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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
rocco72's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
bluemoosetom's review against another edition
2.0
Picked this book up as an impulse. I have seen the Robert Altman movie, and saw the TV show in syndication, so I was curious about the source material that inspired them both.
The book was quite similar to the film, and it was very episodic. There was not a great story arc, but a series of moments, some funny, some sad, and some just strange and ridiculous. I imagine that was the point, and showed how some people dealt with the trauma of war when they were not patching people back together. It is a very quick read, but having seen the film, it was not anything new.
The book was quite similar to the film, and it was very episodic. There was not a great story arc, but a series of moments, some funny, some sad, and some just strange and ridiculous. I imagine that was the point, and showed how some people dealt with the trauma of war when they were not patching people back together. It is a very quick read, but having seen the film, it was not anything new.
pumbrino's review against another edition
2.0
Not that funny, even when not compared to the show or movie.
desertjarhead505's review against another edition
4.0
A strong book that conveys an anti-war message without being preachy, using characters that are quite flawed but doing the best they can in a grueling situation. Some of the interactions are dated and come across as sexist today, but that's where our culture was then. I believe this novel belongs on the same shelf with Catch-22, Slaughterhouse Five, and others in the same class.
mellie_me's review against another edition
5.0
This book is absolutely hilarious, although I'd advise against trying to read it in a restaurant. Turns out people look at you funny when you try to suppress inappropriate bouts of laughter only to end up snorting and choking on your jasmine tea.
subplotkudzu's review against another edition
4.0
This was a quick read that was an incredible cultural artifact. The book reeks of verisimilitude which makes the clumsiness of some parts of the writing acceptable. The structure as a series of vignettes made it a natural for the movie and ultimately the TV show, and the changes propagated to the characters and and setting needed for each version of it are fascinating. Well worth the couple hours it will take to plow through.
lauraril39's review against another edition
3.0
A great read for fans of the movie and series. You won't be disappointed!
jeannemixon's review against another edition
4.0
I saw the movie and the tv series but had never read the novel. At first I thought well this is going to be kind of boring because I know the whole plot. But it wasn't. The novel sounds more like a doctor who worked in the Korean War and made some friends and knew some wild guys wrote it up with a lot of embellishments. The stories are similar or the same in many cases with some interesting differences. I have always hated the shower scene and the microphones in the tent scene where Houlihan and Frank Burns are having sex so that it can be broadcast across the base. Both scenes cross the line from cute into humiliating and sadistic. Houlihan might be a tight ass, but she does not deserve to be exposed naked in shower in front of a group of howling clapping men. And while the houlihan and the Frank Burns characters are repellent, their sex lives should have been off limits. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that neither scene came from the book. The worst Houlihan gets is an occasional snide "hot lips" comment. The movie character Frank Burns is a composite of two book characters both of whom are run out, but neither of whom is treated sadistically.
Which is not to say the book is nicey nice. Women are still treated largely as sex objects. There is one chaplain they don't like who is treated sadistically, rather spectacularly. It's interesting too that the movie exaggerated the sex abuse and some of the sadism while cutting out some of the anti Christian sentiment.
But the book also deals with traumatic stress and the difficulties of the families left behind in the US. The characters drink not to be cool, but to anesthetize themselves. They have bouts of depression. Also there is actual surgery in the book, described in depth, which was really interesting. It is not just a soap opera set in a war, but an in-depth description of meatball versus stateside surgery.
Which is not to say the book is nicey nice. Women are still treated largely as sex objects. There is one chaplain they don't like who is treated sadistically, rather spectacularly. It's interesting too that the movie exaggerated the sex abuse and some of the sadism while cutting out some of the anti Christian sentiment.
But the book also deals with traumatic stress and the difficulties of the families left behind in the US. The characters drink not to be cool, but to anesthetize themselves. They have bouts of depression. Also there is actual surgery in the book, described in depth, which was really interesting. It is not just a soap opera set in a war, but an in-depth description of meatball versus stateside surgery.