M*A*S*H (novels)

M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors, the original novel that inspired the M*A*S*H movie and TV series, was written by Richard Hooker, himself a former military surgeon, and was about a U.S. Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Korea during the Korean War. It was originally published in 1968, and several sequels followed after the success of the TV series. William E. Butterworth (W.E.B. Griffin) is credited as co-author on most of the sequels, but may have actually ghostwritten them.

Beginning with M*A*S*H Goes to Paris, all the later novels (except for M*A*S*H Mania) largely left the original characters behind to focus on extraneous characters, mostly caricatures of public figures from the 1970s: for instance, operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti is parodied in the form of a singer named "Korsky-Rimsakov", and news anchor Dan Rather becomes the egotistical "Don Rhotten".

Plot summary

Radar, while playing poker, listens in on a conversation between Colonel Henry Blake and General Hammond and announces the forthcoming arrival of two new surgeons. Captains Duke Forrest and Hawkeye Pierce share a jeep to MASH unit 4077. On the way, they also share a bottle and discover that, although they come from different parts of the U.S., they have much in common. Upon arrival, rather than report to the commanding officer, they have lunch in the mess tent, where they run into Col. Blake anyway. They are assigned to work the night shift, and billeted with Major Jonathan Hobson, a Midwestern preacher and surgeon.

The two new surgeons exhibit exceptional work and gain the respect of their colleagues, however they become annoyed by Maj. Hobson's devotion to prayer, so they complain to Henry, who reluctantly agrees to have Maj. Hobson rebilleted. Seeing that Henry is a bit of a push-over, they also request a chest surgeon for the unit. Friction mounts between the major and the new captains. Major Hobson's prayers begin to annoy everyone and Henry arranges to have him sent stateside.

Weeks later, the new chest surgeon arrives, Captain John McIntyre. He evades everyone's attempts to get to know him, and stays hidden inside a parka stocked with cans of beer and martini olives. For days Hawkeye has a nagging feeling that he's met McIntyre before. McIntyre is a fantastic surgeon, but still won't talk to anyone until Hawkeye suddenly remembers playing football against McIntyre in college. Hawkeye introduces McIntyre to everyone as Trapper John.

The tent occupied by the three surgeons, known as The Swamp, becomes a popular hang-out, serving cocktails at 4. One of the regulars is Father Mulcahy, the Catholic chaplain. The boys aren't religious, but they like the Father, calling him "Dago Red" because of his red hair. However, as Duke is an avowed Protestant, he requests a Protestant chaplain. The nearest Protestant chaplain is Shaking Sammy, who lives in an engineering outfit, and is so named because he loves to shake hands. The Swampmen come to dislike him because he tends to send letters to the families of fatally wounded soldiers saying all is well. After one too many of these letters, they lash him to a wooden cross and make him believe they intend to burn him alive.

Captain Waldowski, the dentist known as the Painless Pole, who has a pool table and a poker table (open 24 hours), suddenly becomes depressed and decides to commit suicide. (He's chronically depressed and has a fit of depression every month) Duke gives him a "black capsule" to knock him out, a mock Last Supper is arranged and everybody bids him farewell. The next day he is feeling better and ready for a game of poker.

The Swampmen begin to have personal conflicts with Captain Frank Burns, a rich, arrogant surgeon from the day shift. He trained for two years with his father, who, ironically, is not a trained surgeon. However he considers himself better than Hawkeye, and constantly harasses enlisted men. When one of his patients dies Frank says, as Duke puts it, "it's either God's will or somebody else's fault". He first blamed Private Boone for the death of a patient. These actions get him assaulted by Duke and then Trapper. The arrival of the new Chief Nurse, Major Margaret Houlihan, restores order at first. However, being Regular Army, she instantly dislikes the Swampmen and sides with Burns. Henry decides to appoint a Chief Surgeon, and the job falls to Trapper, being the best surgeon in the unit. Burns and Houlihan conclude that the Swampmen are evil and Henry their puppet. They prepare a report for Gen. Hammond and later get together in her tent, where Frank stays until 1:30 am. The next day the Swampmen tease Burns and Houlihan about their late-night meeting. Trapper John calls Houlihan "Hot Lips" and Hawkeye provokes Burns into a fight. Henry is finally forced to send Burns stateside.

Ho-Jon, the Korean houseboy working in the Swamp, is drafted into the South Korean army. He is subsequently wounded and sent back to the 4077th for treatment. After rehabilitation, he resumes his position as Swampboy. The Swampmen, who are very fond of Ho-Jon, arrange to have him sent to Hawkeye's old college. To raise funds, Trapper grows a beard, dresses up like Jesus Christ, and autographs thousands of photos which the Swampmen sell for a buck apiece.

Trapper receives orders to rush to Kokura, Japan for a medical emergency. Trapper and Hawkeye depart immediately with their golf clubs. The "emergency" turns out to be a routine operation; the anesthesiologist turns out to be "Me Lay" Marston, an old friend of Hawkeye who works at Dr. Yamamoto's Finest Kind Pediatric Hospital & Whorehouse ("Finest kind" becomes one of Hawkeye's catchphrases). The two Swampmen qualify for a golf tournament and play against a good-humoured British colonel. Trapper, still resembling Christ, attracts a lot of unwanted attention. After the tournament, they have dinner with Me Lay. Me Lay asks the boys to look at a sick baby, whom they take back to the army hospital. When the hospital's Colonel Merrill tries to get in their way, he is abducted, sedated and blackmailed. The baby, an orphan, is adopted by Me Lay.

Business picks up at the 4077th and Trapper and Hawkeye return immediately to find the unit overwhelmed with casualties. A constant flow of wounded soldiers pours into the hospital for two weeks and all personnel work around the clock performing operations far beyond their training. At the end of the two weeks everyone is exhausted and irritable. The unit's efficiency sags, and the tremendous loss of life begins to take its toll on the surgeons. They turn to heavy drinking and start harassing the nurses, particularly Maj. Houlihan. Fed-up, she again complains to the general, who comes down on Col. Blake. The Swampmen intercede on behalf of the colonel and smooth things over with the general.

Summer arrives and the 4077th is hot and overworked. The work slacks off and while Henry is sent to Tokyo for three weeks, Colonel Horace DeLong fills in. Col. DeLong finds Hawkeye at the poker game and demands that he start surgery on a patient in the preoperative ward. Hawkeye says that the patient is receiving blood and that he will do the surgery at 3:00am. At 2:45, while scrubbing for surgery, Hawkeye explains that the waiting period was necessary for the patient to become fit for surgery. When the Swampmen get bored, to get away for a few days they lead DeLong to believe they need psychiatric evaluation. At the 325th Evac, they escape and the psychiatrist, accompanied by Henry, finds them at Mrs. Lee's (a nearby whorehouse).

The Swampmen organize a football team to play against Gen. Hammond's team. They tell Henry to request neurosurgeon Oliver Wendell Jones, a pro ball player known as Spearchucker. Henry becomes the coach, certain that he'd be a better coach than Hammond. Spearchucker scouts Hammond's team and finds out the general has three pros on his team. They devise a plan to get the runner out of the game, and wear out the two tackles early in the game. Their plan is successful and they win the game 28-24, although only after devising a piece of subterfuge to score the winning touchdown and using Radar's phenomenal hearing to eavesdrop on the opponents' tactical discussions.

Time drags for Duke and Hawkeye as they wait for their commissions to expire. They start to disappear for days at a time. To keep them busy Henry has them train the new recruits, Captains Pinkham and Russell, in the short-cuts of "meatball surgery". The recruits do well, but Capt. Pinkham's wife has a mental breakdown and he is sent home.

When the time finally comes for Duke and Hawkeye to go home, everyone crowds into The Swamp for a farewell drink. The two continue to drink and cause trouble all the way home by feigning battle fatigue to scare new recruits, impersonating chaplains to get out of working short-arm inspection and harassing an airline stewardess. They part ways in Chicago and rejoin their families.

Series

• M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors (1968)
• M*A*S*H Goes to Maine (1972)
• M*A*S*H Goes to Paris (1974), with William E. Butterworth
• M*A*S*H Goes to New Orleans (1975), with William E. Butterworth
• M*A*S*H Goes to London (1975), with William E. Butterworth
• M*A*S*H Goes to Vienna (1976), with William E. Butterworth
• M*A*S*H Goes to San Francisco (1976), with William E. Butterworth
• M*A*S*H Goes to Morocco (1976), with William E. Butterworth
• M*A*S*H Goes to Miami (1976), with William E. Butterworth
• M*A*S*H Goes to Las Vegas (1976), with William E. Butterworth
• M*A*S*H Goes to Hollywood (1976), with William E. Butterworth
• M*A*S*H Mania (1977)
• M*A*S*H Goes to Texas (1977), with William E. Butterworth
• M*A*S*H Goes to Moscow (1977), with William E. Butterworth
• M*A*S*H Goes to Montreal (1977), with William E. Butterworth

Differences between book, film and TV versions of M*A*S*H

The following depicts the major differences between the book, film and TV adaptations of M*A*S*H. Some of the changes were points of contention between the franchise's various creators. Richard Hooker, the author of the novel, liked the film but not the TV series. Ring Lardner, Jr., author of the Academy Award-winning screenplay, was disappointed with the final film. Robert Altman, director of the film, also disliked the TV series. Wayne Rogers, the actor who portrayed Trapper in the TV series, complained about the role reversal between his character and the Hawkeye character and ultimately left the series after its third season.

• |"Suicide Is Painless"
  ||Created for the film, not related to the book.
  ||The song has lyrics and several verses.
  ||Instrumental: suicide deemed inappropriate for an American sitcom.

• |Pierce and McIntyre/Hunnicut role reversal
  ||Pierce has blond hair, is married and remains faithful to his wife. McIntyre has dark hair, is trained in thoracic surgery, serves as Chief Surgeon and is single.
  ||Pierce has blond hair, is married and fools around with nurses. McIntyre has dark hair, is trained in thoracic surgery, serves as Chief Surgeon and is single.
  ||Pierce has dark hair, is trained in thoracic surgery, serves as Chief Surgeon and is single. McIntyre has blond hair, is married and fools around with nurses. Hunnicut remains faithful to his wife (except once).
  

• | supporting characters
  || Bandini, Klinger, Kellye, Potter, Hunnicut, Winchester, Freedman, Flagg, and Zale do not appear. Burns is a captain. Henry stutters when upset. Radar's full name is not given. Boone's first name is Lorenzo. Spearchucker's middle name is Wendell. Rizzo's first name is Pete. Father Mulcahy's nickname is "Dago Red".
  || Carroll, Danforth, Klinger, Kellye, Potter, Hunnicut, Winchester, Freedman, Flagg, Zale, and Rizzo do not appear. Maj. Hobson and Capt. Burns are combined into one character. Henry stutters when upset. Radar's full name is not given. Boone's first name is Warren. Spearchucker's middle name is Harmon. Father Mulcahy's nickname is "Dago Red".
  || Waldowski, Forrest, Carroll, Danforth, and Bandini do not appear. Maj. Hobson and Capt. Burns are combined into one character. Henry does not stutter. Many characters disappear, including Spearchucker, Ugly John, Vollmer, Gen. Hammond, and most of the nurses. Various generals, nurses, and dentists are seen throughout the series. Radar's first and middle names are revealed. Boone eventually becomes Igor. Spearchucker's middle name is not given. Rizzo's first name is Luthor. Father Mulcahy is referred to as "Red" only in the first season.
  

• |Burns' Fate
  ||Hawkeye provokes Burns into a fight by making ribald jokes about Burns' and Houlihan's liaison. Soon after, Burns is led away for psychiatric treatment. Trapper quips "If I lay Hot Lips and jump Hawkeye, can I go home too?"
  ||Much the same as in novel version, except it is Duke who asks Henry, "If I nail Hot Lips and punch Hawkeye, can I go home?"
  ||After Margaret marries Col. Penobscot, Burns begins to act erratically, and goes to Seoul for R&R. After a number of mistaken identity incidents -- which end with him jumping fully clothed into an onsen bath where a general and his wife are bathing, Frank is taken away for psychiatric evaluation, sent home, promoted, and given charge of a veteran's hospital, prompting a jealous outburst from Hawkeye and BJ.
  

• |Chapter 4
  ||The Swampmen lash a Protestant chaplain (who sends letters to the families of fatally wounded soldiers saying all is well) to a wooden cross and make him believe they intend to burn him alive.
  ||Omitted from film version.
  ||A line about Canadians taking Hill 55 is used in the pilot episode. A visiting cardinal pressures Mulcahy into sending a letter saying all is well to the family of a patient who almost dies.

• |Poker
  ||A perpetual game is almost always in session at the Painless Polish Poker and Dental Clinic.
  ||The game is seen in Painless' office, himself said to be an avid player.
  ||There is a weekly game, usually on payday, featured in many episodes.*

• |Chapter 6
  ||The hidden microphone gag is not in the book.
  ||A microphone is hidden inside Hot Lips' tent and she and Burns are heard engaging in sexual intercourse over the P.A.
  ||In the episode "Major Fred C. Dobbs," a microphone is hidden inside Hot Lips' tent and she and Burns making goo-goo talk to each other is later broadcast over the P.A. In the episode No Sweat, while Major Houlihan is trying to get a disoriented Colonel Potter to authorize medicine to treat her prickly heat, Klinger accidentally switches the P.A. on. This results in the entire camp hearing about Margaret's condition and Potter's response.|

• |Chapter 7
  ||Ho-Jon is drafted, subsequently wounded and sent back to the 4077th for treatment. After rehabilitation, the Swampmen arrange to have him sent to Hawkeye's old college. To raise funds, Trapper grows a beard, dresses up like Jesus Christ, and autographs thousands of photos which the Swampmen sell for a buck apiece.
  ||Ho-Jon is drafted, and Hawkeye drives him to the induction center. The doctor who examines Ho-Jon discovers that Hawkeye has given him stimulants to quicken his heart rate. (In the screenplay, Ho-Jon is wounded and sent to the 4077th. However, his surgery is unsuccessful and he dies. The final film omits this storyline, although a few of the scenes remain with overdubbed dialogue.)
  ||Hawkeye arranges to have Ho-Jon sent to his old college. To raise funds, he raffles off a weekend pass to Tokyo.

• |Hot Lips' shower scene
  ||The shower scene is not in the book. Hot Lips does threaten to resign if the Swampmen continue harassing her. This scene takes place after she has been in the shower, implying that something unpleasant has occurred.
  ||The Swampmen collapse the shower tent while Hot Lips is showering. The entire camp jeers and applauds. She threatens to resign.
  ||There are numerous shower-tent gags throughout the series (sans nudity). Hot Lips frequently chews out Blake and she twice put in for a transfer (the episodes "Major Fred C. Dobbs" and "Hot Lips and Empty Arms.")|Tea and peritonitis

• ||Ugly John complains about British soldiers being given tea when wounded.
  ||This issue is not brought up in the film.
  ||Hawkeye complains about British soldiers being given tea when wounded and convinces their commanding officer to stop the practice.

• |Chapter 11
  ||While Henry is in Tokyo, Hawkeye has an argument with a Colonel about a patient in the preoperative ward. When the Swampmen get bored, to get away for a few days they lead the colonel to believe they need psychiatric evaluation.
  ||Omitted from film version.
  ||Hawkeye has an argument with a General about a patient in the preoperative ward. While Henry is in Tokyo, Hawkeye gets bored. To get away for a few days he leads Burns to believe he needs psychiatric evaluation.

• |Chapter 14
  ||To keep the Swampmen busy Henry has them train new recruits in the short-cuts of "meatball surgery".
  ||Omitted from film version.
  ||When Winchester arrives he has to be trained in the short-cuts of "meatball surgery".*

• |Chapter 15
  ||When Duke and Hawkeye go home, the two continue to drink and cause trouble all the way to Chicago. They part ways and rejoin their families.
  ||Duke and Hawkeye are discharged and the film ends.
  ||Henry and Trapper are sent home before Hawkeye and Burns. Henry is killed.