I love M*A*S*H. It's one of my favourite TV shows. It was of course based on the 1970 movie which in turn was based on this novel. The novel is excellent. Based on the authors experiences and those of colleagues during the Korean war it's not really a straight novel. It's more a series of stories, anecdotes, woven into a short novel. Some stories are familiar from the movie and TV series but it's still a great read. Funny, moving, irreverent and entertaining.

I really liked this for two reasons: the characters and the narrative voice. First, the voice. It's strong; so strong that it makes the main characters sound pretty much the same. Usually such homogenisation is a problem, but here I find it works rather well. The blending of the personalities creates a pleasant bond in a mad world. The tone is smartly judged. It's hilarious, yet quietly so. By this I mean I find myself thinking back to plot events and finding them insanely funny. (One example is the golf match in Papa-San suits.) At the time of reading, these hi-jinks are balanced by the grueling details of the work they were doing, not to mention its absurdity - repairing the horrific damage done to healthy young men. Much of the action is ridiculous, and the text approaches work and play with similar coolness. Hell raising and hell-repairing are narrated in the same tone. Now the characters. The surgeons Hawkeye Pierce and Duke Forrest are scornful, irreverent and flippant against authority, good souls who look after their friends and hilariously torment their enemies. And in spite of the detached tone, there is deep affection and loyalty between the characters, handled with enormous restraint - which of course roots it all the more deeply. The structure is episodic, so it's not surprising that it made a long-running TV series. This means there isn't a strong overall arc in conventional story terms. The tale is bookended by the friendship - the day they first meet at the hospital, to the day they leave. At times the control falters, though. New pivotal characters are added all the time, which can get a bit frustrating, especially as these new people don't seem to present challenges that are noticably different from earlier escapades. Indeed it would be hard to surpass the wicked genius of the 'black capsule' suicide scene that was a centrepoint of the film (here it's not in the middle, it's quite early on). Another scene that made it into the film is the football match. In the film I felt it was too long and wondered if it had been stretched for the purposes of making a finale. In fact, it's overlong in the book too, as it's the kind of action that makes for dull reading. But even if you have seen the movie, there's plenty more in this slim novel that will be new to you and worth reading - especially some outrageous escapades involving Trapper John. In all, a book I'll remember with great affection.