Mash Goes to Maine

Richard Hooker (aka Hiester Hornberger Jr.–no seriously, that's his real name) wrote one of the funniest books about war ever: MASH. Anytime a book is successful, they're going to demand sequels. MASH goes to Maine was Hooker's attempt at a sequel, but it fails to capture the joy and zaniness of the original. When you take away the madness that is war, the antics of Hawkeye and Trapper John in the stateside world just don't really fit in. They still try to rail against oppressive authority, but without the military's super-strict regime, it just doesn't land like it should. Also, it should be noted that Hooker was a surgeon in real life, not a writer. While he writes a competent book, it's just not a ‘great' book. It's a fun read, but it doesn't knock it out of the park.

I am glad I read the book, though. It's something I'd been meaning to read for decades. I read the first book when I was in seventh grade. MASH was staple viewing in my house, and to this day if I'm flipping channels and I hit MASH in syndication on the tube, I stop flipping. I often watch episodes on Hulu now. Hands down, I have watching no TV show or movie as much as I have watched MASH (although ‘Scrubs' is a close second).

The main thing that came to light during my reading of this sequel is that Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould WERE Hawk and Trapper. Their portrayals of those characters in Altman's film version of the book were much closer to how Hooker wrote the characters than anything Alda and Rogers pulled off. Don't get me wrong, I love Alan Alda and Wayne Rogers, but when you read the dialogue Hooker wrote for this book, it's pretty evident how the characters should function and speak, and Donald Sutherland, in particular, nailed it.

I picked this book up from the local library the other day. When I checked it out, the librarian's eyes got wide. “No one has checked this out since 1993,” she said.

I graduated from high school in 1993. Reading this book made me feel old.