Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors [Paperback]

Richard Hooker (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 19, 1997

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.

Editorial Reviews

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

When Radar O'Reilly, just out of high school, left Ottumwa, Iowa, and enlisted in the United States Army it was with the express purpose of making a career of the Signal Corps. Radar O'Reilly was only five feet three inches tall, but he had a long, thin neck and large ears that left his head at perfect right angles. Furthermore, under certain atmospheric, as well as metabolic, conditions, and by enforcing complete concentration and invoking unique extrasensory powers, he was able to receive messages and monitor conversations far beyond the usual range of human hearing.

With this to his advantage it seemed to Radar O'Reilly that he was a natural for the communications branch of the service, and so, following graduation, he turned down various highly attractive business opportunities, some of them legitimate, and decided to serve his country. Before his enlistment, in fact, he used to fall asleep at night watching a whole succession of, first, sleeve stripes, and then shoulder insignia, floating by until he would see himself, with four stars on his shoulders, conducting high-level Pentagon briefings, attending White House dinner parties and striding imperiously to ringside tables in New York night clubs.

In the middle of November of the year 1951 A.D., Radar O'Reilly, a corporal in the United States Army Medical Corps, was sitting in the Painless Polish Poker and Dental Clinic of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital astride the 38th Parallel in South Korea, ostensibly trying to fill a straight flush. Having received the message that the odds against such a fortuitous occurrence open at 72,192 to 1, what he was actually doing was monitoring a telephone conversation. The conversation was being conducted, over a precarious connection, between Brigadier General Hamilton Hartington Hammond, the Big Medical General forty- five miles to the south in Seoul, and Lieutenant Colonel Henry Braymore Blake, in the office of the commanding officer of the 4077th MASH, just forty-five yards to Radar O'Reilly's east.

"Listen," Radar O'Reilly said, his head turning slowly back and forth in the familiar scanning action.

"Listen to what?" Captain Walter Koskiusko Waldowski, the Dental Officer and Painless Pole, asked.

"Henry," Radar O'Reilly said, "is trying for two new cutters."

"I gotta have two more men," Colonel Blake was shouting into the phone, and Radar could hear it.

"What do you think you're running up there?" General Hammond was shouting back, and Radar could hear that, too. "Walter Reed Hospital?"

"Now you listen to me . . ." Colonel Blake was saying.

"Just take it easy, Henry," General Hammond was saying.

"I won't take it easy," Colonel Blake shouted. "If I don't get two . . ."

"All right! All right!" General Hammond shouted. "So I'll send you the two best men I have."

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (March 19, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780688149550
• ISBN-13: 978-0688149550
• ASIN: 0688149553
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,551 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 65 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Ah'd purely love to see it angry. June 30, 2001

By Charles Phelps

Format:Paperback

Richard Hooker's M*A*S*H is quite a diverse book. It is part dramatic documentary on Korean War combat surgery and the remarkable achievements of the surgeons in spite of their lack of field training, the indequate medical facilities with which they had to work, and the sub-human conditions under which they had to perform miracles.

It is also an extremely broad farce. The human sacrifice of Shakin' Sammy and the Jesus Christ personal appearance tour (actually a beer-swilling, half-naked, bearded Trapper John lashed to a crucifix) are a couple of examples of the exaggerated comic stylings.

This interspersing of drama and comedy makes this an interesting if somewhat unsual read and also makes it a perfect subject for dramatization. When it is in comedy zone, it is way out there. When it is in drama zone, it is quite serious. According to Hooker's forward, the surgeons in a MASH were exposed to many extremes. With his writing style, Hooker has exposed us to extremes as well.

It is one of my favorite books and I highly recommend it to fans of either the movie or the TV series. The film captures more of the book's bawdy, ribald spirit. The TV show captures more of the sentiment.

I also recommend "MASH: An Army Surgeon In Korea" by Otto F. Apel if you want the real story of what life in a MASH was. If you are a fan of the film/book/series and think you have an understanding of how rough it was back then, read this. It was a lot worse. An excellent read.

Add both of these books to your collection and then thank your lucky stars this isn't 1951 and you are draft eligible.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Finest Kind March 5, 2001

By JenniDeere

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Like the characters within the covers, Richard Hooker's "MASH", is not so much a work of art, but a piece of work and as dear Hawkeye is so fond of saying,"the finest kind". This book proves the theory that "the book is better than the movie", despite the fact that both the film and tv show were, perhaps, the best in their respective mediums. Put away your images from both and let Mr.Hooker take you to Korea. His prose is not the mystical, lyrical verse of some writers, but it is indeed a story, told masterfully. The characters are full of life, with enough kick to jump start your car, yet their wit is dry as the Sahara, just like the martinis served by the main characters, and prefered by the author himself. An easy read, if not an enjoyable one, that will make you laugh out loud and then, with a simple sentence, fill your mind's eye with the violence and destruction of war on the often forgotten participants. You will never regret the time spent reading this novel, nor will youever forget what it is about.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book... July 21, 2004

By Brent Wigen

Format:Paperback

Richard Hooker's story about three army doctors who deal with the stresses of meatball surgery in Korea is a great book. Never mind that it served as the basis for a movie and one of the most popular TV shows ever; if you think you know the story, you probably don't.

The movie and the TV show loom so large in popular culture that it is almost impossible to write a review without some mention of the video version's of Hooker's work. What we find of the familiar names is that the doctors in the book are neither the anarchists of the movie nor the peaceniks of the series, but simply a few Type A personalities who don't have a lot of respect for authority and are stuck in a tough job without much to occupy their spare time. This is really a study in the difficulty of life performing meatball surgery mere miles from the front line, and the methods men use to cope with the stress of dealing with life and death situations on an hourly basis.

I think the most compelling part of this book is the daily wait for the six o'clock helicopter. I won't disclose the plot details, but this little portion of the story breaks the life of the MASH down into its most basic elements.

I have to say I enjoyed this book immensely. As is almost always the case with the book form of a story, the characters are so much fuller than they can be on screen. Hooker has a dry, witty sense of humor that is on display throughout the story, but he never fully allows the reader to forget the stress and the pall of death and destruction that hangs over the camp. Hooker establishes a fine line between humor and horror, and writes about three doctors who couldn't survive the latter without the former.