One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
- Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2006
- Genre: Classics
- Format: Mass-Market Paperback
- Page Count: 393 pages
- My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)
I never thought I’d enjoy the book this much. Considering it was first published back in 1962 with its historical background, I think One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is thrilling and great in a rebellious way, even if the characters were a bit gender discriminating sometimes.
The story took place in a psychiatric ward, and was written in a way like it was some kind of fantasy, with the characters divided as the Acutes, the Chronics, the Disturbed, the Combines and such, as though they have their own secret superpowers. In a way they do, since each had their own little problems to deal with. Most of the story revolved around the Acutes, with the storyteller being one of the Chronics: ‘Chief’ Bromden, who faked being deaf and mute for years.
The writing style was also very unique. The grammar was unkempt, so if you hate seeing things like misspelt words or bad verb conjugations, you would drive yourself mad trying to read this book. As for the descriptions, they were so real you sometimes wonder if Chief Bromden is hallucinating. To be honest, you could never really tell which part of the story was exactly true and which part was not. Also, metaphors packed the narration, and all were so precise and refreshing that you might get a laugh out of them, such as ‘leafless trees standing, striking the side walk there like wooden lightning, concrete split apart where they hit’.
The main character throughout the book was Randle McMurphy, a not-really-mad guy who was new to the ward at the beginning of the book. He had various approaches to make the lives in the ward different from the past, opposing the Big Nurse who was in charge. He tried playing tough, playing safe, playing dumb, and playing smart, and the multiple things he did were all so satisfying to read about. McMurphy was the ultimate self-declared con man who upset things in the ward, and the details should be carefully read and chewed on.
All in all, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a very interesting and exhilarating classic. I deeply enjoyed it. [3 May 2018]
