The evolution of the character Capt. Benjamin Franklin (Hawkeye) Pierce
Will Dockery
Hooker's very different concept of the character Hawkeye (who he based
on himself) from the way the character eventually developed, and his
dislike of the "Liberal" direction the television M*A*S*H drifted to.
Here's some excerpts of interest, and maybe the start of a discussion
of the evolution of the Hawkeye character, which in the end seems to
me to be basically Alan Alda's personality a soapbox for his
philosophy more than anything else...
http://mcns.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html
"...The film version of MASH by the late Robert Altman is supposed to
be an anti-war pic, but really isn't; indeed, the book's author, Dr.
H. Richard Hornberger, a conservative who couldn't abide the TV
series, liked the movie so much he saw it seven times.
Dr. Hornberger, who wrote as Richard Hooker, a pen name inspired by
his golf swing, spent most of his life as a thoracic surgeon in small
towns on the Maine coast. His experiences as a captain in the Army
Medical Corps during the Korean War led him to write three novels
after returning from combat, the AP reported when he died in 1997.
Hornberger modeled the character of Capt. Benjamin Franklin (Hawkeye)
Pierce after himself, his son said. Partly for that reason, he
disliked the television series and almost never watched it.
"He liked the movie because he thought it followed his original intent
very closely," William Hornberger said. "But my father was a political
conservative, and he did not like the liberal tendencies that Alan
Alda portrayed Hawkeye Pierce as having."
"My father didn't write an anti-war book," he added. "It was a
humorous account of his work, with serious parts thrown in about the
awful kind of work it was, and how difficult and challenging it was."
Newsweek 9in 1983] went to Crabapple Cove, Maine, to interview "the
real Hawkeye Pierce":
A conservative Republican, the 59-year-old retired surgeon has long
been acutely uncomfortable with the show's anti-military tone. "Nobody
is in favor of war," he explained last week. "But my characters
weren't so liberal. The series seems to make the North Koreans heroes
and the Americans bad guys. Once in a while I'll watch it for a bit
and then some character will say something that will tick me off and
I'll switch the dial."
Hornberger so loves the 1970 film version of "MASH" that he has seen
it seven times. But he feels that the CBS series "sometimes tramples
on my memories."
In "MASH Goes to Maine," a middle-aged Hawkeye reflects an ideological
attitude that would horrify most of his TV-series fans. After being
informed that someone had beat up a few political-science professors
at the local college, Hawkeye replies: "They're a bunch of lefties,
aren't they? Fella oughta kick the bejesus out of a liberal now and
then just to stay in shape."
Wow... I still get a kick out of thinking about what a complicated
character Hawkeye really is, because I understand that *11 years* in
Korea could really do a number on a guy...
--
"Red Lipped Stranger & other stories" by Will Dockery:
http://www.myspace.com/willdockery
Wiseguy
97db-96f...@p9g2000vbl.googlegroups.com:
> While searching Google, I came on this short but fine piece on Richard
> Hooker's very different concept of the character Hawkeye (who he based
> on himself) from the way the character eventually developed, and his
> dislike of the "Liberal" direction the television M*A*S*H drifted to.
> Here's some excerpts of interest, and maybe the start of a discussion
> of the evolution of the Hawkeye character, which in the end seems to
> me to be basically Alan Alda's personality a soapbox for his
> philosophy more than anything else...
>
> http://mcns.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html
>
> "...The film version of MASH by the late Robert Altman is supposed to
> be an anti-war pic, but really isn't; indeed, the book's author, Dr.
> H. Richard Hornberger, a conservative who couldn't abide the TV
> series, liked the movie so much he saw it seven times.
>
> Dr. Hornberger, who wrote as Richard Hooker, a pen name inspired by
> his golf swing, spent most of his life as a thoracic surgeon in small
> towns on the Maine coast. His experiences as a captain in the Army
> Medical Corps during the Korean War led him to write three novels
> after returning from combat, the AP reported when he died in 1997.
>
What three novels? He wrote the first and the last. What other one?
Will Dockery
> Will Dockery <will.dock...@gmail.com> wrote in news:e9fd1808-a775-43e2-
> 97db-96f2f7452...@p9g2000vbl.googlegroups.com:
From the way I usually find it noted, Hooker wrote M*A*S*H, M*A*S*H
Goes to Maine, and a final one, M*A*S*Hmania, which he appears in
himself as a character. I haven't found or read this one yet, but it
sounds like it may be a good one. Some say it is...
Wiseguy
a151-6b4...@k4g2000yqb.googlegroups.com:
OK, I didn't remember if "Maine" had a co-author listed or not.
My sister was/is a big MASH fan so over the last three or four years I
gave her a used copy of all the MASH novels I had gotten from internet
book stores. The books were cheap but those shipping prices kill you.
Paul Gadzikowski
> What three novels? He wrote the first and the last. What other one?
This is a question that comes up often enough that I have a canned
response. There are two kinds of novels in the collection of M*A*S*H
novels.
Richard Hooker alone (or, I've occasionally read, with a ghost writer)
wrote 'M*A*S*H', 'M*A*S*H Goes to Maine', and 'M*A*S*H Mania'. These
are episodic tales of madcap medical mayhem with quasi-technical
surgery scenes. 'M*A*S*H' is set in the Korean War, and was published
in the sixties. The other two are set in Hooker's beloved rural Maine
as Hawkeye and his three army bunkmates practice surgery together from
the 50s through the mid-70s; 'Maine' and 'Mania' were published at
either end of the 70s respectively.
Richard Hooker and William E. Butterworth (a pseudonym for W.E.B.
Griffin, or vice versa) co-wrote about a dozen novels published and
set in the mid-to-late-70s. Some readers question whether Hooker was
really involved in them but at least one has a quasi-technical surgery
scene. They're all titled 'M*A*S*H Goes To [some exotic location,
often overseas]', and are all non-episodic farces featuring mistaken
identities, intercontinental airliner chases, and contemporary public
figures made to look foolish.
Hawkeye and Trapper John appear in each of them, and all feature
reunions with past personnel or patients of the 4077th: Hot Lips (now
Reverend Mother Emeritus Margaret Houlihan Wauchauf Wilson, R.N., Lt.
Col., USA Ret., of the God Is Love In All Forms Christian Church,
Inc.) and Father Mulcahy (now an archibishop and the Pope's chess and
beer buddy) appear in most. Henry Blake is a general and C.O. of
Walter Reed Army Hospital. Radar is CEO of his own fast-food empire.
Frank Burns is still a small doctor in a small town.
Both the Hooker and the Hooker/Butterworth novels took occasional jabs
at the tv series, especially for killing off Henry Blake; for Hooker
didn't like the tv series because it offended his conservatism.
Paul Gadzikowski, scar...@iglou.com
http://arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/0001.htm New cartoons daily
http://arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/3faces/aaaa.htm Fanfiction
cartoons
"boat cucumber wire"
Wiseguy
92ae-715...@d21g2000yqn.googlegroups.com:
Well, I knew all or most of that (or all I care to know). All I asked
was what the third novel is because I didn't recall if "Maine" had a co-
author (sorry, I don't memorize all this stuff) and, as I stated, I
already knew about the first and last novel "Mania."
Will Dockery
Yes, I notice when reading through the archives that the creators of
the various versions of M*A*S*H just didn't get along very well, if at
all.
--
"Red Lipped Stranger & other stories" by Will Dockery:
http://www.myspace.com/willdockery
> Paul Gadzikowski, scarf...@iglou.comhttp://arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/0001.htmNew cartoons dailyhttp://arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/3faces/aaaa.htmFanfiction
> cartoons
>
> "boat cucumber wire"
Paul Gadzikowski
> Well, I knew all or most of that (or all I care to know). All I asked
> was what the third novel is because I didn't recall if "Maine" had a co-
> author (sorry, I don't memorize all this stuff) and, as I stated, I
> already knew about the first and last novel "Mania."
I was replying more generally to the thread than to a specific
question.
The second novel, "Maine", had no co-author. If you're looking at
Hooker-only novels, "Mania" is the third novel. But "Mania" was
published after all the Butterworth collaboarations, so if you're
including them the third novel was "New Orleans". Except the action of
"Mania" is set before the action of the Butterworth collaborations
("Mania" is set in the 60s and early 70s, whereas the Butterworth
collaborations were set in the then-present, as can be told by the
public figures appearing as characters), so if you're counting
chronologically then "Mania" is third again.
Paul Gadzikowski, scar...@iglou.com
http://arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/0001.htm New cartoons daily
http://arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/3faces/aaaa.htm Fanfiction
cartoons
"Betcha can't hear that ol' radio now, huh, Bert?"
Will Dockery
> On Oct 30, 5:27 pm, Wiseguy <epw...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Well, I knew all or most of that (or all I care to know). All I asked
> > was what the third novel is because I didn't recall if "Maine" had a co-
> > author (sorry, I don't memorize all this stuff) and, as I stated, I
> > already knew about the first and last novel "Mania."
>
> I was replying more generally to the thread than to a specific
> question.
>
> The second novel, "Maine", had no co-author. If you're looking at
> Hooker-only novels, "Mania" is the third novel. But "Mania" was
> published after all the Butterworth collaboarations, so if you're
> including them the third novel was "New Orleans". Except the action of
> "Mania" is set before the action of the Butterworth collaborations
> ("Mania" is set in the 60s and early 70s, whereas the Butterworth
> collaborations were set in the then-present, as can be told by the
> public figures appearing as characters), so if you're counting
> chronologically then "Mania" is third again.
"Mania" seems to be one of the more difficult ones to find...
> Paul Gadzikowski, scarf...@iglou.comhttp://arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/0001.htmNew cartoons dailyhttp://arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/3faces/aaaa.htmFanfiction