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Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors Paperback – March 19, 1997

by Richard Hooker (Author)

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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.

Print length

224 pages
Language

English
Publisher

William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication date

March 19, 1997
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.56 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

0688149553
ISBN-13

978-0688149550
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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Before there were the movie and the television series, there was the novel that gave birth to such American immortals as Hawkeye and Trapper John, Hot Lips Houlihan, Frank Burns, Radar O'Reilly, and the rest of the 4077th MASH--a place like no place else in Korea or on earth.

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."

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks; Reprint edition (March 19, 1997)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0688149553
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0688149550
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.56 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #64,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #416 in Military Historical Fiction
- #1,051 in War Fiction (Books)
- #5,477 in Literary Fiction (Books)

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Richard Hooker

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Glen Chern

Much Better Than TV

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2018

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As a rabid fan of the television series of the same name, I thoroughly enjoyed the book as much or more than the movie or series. Richard Hooker, the author, gives a splendid portrayal of the 4077th MASH. Hooked provides a blend of colorful characters with situations best suited to their personalities. Frankly, I was pleased that he downplayed the roles of Maj. Frank Burns (only a captain in the novel) and Maj. Margaret Houlihan ( "Hot Lips") . He also minimized Radar O'Reilly and omitted transvestite Max Klinger entirely.

Hoover's 4077th MASH included scenes portrayed in the movie, but absent from the TV series. He also chose to include a more liberal role for Father Mulcahey. I found the book much more entertaining and realistic than the series.

13 people found this helpful

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Rick

NOT THE T.V. SHOW----FAR BETTER

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2020

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What an awesome book. A lifetime ago, I read that Richard Hornberger, author of the book and the actual "Hawkeye Pierce" hated the T.V. show. So did I. Feeling nostalgic, I finally bought the book. It can be read in a single afternoon. The book centers on Hawkeye, Trapper, Duke, and surprisingly Henry Blake, who is portrayed as a sympathetic Senior Officer, who ignores the antics of his citizen soldiers, focusing on their ability to save lives. The book is a great snapshot of a time and place, as the surgeons hate the Army but work like hell to save the young men that come through their hospital. Unlike the T.V. series, the book is entirely apolitical. It is simply a poignant book about average men doing the best they can in trying circumstances, and surprisingly funny.

4 people found this helpful

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Nostalgic novel and cleverly written comedy-drama.

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2021

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MASH, the novel, endures as a classic comedy and military satire. It outshines the 1970 movie and complements the TV series (or vise-versa).

AN ICONIC BABY BOOMER STORY

The premise for MASH should be familiar to Baby Boomers. For younger audiences: MASH is set in South Korea during the Korean War (1950-1953). It follows the efforts of three irreverent, maverick army doctors (note the subtitle) to survive the war with their sanity intact. Those efforts, however, often call their sanity into question by the more militarily rigid types around them.

EXECUTED AS A TRADITIONAL TV SERIES

The novel is structured much like a traditional TV series. It presents a premise (maverick army doctors during the Korean War) with a basic plotline (the doctors trying to stay sane until their discharge). On this premise, a number of short stories (episodes) are told, each over the space of a chapter or two. This storytelling is supported with a cast of memorable characters, many of whom have become fiction icons.

The big theme of MASH seems to be that normally respectable types (like doctors) will act-out in order to cope when put under duress. In Mr. Hooker’s view, such acting out features the frequent use of nicknames, lack of concern for uniforms and military procedure, and the indulgence of various vices (drinking, smoking, brothels, gambling, con schemes, etc). Most of these questionable activities are presented with humor, but there is a low morals slant to it that always marred my liking for the story. Maybe that was Mr. Hooker’s point (he died in 1997), but his three doctors are not just mavericks, they are bad-boys.

I can appreciate flaunting military strictures and being hostile toward cruelty and hypocrisy, but the three doctors carry it too far. They are hostile towards religion to the point of ridicule (in the cases of Major Hobson and Shaking Sammy) or bare tolerance (in the case of Father Mulcahy). You can say this aspect was Mr. Hooker ridiculing religious hypocrisy, but he seems to have no use for religion at all. But would not some people genuinely seek comfort from their religion while in a war zone?

I started the novel with curiosity as to how Mr. Hooker handled the characters I knew from the TV series (I never cared for the movie). I found that most of them are there but not developed. Some, like Frank Burns and Hot-Lips, have only short, secondary roles. Even Radar, though presented engagingly in the novel, is not developed. And Frank Burns is not the foil for Hawkeye that he is in the movie and TV series. He is presented in the novel more like Major Winchester is in the TV series. These character differences were not a problem for me, however, as I don’t think they impacted the novel’s execution.

POETIC REPARTEE

The novel’s dramatic construction is interesting. Maintaining an omnipotent Point-Of-View, the narrative has a cadence about it that is almost poetic. It especially lyrical in the dialogue repartee from Hawkeye and Trapper John. These poetics make the reading compelling where it would otherwise risk falling flat. And so there are nice sections of dialogue like:

“Frank,” Hawkeye said, “you stink. I haven’t decided what to do about you, but sooner or later I’ll come to some sort of decision. Now I suggest that you go to bed and lull yourself to sleep counting your annuities or something, before you precipitate my decision, to the sorrow of us both.”

That’s clever dialogue and nice to read, though it makes Hawkeye sound like more of an a-hole than he claims Frank to be. Still, the characters are sympathetic, even when they misbehave. At times, though, the bad people the three doctors rail against are straw dogs. Like the officer-doctors who abuse children, or the Protestant chaplain who writes families their sons were well when they are bad-off or dead. In such cases, Mr. Hooker is a bit too black-and-white. That aspect often carried over to the TV series.

That lack of nuance is my chief criticism of this novel, but it is mitigated by solid prose and interesting characters. I will concede that Mr. Hooker brings in some character nuance at the end, when even Hawkeye mellows a bit.

CLASSIC MASH BUT NUANCE WOULD HELP

I do like MASH, the novel. Mostly, I like the lyrical nature of much of the prose and dialogue. And I like the screwball situations and allusions (”mermaid traps” and the “epileptic whore”). It is compelling enough to hold my attention even when the action is a long account of a sporting event. But the protagonist doctors as misbehaving, maverick, and technically brilliant, doesn’t ring believable with me. Mostly, I do not like their personalities. Mr. Hooker does makes his point with all this, but I think it is a shallow point. Greater nuance of theme and character would have taken the novel to a higher level. Even so, I can recommend this book as an entertaining, nostalgic read.

One person found this helpful

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Donald HuntTop Contributor: Writing

The Police Action, That Really Was A War.....

Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2015

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I read this story years ago, before the TV show got so
popular, and I came across it again while I was looking
for, The Dirty Dozen, and decided to read it one more time.
It indeed is the story that the hit TV show M*A*S*H was based
on, with of course some tweaks.
Sadly the Korean War, is always that "other war", that was never
resolved, and in reality has never ended.
And that has been never more obvious than in the last few years.
In the book, as in the TV show, the Dr's never let any one forget
that they are nothing more than "Draftees", and therefore just
"misplaced" civilians,put there on the Army Plan.
The book showed some disdain for Military Rules and Regs, but
not nearly as much as the TV show did in it's later years, but I
digress, and will get back to the book.
The book is an enjoyable read, as it was the first time I read it, lo
so many years ago.
And it does end about the same way as the TV show did, with everyone
saying, This was not fun, but we will keep in touch, when we get back home.
But as many of you that have been in situations like this know, that does not happen.
The Dr's in the book, end up taking different flights, in different directions, and their
Goodbyes are FINAL.
Enjoy a trip back in time.......

20 people found this helpful

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J Cather Weaver

Written in nonsensical style yet details of the MASH enterprise revealed

Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2019

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Hard to review a book written in a nonsensical style. I became confused about the characters, for I had been tainted by the movie and TV series. Having read the book, I see its influence in small details in the TV series. The movie has more of a direct relationship with this novel than the TV series. Not sure I’m more enlightened having read this novel, yet since it gave rise to the movie and series, it is worth knowing where this brilliance all began.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Ross David Smith

Answers to unasked questions

Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2021

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I have seen the movie and every episode of the television series multiple times. The book... this book.... provided answers to questions I never made an effort to ask. Did such failure to ask those questions make them insignificant? Perhaps, until the book was read. A wonderful read for every fan of the movie, the book and the three doctors.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

D Hornby

An enjoyable reminder for fans of the film

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 14, 2015

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Having been a fan of the film and the TV series back in the day, a recent re-run of the film on TV prompted me to seek a copy of the book on which it was all based. That was Richard Hooker's "MASH". It was soon apparent that the film in particular followed most of the antics as described in the book, hence for me it was a very enjoyable read. The written word was also able to bring out the pathos of the parting when Hawkeye and Trapper returned home much better than in the film. Highly recommended if you enjoyed the film and/or TV show.

5 people found this helpful

Simon Kewer

Good seller

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 26, 2021

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Recommended

Bredon House

The book the film was about

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 19, 2017

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The book the film was about. Many scenes are straight from the book but there is a load more besides. Not enough pages for my liking so a quick read but worth the time.

One person found this helpful

pauline

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 29, 2017

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another must read
brilliant

Parchment

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 2, 2016

Verified Purchase

A++

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From the Back Cover

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Product details

About the author

Richard Hooker

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