Young Writers Society

E M
2017


Base Intro to the Book
M*A*S*H by Richard Hooker is described as a book centering around three military doctors trying to cope with the Korean war and not go crazy. Let me start by saying that they definitely did not achieve the final part of that statement. Hooker mixes in many different elements to this story and can switch moods really quickly. He goes from the doctors being depressed over something to three pages later plotting a new scheme to have fun with. The assortment of craziness in this book may be why I’ve read it back and forth far too many times. (Or it may just be that I read it for the first time when I was far too young.)

Age Appropriateness
Occasionally I write book reviews and place them places and just hope someone realizes.
(For instance, this one was originally supposed to go on my book review blog but I decided to debut it here.)
But something I thought of recently, was that I usually forgot to put in an age warning. Most stories I read don’t need on but this book is a bit of an exception. I probably should have waited until 8th/9th grade to read this book because frankly it's just not good for my mind. I certainly did become more open and confident and my parents didn’t really care about what I read at that point. But if a parent is worried about this book as far as age appropriateness, they have a right to be.
I mean I realize we have all seen R movies at one point or another, whether our parents knew or not, but unless that's your jam don't take this book on. It's quite graphic here and there, the humor is crude, and prostitutes are mentioned at least two or three times every chapter. That's the only reason I wrote a content warning into this, not because I'm saying some 11/12 year olds are not mature enough to read this. Take in mind that Hooker based all of this loosely off his time in a MASH unit during Korea. And that these men and women had a few affairs here and there. The language isn’t too crude compared to some of the movies they’re making nowadays but still enough to earn the 70’s movie a R rating. The TV series that many people know, was toned down quite a bit from the book, so don’t be expecting that when you read the book.

180 pages to tell half the war
Length is another big question about this book because it is so damn short. It registers just over 150 pages and the copy I have has been read so many times, it looks even thinner. I think this factor may turn a lot of people off because you’re wondering how much excitement can happen in so few pages. Believe me when I say more happens in this book than some two times longer. The wacky adventures are stuffed in here and there to cover up the medical monologues by Hawkeye from time to time. Some of the chapters are really short and some are pretty long considering the length of the book. Hooker doesn’t spend too much time discussing the medicine aspect of it but he glances back often enough for you to remember the characters are in a war zone.

comedy aspect
One of the more attractive aspects of this book, is the sheer amount of pages are spent on humor to cover up the slight air of drama and tragedy. I quite like this style because plain and simple drama novels on the war, are both a bit of a bore and really saddening. The story rises up and down very quickly and the antics are slightly unpredictable to a first time reader.

TV vs Book vs Movie
The characters in the book are different from the television series in some large ways and also in some minute details. In the television series, Hawkeye wasn’t restrained by a marriage and children, but in the book you can see him stumble through the possibilities of affairs. (and judging from hints dropped, he had a few) These activities make people hate the married characters because no one likes cheaters. But the atmosphere also has to enter into this before you judge them too badly.
There are also several characters in the book who never made it to the series or show up at different times. The book only goes as far as Hawkeye and Duke going home and this is still mid-war where the series stretched it out to the end.

So has anyone else read or watched this because I really need to talk to someone who has read the book.

I really need to read the book. The TV series is fantastic, to put it lightly.

I'm reading this right now. To be honest, I'm not sure what I think of it...it's not my usual type of book, but it's good for what it is.