Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors

by Richard Hooker

Paperback, 1997

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Publication

William Morrow Paperbacks (1997), Edition: Reprint, 224 pages

Description

Before the movie, this is the novel that gave life to Hawkeye Pierce, Trapper John, Hot Lips Houlihan, Frank Burns, Radar O'Reilly, and the rest of the gang that made the 4077th MASH like no other place in Korea or on earth. The doctors who worked in the Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (MASH) during the Korean War were well trained but, like most soldiers sent to fight a war, too young for the job. In the words of the author, "a few flipped their lids, but most of them just raised hell, in a variety of ways and degrees." For fans of the movie and the series alike, here is the original version of that perfectly corrupt football game, those martini-laced mornings and sexual escapades, and that unforgettable foray into assisted if incompleted suicide--all as funny and poignant now as they were before they became a part of America's culture and heart.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Stbalbach

The novel reads like a rough draft of TV episodes. The writing is not great, but good plot and characters is all screenwriters need. The rule of thumb is that the better the screen adaption the worse the book, and vice versa (with exceptions). The humor is frat boy and the theme is irreverence (of

authority, religion, military, sports, etc), the bigger they are the harder they fall, but it's also big hearted about what is really important. Perfect for 1968. It will be perfect again someday.

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LibraryThing member fulner

The book that started it all. It's been a long time since I have seen the movie, some of these stories were familiar, some not. But the book was pretty darn good. Its kind of funny how dis-similar it is to the TV show, what with Hawkeye coming to and leaving Korea in only 18 months. (While he is on

TV for how many years?)

Father McClay ass the bead rattling "Dago Red" is pretty hilarious. And "Spearchucker Jones" is a character that just isn't politically correct at any time. Kicking the holy roller out for being a Christian was a differ net idea than I expected, but don't forget that they are the professionals from Dover and they go to Soul to find the Epileptic Whore.

It is a fun fast story. Its no wonder that it was adopted for the screen, but had to be changed to fix the medium. Usually the book is better, occasionally the film/show is better, in this case they are both great on their own. Whether you are a fan of the screen adaptation or not, I recommend taking it for a spin.

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LibraryThing member Pferdina

I give it an extra star for nostalgia. If you've seen the TV series, you already know all the stories. The characters are a little different from the TV series, but the ethos is the same. Medicine is there for flavor, but it's really about men surviving in horrible conditions, making the best of

it, and not letting the Army get them down.

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LibraryThing member TheLoisLevel

I never did quite finish this book because I got to the point that I didn't care. Seems dated. I'm just not into the "boys will be boys" type of story anymore...was I ever?

LibraryThing member TheLoisLevel

I never did quite finish this book because I got to the point that I didn't care. Seems dated. I'm just not into the "boys will be boys" type of story anymore...was I ever?

LibraryThing member gbelik

The book was there before the movie and TV series. It is rather episodic--ready-made for episodes of the ongoing comedy/drama it became. But the characters are there, though some are different.

LibraryThing member buffalogr

I really enjoyed this book. It's so like military service -- one maintains a sense of humor or goes nuts. While the stories are familiar from the movie and all the sitcom episodes, hearing them again as a book was very enjoyable, I couldn't put it down. The people come together to get the job done

and compensate for the horror in multiple ways; suddenly it's all over and everyone goes home.

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LibraryThing member 2wonderY

I think the movie and the TV series captured the humor and the madness that Hooker wrote. Surprisingly good book, though I can't imagine that the sequels are worth anything.

LibraryThing member jlsimon7

I bought this book because I loved the TV series. Many of the scenes were recognized from the series. It was a great deal of fun to listen to them. Alan Alda is still the picture in my head of Hawk-eye Pierce. Wayne Rogers is still Trapper. Mike Farrell who plays B.J. Honeycutt became Duke for me

in the book. The point I am making is that it was fantastic to have faces to match the names in this book. These actors will forever in my mind be the embodiment of the personalities contrived and written by Richard Hooker.

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LibraryThing member sdunford

The movie was better than the book, and the TV show was better than the movie.

LibraryThing member Kaethe

A friend in high school was a huge fan of the book, movie, and series. I am at best lukewarm on the book and the movie, probably because there are so many 20th century writers who discovered that war is absurd.

Library copy.

LibraryThing member datrappert

Very very funny book is much more in sync with the Robert Altman movie than the later TV show, which softened the characters, blunted the satire, and added more drama and meaning. If you can read it without picturing Alan Alda, you will have a great time. There are several sequels, which continue

the story of the characters. These are amusing, but not as well done as the original. Although it is good to know that Colonel Blake survives in books, if not on TV.

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LibraryThing member eduscapes

This is the novel that was inspired the movie and then the television series. Classic stories that only slightly varies from the film or video versions. Nostalgic read. (lj Dec 2018)

LibraryThing member scottcholstad

I have always loved this book! I think it was a unique and special book for its time, a lightweight counter to the heavy stuff going on around it, such as Catch 22, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, A Clockwork Orange and the like, all of which are great, but are a reflection of their times, as well

as what was going on socially, culturally and politically in the US, particularly with Vietnam -- and Hooker using Korea as an obvious substitute in his commentary on such things couched in humor. The beauty of this novel is, it DOES allude to and address some really serious issues and things, similarly to the other books mentioned, but again, differently so that one didn't feel so threatened, to use an odd description of possible/probable reader response to others of that time. Brilliant, IMO. And of course, the TV show that came out of the movie that came out of this book was one of the best loved TV shows of all time, including by me as a major fan, so the book set off a chain of awesome (cinematic) events that impacted millions of people, largely in a good way. So while most people probably wouldn't consider this novel as more than a cheap comedy, I tend to see much more value in it and I'll stand behind that as long as I'm alive. Definitely recommended!

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LibraryThing member quondame

This is a series of humorous medical Korean-war stories, for which the characters of Duke, Hawkeye, Trapper John and others were invented to be a consistent set of protagonists, and mostly it works pretty well, though the movie and TV series are much more amusing. This is so dated by it's

dismissive attitudes toward women, that even the efforts to write the Swamp surgeons as tolerant (they send the Korean house boy to college in the US and are fine sharing quarters with Spearchucker{!?!}) I wanted to stomp on it from time to time. Also I wasn't much interested in the longish golf and football games in a couple of the chapters - those work when on-screen. Also no Klinger and Radar is just a plot gimmick.

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LibraryThing member TobinElliott

I'm all over the place with this novel.

Being a fan of the movie, and a massive fan of the series, I wanted to go back to the source material. It's an interesting ride, but like I said, I'm a bit scattered. Let me see if I can untangle this knot...

First, yes, the known and loved are there. Hawkeye,

Trapper, Col. Blake, Radar, Hot lips, Burns, Mulcahey, etc. And even some of those from the movie and the first few shows. Ugly John, Spearchucker Jones (and would we EVER have a name like that on television again?).

But wait...Hawkeye has brothers? In jail? And he's married with kids? Mulcahey is as warped as the rest of them? Trapper is the smarter and better of the surgeons than Hawkeye? Radar isn't so childlike and innocent?

And who the hell is this Duke guy that plays such a big role? And some of the other players? Okay, fair enough, this isn't the movie, this isn't the book. Let's enjoy the new friends.

And I did. I honestly did. I had a few laugh out loud moments throughout the book.

But something weird was going on in my head. It was in a constant struggle to reconcile the Alan Alda Hawkeye to the book Hawkeye, along with all the other characters. Likely a side effect of having seen the entire series at least three times, and the movie twice. So, through no fault of the novel, it was a bit of a schizophrenic experience.

Second, this isn't a novel. It's not a non-fiction account. Call it faction. Call it whatever the hell you want, but it's essentially a collection of anecdotes-as-chapters that all have the same recurring characters. Had Hooker been a better writer, some of the character introductions would have worked much better had he taken a few moments to just bring them in a chapter or two earlier so that, when they're needed, they're already known personalities.

So, the stories were fun, and often quite funny. The characters were...well, who they were. Blame the scriptwriters for changing them. The writing was, at best, workmanlike.

And still, I'm very glad I've read it. But god no, I will not read the other MASH Goes To... books. Hell no.

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LibraryThing member thornton37814

I listened to this novel that started MASH. It was a fun listen, and I mostly pictured the TV cast as I listened. There are differences between the novel and TV series. For example, "Hot Lips" was interested in a doctor but his name wasn't Frank Burns, although they seemed to have similar

personalities. Klinger was not in it. Radar's role was minor. There was another doctor--Duke from Georgia--in the Swamp with Hawkeye and Trapper. It was hard to picture Father Mulcahey as "Diego Red" since the actor didn't have the red hair the book star had, but of course, when they called him Father Mulcahey, I had no troubles! It was fun. It reminded me while MASH is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, TV shows of all time.

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LibraryThing member utbw42

An absolute delight to read....I've been wanting to read this book for years and I finally got to it. This is the one that started it all...the basis for the original movie. There are just as many laugh out loud moments in the book, if not more, than there are in the movie. The influence this book

had on future entertainment should be an indicator of the genius of it. I was instantly drawn in to the characters and setting and literally could not put the book down waiting for the next hilarious moment to occur. If you are looking for comedy or satire in your next read, give this a try.

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LibraryThing member bibliovermis

MASH was thought provoking, uproariously funny, and surprisingly educational. I learned a good amount about military rank, biology, war surgery, golf, and football, just to name a few.
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LibraryThing member Kiri

I wasn't sure what to expect when I began this, but I was pleasantly surprised and found it very readable! I was amused by the differences in the characters (esp their marital statuses) from the show.

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