sight,'' Mr. Heller
begins. ''The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in
love with him.''
In that chapter, Mr. Heller introduces ''the soldier in white'' who
''was encased from head to toe in plaster and gauze.'' He continues,
''He had two useless legs and two useless arms'' and had been smuggled
into the ward at night. Later in his book, Falstein also has a soldier
in white who ''looked entombed in the cast, like an Egyptian mummy.''
This invalid is the crew's new pilot, wounded in action. In
''Catch-22,'' the figure is as mysterious and as metaphorical as the
Unknown Soldier.
In Falstein's book there is an animal lover who sleeps with five cats.
In Mr. Heller's book, there is Hungry Joe, who ''dreamed that Huple's
cat was sleeping on his face, suffocating him, and when he woke up,
Huple's cat was sleeping on his face.'' Both Isaacs and Yossarian take
extra flak jackets into combat as protection -- as apparently did
Falstein, Mr. Heller and other members of flight crews in combat. In
each book, there is a holiday party that ends in gunfire and there is
a rape scene with some similarity.
While ''Face of a Hero'' holds firmly to a realistic base,
''Catch-22'' is a transforming act of the imagination, populated by
fiercely original characters like Milo Minderbinder, the flamboyant
opportunist who bombs his own air base for profit (Falstein has a
black marketeer in his company, far smaller in scope than Milo). From
Mr. Heller, there is also Major Major Major Major, whose fate is to
look like Henry Fonda but not act anything like him. Then there is Doc
Daneeka with his theory of ''Catch-22.'' A man has to be declared
crazy to be relieved from combat duty, but ''anyone who wants to get
out of combat duty isn't really crazy.''
Falstein, who was born in Ukraine and came to the United States in
1925, wrote several other novels, including ''Slaughter Street'' and
''Sole Survivor,'' as well as a biography of Sholom Aleichem for young
readers. After the war, he attended New York University and later
taught there and at City College. He continued to write late in life
but his work was not published, his son said.
In his recent memoir, ''Now and Then,'' Mr. Heller discusses in detail
the models for some of his characters. Reviewing the book in The Times
of London, J. G. Ballard reflected on the importance of ''Catch-22,''
calling it ''the last great novel written in English.'' Paradoxically,
it was Mr. Ballard's piece that led to that questioning letter to the
editor and the subsequent controversy.
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