Review Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors by: Richard Hooker

Title: M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors
Author: Richard Hooker
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Pages: 219
Series: M*A*S*H #1
Format: ebook 
Purchase: Barnes & Noble | Amazon

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.

My Thoughts:

I am a huge fan of the 4077th MASH unit after having been sick yesterday and watched a mini marathon I am a bigger fan of the ones that have Henry so I decided to give the book a shot and I wasn't displeased at all.  It felt going back and spending time with everyone I loved it.

This a great book for those who loved the show and miss the characters they portrayed.  It is like reading the movie more than the television show but I still enjoyed the antics.

This book started out talking about Radar and how Hawkeye and Duke came to be at the 4077th, and then we meet other people as they are introduced like Frank Burns, Hot Lips Houlihan, Father Mulcahy.  It was nice to see how they worked out in the authors mind. 

I also loved the antics of how they got rid of certain bunkmates and Frank Burns.  It was hilarious some of what they got into along with the medical side of the story how they coped with being in Korea which was in such bad shape.  I recommend this to people who love the movie and show and love reading medical dramas during war times.

In this we also get to see the depature of Hawkeye and Duke who go home when their time is up and to see Trapper's attitude about it which was different then the tv show.  What a great story!