Customer Reviews

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

5 star:		(179)
4 star:		(63)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a book about an insane asylum in the mid part of this century. It is told in a distinctive style that lets you identify with the insane people (along with a few that are not quite so crazy). You can genuinely feel the power in certain events, like when Chief Bromden looks out the window for the first time.

I have never read a book dealing with mentally handicap, and it was an eye-opening reading. The idea that the handicaps were treated this way is disheartening, and the thought of continuous poor treatment is overwhelming. Ken Kesey did an exquisite job of portraying the struggle between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched for the upper hand - an endless game where the power hungry witch eventually came out on top. Despite his selfless and somewhat blind attempts to obtain equality and respect, McMurphy was perhaps responsible for the saving of at least one life - Bromden's.

Over all I see why many people have considered this book to be a classic. With the intriguing thoughts on insane people to the intense detail that Kesey shows though out the book sets a good example of what a classic book should be like.

This book is phenomenal. The way that Ken Kesey has developed the characters drew me in to the book, and made me eager to see what would happen as the plot developed, I could hardly put it down and was always dying to pick it back up. At times the book is sad, at times hilarious, but all the way through it created a real emotional connection for me. This, in my opinion, is one of the keys to excellent fiction. Another of the keys to excellent fiction is when the reader can read it as a metaphor for larger issues and ideas. This book is packed with themes that question what insanity is, in a world that seems to be insane (another one that would tie in pretty well with this is Joseph Heller's "Catch 22"). The whole book deals with issues of authourity and control, and the efforts of powerless people to regain control in their lives.

I believe this book is based on Ken Kesey's experiences working as a janitor in an asylum or mental health institute. His life and personality are fascinating, he seems to have been an absolutely amazing man. Another amazing book, which is based on Ken Kesey, is "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" by Tom Wolfe... it depicts the adventures of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, who drove through America taking loads of acid and giving it to people they met along the way. I would highly recommend "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" to anybody and everybody, and I would also highly recommend not to watch the movie. I couldn't even get through it, and it really is a great example of a movie that does injustice to the book it is based on. If you must watch it, read the book first so that you don't know the story and ruin the experience of reading this excellent book.

Great characterization and writing style. The characters were well developed and portrayed, the antagonists were destestable, and one really cared for the protagonists. McMurphy, the novel's hero, was wonderfully 3-dimensional. Though not perfectly good, one was able to look past his flaws and see the depth of his character--the good he did in the asylum/hospital greatly outweighed his past wrongs. The people in this novel were realistic, with emotion and feeling. Great book! Highly recommended.

In his attempt to convey what he believed to be "the essentially schizophrenic nature of mankind," Kesey, rather than telling the tale from the perspective of an uninvolved "God-Narrator," or from that of R. P. McMurphy, who might have been too involved in the main action, opted to present the story from the point of view of one of the psycho ward's bystanding schizophrenic inmates; "the Big Chief."

By telling the tale through the Chief's schizophrenic eyes, Kesey was able to, not merely "tell" the tale from an "eye witness perspective," but actually "show" the tale in a sort of "poetic-sensurround;" the reader would come to understand and appreciate the healing effect provided by McMurphy's inspiring individualism as the Chief's narration became progressively less "schizophrenic," and more concrete and objective as the story moved forward.

Additionally, it gave Kesey a viable way to provide the story with a mystical, supernatural quality. This, in turn, enabled him to give full force and effect, through the Chief's altered perception, to his allegoric and metaphoric symbolism; allowed him to have the Chief see and hear impressionistic and imaginary stimuli as though they were solid objects and real actions and occurrences, allowed him to turn the verbal and mental sparring between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched into epic battles waged between mythical, larger-than-life titans, between the very forces of good and evil itself. In sum, it enabled Kesey to convey a deeper, more personal and more spiritual reality in his story, on a variety of psychological levels, and in a manner that allows the reader to experience events 1st hand, as a bystanding schizophrenic, rather than merely collect story-related data like a detached observer. This is certainly one novel you simply don't want to miss! Unforgettable in every way. Along with ONE FLEW, I'd like to recommend another Amazon quick-pick: THE LOSERS CLUB: Complete Restored Edition by Richard Perez

Chief Bromden has been a patient in the Mental Hospital for years, but has always been known as the guy who never speaks or hears anyone. He spends most of his time there sweeping and cleaning the ward, and over hearing everything that goes on around him. One day, Bromden watches a new patient join the ward, Randal P. McMurphy, who is a large and outgoing man who had himself committed to avoid doing work on a prison farm. McMurphy instantly gains a hatred toward the Head Nurse, Nurse Ratched, a deceiving and evil woman who has claimed a Dictatorship over her ward as well as the entire hospital. McMurphy plays mind games with Ratched, the ward Doctor, and his fellow patients as the story goes on, gaining the patients' respect and making Ratched determined to make him quiet and slow like all of the others. McMurphy's hatred grows so much, that he will go to any extent to over power Ratched, which is where I will stop as this leads forth to the shocking and vengeful conclusion. This is really a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Truly a book that everyone must read! Also recommended: "THE LOSERS' CLUB: Complete Restored Edition" by Richard Perez -- an odd, often funny and strangely moving book.

Great writing coupled with wit, shock, insight, and wonderful pacing, in the grand tradition of books like "Slaughter House Five" or McCrae's "The Children's Corner," ONE FLEW OVER is by now an undisputed classic. The movie ain't half bad either. Nurse Ratched has to be one of the most (unfortunately) memorable characters ever to grace the written page and silver screen. Sorry, but I can't read this book without seeing the movie in my head-not necessarily a bad thing since Nicholson's performance was one of the best in acting history. But if you really want to "get" this story, you MUST read the book!!!!!

Call me crazy, but I like books dealing with anything psychological be it the looney bin or just good old "not quite right" people walking around. "Sybil" was one of my favorite books, as was "The Bark of the Dogwood." And of course, this one is the best. I have to admit that I wouldn't have known about the book had I not seen the movie many (ahem . . . )years ago. Nevertheless, I picked this up about a month ago and was surprised at how well the material held up from memory. I thought the film was good . . . now, great, but wow! the book is even better. Without a doubt this is one of the more unique books ever written and it's extremely powerful. Would also recommend "The Bark of the Dogwood."

Easily my favorite book. There are 4 or 5 characters that are so interesting that they could have written an entire book about them alone. The book never fails to surprise you, right up til the very end and has a good message about living life to the fullest.

In his attempt to convey what he believed to be "the essentially schizophrenic nature of mankind," Kesey, rather than telling the tale from the perspective of an uninvolved "God-Narrator," or from that of R. P. McMurphy, who might have been too involved in the main action, opted to present the story from the point of view of one of the psycho ward's bystanding schizophrenic inmates; "the Big Chief."

By telling the tale through the Chief's schizophrenic eyes, Kesey was able to, not merely "tell" the tale from an "eye witness perspective," but actually "show" the tale in a sort of "poetic-sensurround;" the reader would come to understand and appreciate the healing effect provided by McMurphy's inspiring individualism as the Chief's narration became progressively less "schizophrenic," and more concrete and objective as the story moved forward.

Additionally, it gave Kesey a viable way to provide the story with a mystical, supernatural quality. This, in turn, enabled him to give full force and effect, through the Chief's altered perception, to his allegoric and metaphoric symbolism; allowed him to have the Chief see and hear impressionistic and imaginary stimuli as though they were solid objects and real actions and occurrences, allowed him to turn the verbal and mental sparring between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched into epic battles waged between mythical, larger-than-life titans, between the very forces of good and evil itself. In sum, it enabled Kesey to convey a deeper, more personal and more spiritual reality in his story, on a variety of psychological levels, and in a manner that allows the reader to experience events 1st hand, as a bystanding schizophrenic, rather than merely collect story-related data like a detached observer. This is certainly one novel you simply don't want to miss! Unforgetable in every way. Along with ONE FLEW, I'd like to recommend another Amazon quick-pick: THE LOSERS CLUB by Richard Perez

The novel is told in the first-person from the POV of Chief Broom. Early on, it becomes clear that he is the "unreliable narrator" in the Edgar Allen Poe sense. The Chief may be faking deafness, but it is obvious through his descriptions that he is a schizophrenic who suffers from hallucinations. It is up to the reader to sort out the "real" from the "imaginary."

Although Broom and his fellow inmates are insane, they are still good people and they do not deserve the treatment they receive at the hands of the evil Nurse Ratched. She is one of the most memorably evil villains in all literature. Even though she is only a nurse, she is in complete control of the entire hospital. What she wants is for everything to run like clockwork. She does not want anyone to ever "get better." In walks Randall Patrick MacMurphy. Like Hamlet, MacMurphy fakes madness (in order to get out of a labor camp). He soon sets himself up as the ward's personal savior (there is a lot of Christ imagery) and engages in a war with Nurse Ratched.

This is a great book that is really about non-conformity; the tyranny of people who dictate what is "normal" and what is not. The only flaw is a strain of misogyny that runs through the subtext. There is a lot of talk of how men shouldn't be bossed around by women and how they should be kept in their place. Granted, this is the characters speaking and not Ken Kesey, but the message is there. After all, this is a book that culminates in an act of violence against a woman. It's a shame because it is a great book and just because Nurse Ratched is evil, there is no need to extend the message towards women in general.