Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors [Paperback]

Richard Hooker (Author)

Book Description

Publication 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: 0688149553
• ISBN-13: 978-0688149550
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #148,457 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 56 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 (McKinney, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors (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.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

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

By 

JenniDeere "jennideere" (Clinton, ME United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors (Paperback)

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.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Where It All Came From, November 13, 2005

By 

The JuRK (Our Vast, Cultural Desert) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors (Paperback)

If you're a fan of the film or the TV show, MASH, you'll enjoy reading the original novel.

I thought the movie was brilliant (I actually think it's better than the book) and I liked the TV show at first, until cast members started bailing out and were replaced by whining, "enlightened" characters who enabled Alan Alda to whine about the US Army and "War is Hell." It would be akin to the Delta House from ANIMAL HOUSE organizing a peace rally or marching for civil rights. You get the idea.

You'll see just how far off track the final seasons of the show went by watching the film and reading the original novel. MASH isn't as well written or satirical as CATCH-22 (good book, disastrous film), but it stays funny and interesting and doesn't overstay its welcome.

Actually, the more buffoonish (Henry Blake) and clownish (Frank Burns, "Hot Lips" Houlihan) characters come off as more real in the novel. I know the film and definitely the show tried to avoid references to the Korean War (because they wanted the war to represent any war, like Vietnam at the time of the film), but I appreciated the short references to the Korean battles and such in the novel.

If you're a fan, check it out.