A Momentary Infinitesimal Lag in the Operation of Two Coactive Sensory Nerve Centers

I am in the midst of my third (possibly fourth?) reading of Catch 22. Throughout this reading I’ve tried to remember the first time I read the book. I don’t recall reading it in High School, but I seem to remember referring to it positively in a class on the 20th Century America Novel in college. I had some idea that a class about Novels on War would be fun to promote if only so I could take it. Red Badge of Courage, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Catch-22, Flight of the Intruder . . .who wouldn’t think that would be a fun class? Sadly, my arguments were not well received by the openly pacifist professor.

It wasn’t until I read this line “Yossarian shook his head and explained that déjà vu was just a momentary infinitesimal lag in the operation of two coactive sensory nerve centers that commonly function simultaneously” that I remembered when I first read Catch 22.

When I lived in Belgium as a foreign exchange student I lived across the street from the little village library. For a year I plowed through every English book they had. Catch 22 was one of them. How can I be so sure? I had a diary . . .a daily journal. After reading the line above about déjà vu I cracked open that journal and lo and behold, back in the fall of 92 I wrote that same line down in my euro fountain pen.

I find it cosmically titillating that a line about déjà vu would spark a memory of reading that same line in 1992. What’s worse . . .I actually have that sucker memorized and had forgotten the source from which I lifted it until now. Mystery solved.