MASH Goes to Vienna

M*A*S*H #9

by Richard Hooker, William E. Butterworth III, Sandy Kossin (Illustrator)

Vintage TV tie-in paperback

Genres: Fiction, Humor

240 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1976

About the author

Richard Hooker is the pseudonym of Hiester Richard Hornberger Jr. who was born February 1, 1924 and died November 4, 1997. He was an American writer and surgeon. His most famous work was his novel MASH (1968). The novel was based on his own personal experiences during the Korean War at the 8055th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. It was written in collaboration with W. C. Heinz. The novel took 11 years to write. In 1970, and then again from 1972-1983 it was used as the basis for a critically and commercially successful movie and television series of the same name.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.
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Reviews

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 2.5

This is probably the most uneven novel so far for me in the series.
The plot, such as it is, follows similar ideas to those in the earlier novels. Escalating absurdities, Boris agreeing to a special performance somewhere, the involvement of don rhotten and other tv people, involvement of US state departments etc, sudden ending when a word or page count has been reached.
This time around though although it was an okay read for the first half or two thirds, a few laughs and or smiles were generated usually by the ridiculous nature of the action at that point. The final quarter of the book felt quite disjointed to me as I read it. The previous books are not masterpieces but were better than this one was, for me at least.
And why Vienna? That felt like it came out of nowhere to justify the inclusion of Boris and the novels title.

Overall then this was an okay read but definitely the weakest so far (and based on other reviews for the later books a forerunner of the quality of writing to come).

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first real underwhelming entry in the series. Perhaps the tried to jam to much into one book, perhaps they ran out of space, maybe it's just a dud, but the entire book felt disjointed and unedited.

[silviu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even compared with the other "MASH Goes to ..." books this one felt pretty weak.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This really was all over the place and there were way too many side characters. The premise wasn't interesting either.

[Candycassidyjqw]

weird macho approach to build the main characters...due to its own time? The movie gave the same vibe but less unbearable. (made it till p.26 on the one-day trip to Bologna)

[Jeff Mayo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another weak entry of mindless fluff with MASH as the background.

[Christopher Rush · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though others earlier in the series provide a bit of continuity (primarily by having the new characters from the previous book make a cameo appearance in the book following it), Vienna is the first, if not only, direct sequel, following London. Florabelle and Angus are back and, fortunately, not as annoying and interruptive as they were in London - perhaps because their romance is set and secure (the brief tension about them toward the end is not too bad, because it ends within a few pages). Woody and Beverly are also back, though certainly not as much as before, which isn't too bad. The new characters are disappointing and more caricatured than others, which is saying something. The direct continuity from the end of Hollywood is enjoyable, even though it primarily concerns Patience T. Worthington, perhaps the most annoying character in the new MASH world; fortunately, she is not in this book much. The boy-meets-girl story is not the completion of the Woody/Beverly story, as one would imagine, but is instead fulfilled by the new characters of Lt. (jg) Joanna Pauline Jones and Dr. Wilson. Why isn't the Woody/Beverly relationship completed in this one? That may be the biggest omission, unless one counts the slightly disappointing absence of the main MASH characters for much of the book, especially toward the end - though, they do clear up the confusions and solve the problems (as always, very rapidly) as it ends. Boris and Hassan are in it somewhat, even more than Margaret and Horsey, and the Baroness and Esmerelda make an interesting appearance toward the end. In all, it's not as good as New Orleans, Paris, or Las Vegas, but it is better than the others so far.

[Ray Charbonneau · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lightweight crap picked up for an airplane flight. Not good enough to finish after the flight was over.