**Title: The Importance of Recycling**

Recycling is of utmost importance in our modern world.

It helps to conserve natural resources, reduce energy consumption, and minimize waste sent to landfills.

By recycling materials such as paper, plastic, metal, and glass, we can give them a new life and prevent the need to extract and process virgin materials.

This not only saves energy but also reduces greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental pollutants.

Moreover, recycling can create jobs and boost the economy.

Many industries rely on recycled materials as a raw material source, and the recycling process itself requires a significant amount of labor.

In conclusion, recycling is a simple yet effective way to make a positive impact on the environment and society.

We should all do our part to recycle as much as possible and encourage others to do the same.

Let's work together to create a more sustainable future for ourselves and generations to come.

“Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing.” This profound statement holds true, especially when it comes to the topic of mental illness. Mental illness is indeed a sad and serious subject that demands our utmost attention and respect. However, it is important to note that even those who are considered insane have a sense of humor.

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a remarkable work that effectively portrays the harsh realities of an institute for the mentally ill. The characterization in this book is outstanding, with each character being firm, realistic, detailed, and perfectly coordinated to bring the story to life. Told from the perspective of Chief Broom, a silent man who pretends to be deaf and mute, we are able to witness the horrors of the institute and the rigidity of the rules enforced by Nurse Ratched.

R.P. McMurphy’s arrival shakes up the institution, injecting life into the otherwise dead characters and challenging the status quo. He dares to break the rules and reminds the patients of their immortality within mortality. While some may argue that Nurse Ratched isn’t as bad as she is portrayed, I firmly believe that she is a symbol of all that is wrong with society. She represents those in power who let it go to their heads, using emotional sadism to drain the life and joy out of those who are vulnerable and unable to defend themselves.

Despite the bleak subject matter and ending, there is a glimmer of hope for one character. However, on the downside, Ken Kesey’s writing style wasn’t to my taste, making it difficult for me to fully engage with the story. Additionally, the subject matter itself enraged me, as it is something that I am passionate about in real life. Overall, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a gripping, emotional, and disturbing book that will stay with me long after I have finished reading it.

I couldn’t help but think of Jack Nicholson in the movie adaptation I’ve never watched.

Sure, I’d seen bits and pieces of it as a kid, but that sort of thing didn’t do much for me back then. I remember asking my dad what the movie was about. He told me in brief, and concluded his summary with the famed ending of the story. Dear reader, offer him some forgiveness, as this was before spoiler warnings were a social necessity and were instead a potential courtesy.

So why read the book? Why spend my time with a novel whose ending I already knew?

I wanted to talk about spoilers because they were an important part of my reading of Ken Kesey’s classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I knew a piece of the ending, I knew the final bit, but I had no context. Instead of robbing my reading experience, it enriched it.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a story that I wish I read sooner because – spoilers-- I loved this book.

This is one I imagine a bunch of you have already read, so I’ll keep the synopsis brief. Chief Bromden, a chronic patient on a psych ward, narrates the arrival and upheaval that follows the arrival of Randle Patrick McMurphy. McMurphy enters the ward in an attempt to skip out on the work camps of prison, though he seems of mostly sound mind if not upstanding character. McMurphy battles against the Big Nurse (Ratched) in an attempt to bring life to men he finds in the psych ward’s halls.

The cast of characters is simply phenomenal. Each one has a distinct voice and is brought to life with such convincing evolution that I was left in awe. Kesey handles the patients’ reactions to McMurphy’s hijinks and the Nurse’s sadism with an expert hand. I’m sure this is read widely at some level of schooling somewhere, but this should be a study in superb character work and development.

I cared for each of the characters. I couldn’t help but revel in their successes and journey towards independence and the Nurse’s attempts to quell their rebellion. Speaking of, the Big Nurse is one of the most deplorable villains I’ve ever read. Having said that, her actions made sense given what had come before and the nature of her character. Each one of these characters I enjoyed in some form or another, and was sad to say farewell to them at the book’s end.

I was also surprised by just how funny the book is. There were sections that had me laughing out loud (by which I mean I actually made noises that corresponded to my enjoyment of the humour, not the colloquial, soundless LOL). Kesey does a great job of keeping the book rocking on a sea of humour where it may have otherwise been sunk by an oppressive seriousness. Even so, I thought of this book as ultimately optimistic, though that might not be a universal interpretation.

Another reason this would be a swell book to put into a high school classroom is that it is a goldmine of symbolism and allegory. It didn’t take me long to clue in that the psych ward served as a microcosm of society, and that McMurphy was bucking against the rigidity of society represented by Nurse Ratched. The themes of resistance, determination, and doing what is right despite its seeming wrongness run throughout the novel and dovetail into the novel’s aforementioned harrowing conclusion. Sure, nothing is too deeply confusing or requires a lot of interpretation, but Kesey had me hooked with his story, and the allegory only kept me interested in this wonderful novel.

One small complaint: it always drives me up the wall when media presents inaccurate representations of ECT. Don’t worry, this is not about to turn into a long medical tirade on Goodreads! ECT is actually a highly effective therapy for people suffering from intractable depression, and I worry that narratives like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest perpetuate the fear associated with its use.

Having said that, with the novel’s time period and use of ECT in the novel, it works quite well. The Nurse uses ECT as punishment rather than therapy is an indication for which you can be sure no sane practitioner would advocate.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, despite me knowing its end, did nothing but entertain me throughout my reading. My girlfriend has hounded me for years to pick up this book, but I kept putting it off, thinking that the spoiler ruined the whole deal. Worry not Goodreaders, for this was a novel enriched by knowledge of its conclusion. Instead of a twist at the end, the novel felt like it was building toward an inevitable, and horrible, conclusion.

I talk a lot about books that are too long. Ones that seem overstuffed with information and passages that seem indulgent, or should have been touched up by a keen editor. It seems only right that I should praise a novel that uses its pages to superb effect. There's no bit where I felt as if Kesey were treading water. There's a relentless forward motion to the story that never made me feel like Kesey should have moved on from a particular passage.

If you were like me and have always meant to give this book a read but never got around to it, I’d recommend a reading sooner rather than later. There’s a ton to love here and my only regret is that I wish I’d gotten to it sooner.

So, to return to my question from earlier, why spend time with a book whose ending I already knew?

Because this book kept me hooked with its highly memorable characters, deeper literary meaning, compelling story, and humour.

KINH KHỦNG. ĐAU LÒNG. NGỘT NGẠT. VÀ ĐẶC SỆT NHỮNG PHÚNG DỤ. ĐAU! ĐAU QUÁ!

*****

Written when calm :).

This is the second time I burst into tears after reading a book (previously it was with "The Book Thief").

I must say that this is a very difficult book to read, from the beginning to the last pages. At first, it's because I couldn't grasp the characters and their stories, and many plots are hard to understand,模糊. When I got used to the characters and the background, I found the progress rather slow and boring, and the plot felt like it was just lingering in one place without anything new. Then, when nearing the end of the book, the more I expected a normal ending, the more shocked I was, and the less I could adapt and accept what happened to the characters in the story. Even when I closed the book, I still couldn't get rid of the feeling of confusion, pain, and couldn't stop thinking about the issues the book raised. It's not an easy book to read at all, but precisely those things make it heavy enough to stand among other classic works.

The author's first success in character building is creating the character "I", the narrator with the nickname "Chief", a distinct red-skinned person in a background that is already quite special: a mental hospital.

The Chief's life story is a long one that can only be understood in part as the small pieces are picked up and revealed bit by bit throughout the book. We know through the many changes of the tribe, of the red-skinned father, and of himself, which seem to have made the Chief feel lost, afraid of the outside society, afraid of what is called the Union that has taken away his hometown land by many tricks, and has made his father go from being admired in childhood to a person who depends on alcohol to forget the truth and has always made him question his life when trying to integrate into that Union.

To the extent that even when he has fled to a place where people abandoned by society gather like in a mental hospital, it's still not enough. He still shrinks himself into the shell of a mute and deaf person, making himself become an invisible person here. But at the same time, that shell also helps him clearly understand not only those "wardmates" or the staff there but also learn many unexpected secrets from the meetings he accidentally attends, although he keeps all of them to himself.

I must say that this is a very correct choice of narrator by the author. Through the Chief, the reader can penetrate into every corner of the hospital, clearly understand the nature, habits, and meaning of every expression and gesture of each person there, when before for them, he is no different from an inanimate object that doesn't listen or know, so they have to be on guard. However, there are many details about the activities of the ward that make it difficult for me to understand and imagine. Like the fog that sometimes appears for people to find a place to hide in, the machines that keep operating in the walls, or what happens in the dark basement after the nurse gives the patient sleeping pills that the Chief has seen. Sometimes I even thought this book had a sci-fi element in it.

And then I realized that the reader is being led by a mental patient himself! That's exactly what happens in their minds. Mental patients are not crazy, irrational people who break things randomly. They have problems in their thoughts or in reality that make them think differently from normal people and perceive things differently, which they themselves don't realize. Like for the Chief, those images and thoughts are also products of the events that happened in his life, and they appear so real that he can no longer distinguish what is real and what is虚幻. And to let the reader be led by a person with mental problems like this is a bold and extremely talented decision by the author!

The Chief is a likable character, although he is a bit too submissive and shrinks back in the face of the injustices that happen here. And the story in the mental asylum would surely continue to play out quietly like its appearance if it weren't for the appearance of a character who later becomes the unique highlight of the work and a vivid character image in classic literature no less than Atticus in "To Kill a Mockingbird", Holden Caulfield in "The Catcher in the Rye", or Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind" (here I'm only talking about the weight of the characters, not comparing any other elements): Randle Patrick "Mac" McMurphy.

McMurphy initially doesn't make a big impression or create much affection. Although with his flamboyant, bold appearance and free, unrestrained style, he creates a huge contrast with the people he will later eat and sleep with. But for the patients here, he is like the sun they see for the first time, strange, dangerous, but also new and exciting, making them curious.

Saying there is no affection is because despite having such an opposite personality, the character Murphy gives the feeling of being unreliable, just like a glib person hiding some evil intention. Just by looking at his bad past with all kinds of wild exploits from seducing underage girls, gambling, and violence, and the reason he finds a way to be sent to the mental hospital just because he believes that life here will be more comfortable than in prisons or labor camps where he has been, it's enough to know that there is nothing good in that person anymore.

Aha! If you think so too, then you have started to step into the author's game. Murphy is like something strange, not belonging to this "prison", and conversely, the mental asylum is also something strange, not like what he imagined. It's easy for Murphy to take the lead of these patients here - these men who always seem to have something that makes them afraid, and to cheat them out of their money through card games. But there is something strange and hard to understand in the life of the mental hospital that seems impossible to be more orderly and peaceful.

And the answer is not difficult to find, which is the manipulation of Nurse Ratched. It's not the black attendants who are always playing tricks to abuse the patients, nor is it the chief doctor who is cold and calculating, or the group of young doctors who are cowardly. All of them are just pawns in the hands of Nurse Ratched. Or rather, all of them are pawns created by Ratched.

From the three main nurses chosen by the old woman according to her own criteria to the doctor who is cold enough to stay while the previous colleagues kept leaving one after another when they felt their humanity was gradually disappearing. They, the remaining staff and patients, are in that exact position, doing their jobs according to the schedule like that, all because Nurse Ratched wants it that way.

That order would not cause Ratched any trouble if it weren't for the appearance of Murphy. He is not a good person. Not at all. But the reason for him to stand up against Nurse Ratched is not simple to analyze, and that is also what makes the patients here argue and is precisely the value of this novel. Maybe he is uncomfortable when his life is arranged, although as he said, compared to his previous life, being in the mental hospital is much better. Maybe he feels bored and wants to find something to destroy to satisfy his "antisocial personality" disorder. Maybe he realizes that Nurse Ratched is the one in charge of this ward and wants to challenge to get that position. Or perhaps he feels sorry for those "roommates" when they are no different from a group of mice living under that inhumane oppression.

Read, and each person will have their own answer. Just know one thing, that Murphy is a very complex character. And perhaps throughout the book, he is also looking for an answer for himself. He at the end of the book has surely changed compared to when he first appeared, with his arrogance and sarcastic smile towards life. The patients here, all of them have also changed, from Cheswick, Scanlon, Sefelt, and Frederickson, old George, Doctor Spivey, Harding, Billy Bibbit, and even the Chief - finally, he also realizes how great he is.

Looking back, I find that this book has a not-small number of characters, but each one is built very clearly to the extent that they can become a typical image in popular culture, just like the characters in "The Old Man and the Sea", which is also the author's success.

What I want to recall is just stopped here, so that later I can still remember what emotions and thoughts I had when reading the book. And how the struggle between Murphy and the patients with Nurse Ratched was like, and what the result was, I think I will never be able to forget.

That's the moment when everyone sitting focused in front of the TV screen at night, what they are watching is not a basketball game being played at that time but a glorious victory song when for once they have gained the right to be the masters of their own lives. That's when Cheswick ends his life in the water tank to release the chains that are binding him and let Murphy realize that in his hand is the key to open all the other chains.

That's Murphy after being electroshocked several times in a row still appears with those mischievous winks and the fake gestures of riding a horse like his appearance when he first met, only the Chief can tell that he seems to be much more tired than before. That's the fishing trip on the boat full of joy and no shortage of drama. Then the "revolutionary" party full of unexpected fun and the subsequent emotional storm that sweeps away every word and every page, making the reader have to be amazed when the book closes.

Anyone who has finished reading this book can surely recognize that many things here are deeply symbolic in a stinging and profound way, and on the front cover, it has been called "allegory". The mental hospital, Nurse Ratched, the attendants, the patients who follow the arrangement without daring to resist, McMurphy, the resistance, the victory, and the result. What do they represent and what is its message? It's a big question that each person will have their own answer.

Indeed, until near the end of the book, I still felt that this is a good book but not to the extent that it left a deep impression on me or made me want to read it again. But everything that happened before seems to be a way for the author to build up for the reader to receive the emotional storm at the end. So if you also struggle to read the book at the beginning (like me), don't give up easily, or you will miss a good book. Oh, and speaking of the translation, at first, it was a bit dry to read, with many places using difficult words or being bi-cut, but the more I read later, the smoother and easier it became. And the introduction on the back cover is too enthusiastic in analyzing the book to the extent that it always spoils the ending, fortunately, I only looked at it after reading, otherwise, I would have been imposed with the perception of the person who made the book since I haven't read it yet.

I really loved this.

It is truly one of my absolute favourites.

Every time I think about it, a smile不自觉地creeps onto my face.

The way it makes me feel is indescribable.

It has this unique charm that draws me in and keeps me engaged.

Whether it's the story, the characters, or the overall atmosphere, everything about it is just perfect.

I can't get enough of it and I find myself constantly coming back to it.

It's like a little piece of heaven that I can escape to whenever I need a break from the chaos of the world.

I will always cherish this and it will remain one of my all-time favourites.

K, is for Kesey!

This is yet another way I have failed at life. I first discovered the story of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in high school when I attended a student production of the same name. Having a stepmother who is a psych nurse (and being an asshole), I asked her, "Are you a Nurse Ratched?" She replied by introducing me to the movie with Jack Nicholson. For the record, my stepmom is TOTALLY a Nurse Ratched!

Later, as an adult, I discovered this was also a book that I NEED to read. An oversight that will be rectified soon, my friends.

REVIEW:

4 Stars

Okay, so first off, I need to elaborate on the above. I have painted my Stepmother in an unfair light. She isn't a Nurse Ratched in a wholly villainous way. She really isn't! Her work scenario is far from the ward in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

Although my stepmom is a psychiatric nurse who believes in the system (to a point), in order and consistency, and has a very strict relationship with patients, she isn't a sadist. She believes in these things because they have meant her own survival over the years. You see, she works in the high-risk criminally insane ward, not any old psych ward. In such a ward, a hiccup in the system could mean a patient or staff member's life. And if it came down to those rules or a McMurphy-type character's happiness, my stepmother would HAVE TO bring him under boot.

Onto the story! I loved the use of Chief Bromden as the narrator. Through his unreliable eyes, the ward comes to life in a unique way. It's often impossible to know what's happening only in Chief's mind and what's real. This is crucial for the story.

Another thing I enjoyed is that we're never told what mental illness the patients have, but there are enough glimpses of psychosis to know they have illnesses. (Was it common to just call a patient crazy and not diagnose further back then? I think it may have been.)

There were many sad moments in this book. Sad that people hurt each other and cause pain in the name of fitting into moulds. Sad to know about shock therapy and lobotomies. And above all, hurt that the system wants control and power over those it views as lesser, even when they're asking for help.

This is a powerful book.

Modern classic for a reason.

There are a plethora of deep hidden meanings lurking behind the tragic story of outcasts. The narrative, though simple and short, is rich with symbols and emotions, making it both easy to read and yet, at times, hard to fully comprehend.

Beneath the quite obvious 'man against the system' plotline, what really stood out to me was that the narrator is indigenous. I rarely come across such characters, and thus it was a bit of a revelation to read about that kind of racism and injustice.

This aspect added an extra layer of depth and authenticity to the story, allowing readers to gain a unique perspective on the experiences of those who are marginalized.

It makes one reflect on the broader social issues at play and the consequences of discrimination.

Overall, this modern classic manages to captivate readers with its engaging story, thought-provoking themes, and powerful portrayal of the human condition.

Una normale anormalità

I have a rather particular colleague. He is extremely precise (pedantic and meticulous to the extreme), autistic (he lines up his pens), and not very flexible (compared to him, glass is like chewing gum). He constructs mental films that he then believes to be true. I have heard him say "Sorry, I'm going into fast reading mode". To get his car serviced, he travels six hundred kilometers because "they do it better there". He uses eight alarm clocks in the morning, one for each thing he has to do (one to wake up, one to brush his teeth, one for coffee, etc.). I won't continue because the anecdotes are endless.

One day, while he was having lunch with his colleagues, I was listening to the various conversations. Everyone was making fun of him, but he didn't get upset and smiled. At a certain point, he looked at me and said, "They are laughing because they think I'm abnormal. But..." And, amid general hilarity, he listed all the strange and, in his opinion, absurd things that the others did. At the end, he said to me, "I'm calm because those who mock me are more abnormal than I am".

This made me think a lot. Does "normality" exist, or is it a subjective concept? Do we have the right to judge the normality of someone else?

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a wonderful novel (from which a wonderful film was made) that describes a group of mental patients in a psychiatric hospital. And, as in every such hospital, those who enter because they are declared mentally ill (they may have mental illnesses or simply not be in line with current normality) lose all their rights. It's like an animal in a cage at the zoo that is trained if it rebels or if it is dangerous. In the same way, in the psychiatric hospital, patients are trained to adapt to normality, with increasingly coercive methods. From a simple sedative, to isolation, to electroshock. And if that's still not enough, there is the extreme solution, lobotomy, that is, the transformation of a human being into a vegetable.

But if the patients have no rights, the doctors and nurses have far too many. Because they are normal, they can decide on behalf of the patients. They can react when their normality is questioned.

But one fine day, in this situation of forced equilibrium, an element of disturbance enters, the boisterous, restless, and cheerful McMurphy.

"But do you really think you're crazy? Really? No, you're no crazier than the average asshole walking down the street, I tell you!"

What can the impeccable Head Nurse (\\"Sometimes I think all unmarried nurses should be fired when they reach the age of thirty-five\\") do but restore \\"her\\" order? The outcome can only be terrible.

The author's writing is wonderful. On the one hand, it captivated me, on the other hand, it left me exhausted with sadness and anger at the injustice that causes impotence.

Flight into the Unknown, undoubtedly, is a significant, thought-provoking, and influential work (from various aspects). It not only engages the reader's mind in the story but also poses important questions for the reader outside the plot, questions that often remain unanswered. The book, written in the 1960s, has not only maintained its charm and power over the years but has also taken on a new guise with different interpretations and understandings.

But what is the story?

The plot begins when Mr. McMurphy, who is convicted of an illegal relationship or fornication with a younger girl than the legal age, enters a mental hospital (he, who thinks he is a smart man, chooses the second option between compulsory work in prison and living in a mental hospital, which is both a joke and a spectacle!). But we must not forget that this choice of Mr. Murphy is actually a crack in the front of the rational (because Mr. Murphy, who is rational and sane, deliberately places himself among the insane). In fact, Murphy has disrupted the relationship between the rational and the insane and must pay the price for this.

Living in a mental hospital and living with the insane who seem rational and the rational who seem insane has its own special rules, such as taking pills regularly. But McMurphy, who is not insane, why should he take pills? Isn't taking pills by him a proof of his insanity?

The mental hospital is run by Nurse Ratched. She is like the Angel of Death, with a beautiful face and blue eyes. Everything is ready for her power demonstration. She must not be short-handed because the permission for the discharge of patients, including McMurphy, is in her hands. But at first, Murphy does not know this. He challenges Ratched and the existing order that Ratched has created. He encourages the patients to vote for watching the basketball game. Although after winning, the power structure of Nurse Ratched does not allow them to watch the game, and all the patients, under the leadership of Murphy, watch the snowy television! (Civil war)

But Murphy is a tough man. He helps the patients escape and takes them on a fishing trip by boat. He, who has already cut the last wire after the suicide of one of the patients, no longer cares. He hosts a party in the mental hospital and prepares the groundwork for one of the patients (Billy), who has so far failed to have a relationship with a girl, to succeed. But the joy of this is short-lived. In the morning, when Ratched arrives and realizes this party that is against her like a child, she threatens Billy. Billy commits suicide. Murphy attacks her to silence her. Murphy is arrested and sentenced to brain surgery, which only leaves him the power to breathe (vegetative life). Ratched also loses her voice to some extent, which was like a weapon for the patients, and her prestige among the patients is completely lost.

But Murphy is rescued from this vegetative life by one of the patients who is a strong-built but weak-willed redhead (the whole story is told from his language). The redhead, who has been inspired by Murphy's deeds, escapes and heads towards freedom.

The book expresses many meanings. For example, Nurse Ratched is a symbol of a cold and deadly bureaucracy. Although she talks about respecting the rights of patients with a smile on her lips, McMurphy, the hero of the story, does not have the classic face of a hero. From his crime of molestation to the various anti-social and illegal acts that he commits, he is not flawless. Perhaps his flaws outweigh his virtues. At the end of the story, Murphy, who has been killed, seems to be the winner. The path he has created, the hope he has given to the patients, and the order he has destroyed, all, like his memories, not only remain for the patients but also are engraved in the minds of the readers of this book:

"What do you think? Do you really think you're crazy? You're not crazy. You're not crazier than that stupidity that's asking on the street."

‘But it’s the truth, even if it didn’t happen’

Wow! What an amazing book this is. I am truly glad that I finally got around to reading it. I absolutely loved the characters of McMurphy and the Chief. They were so well-developed and interesting. McMurphy's rebellious spirit and the Chief's quiet strength made for a great combination. Five big stars for this wonderful piece of literature!

Edit. Just saw the movie and while it was good and I did enjoy it, it simply couldn't compare to the book. I thought that a lot of important scenes were left out, especially the Chief's backstory. The book really delved deep into his character and his past, which added so much more depth to the story. The movie, while entertaining, just didn't have the same impact. It's a shame that they couldn't capture all of the nuances and details of the book in the movie. However, it's still a great movie in its own right and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good story.

In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey transports the reader to a mental asylum.

Here, the patients are oppressed and beaten down, brutally ruled by the dictatorial former army nurse, Nurse Ratched.

Then, one day, a new patient arrives. He is the muscular and exuberant redhead, Randle McMurphy.

McMurphy refuses to accept the status quo, setting in motion the most captivating power struggle ever witnessed in a novel.

Who will emerge victorious? Will it be Mack or The Big Nurse?

The character development in this book is truly outstanding.

I will remember McMurphy, Chief (Broom) Bromden, and Nurse Ratched for the rest of my life.

The secondary characters like Harding and Billy are also extremely well-developed, making the cast even more unforgettable.

The story is excellent and at times uproariously funny.

I found myself laughing out loud repeatedly throughout the book.

It also has many valuable lessons to offer and I found it to be deeply moving, inspirational, and powerful.

However, the book is not without its controversy.

It is incredibly racist and misogynistic.

To some extent, this may have to be overlooked considering it was written in the early 1960s when such mindsets were perhaps more common.

Also, given that the narrator is a mental patient, it follows that his mental health is in a deteriorated state.

Nonetheless, it is still disturbing and I didn't appreciate it.

Despite the negatives, the characters, plot, and inspiration conveyed by this book cannot be ignored.

Nothing can ever detract from them.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a true masterpiece and one of the best books I have ever read.

Highly recommended.

Quick, quick, ask me to say in a word how I feel about this book? “It’s OK,” is my reply. I persist in following the GR rating system. A book that is OK gets two stars. Two stars does not mean I dislike it. I find it necessary to repeat this over and over again.

I totally struggled through the first half of the book. I found the events, the language, the characters extremely off-putting. I tried to feel empathy rather than disgust, but I failed. Also, I did not know whom or what to believe. What characters say is not necessarily true. I was confused and repulsed. Then somewhere at about the two thirds mark, there is a fishing trip. Everything flipped; all of a sudden, we see kindness and happiness and joy in life. Real laughter, not fake laughter as before. The difference was shockingly dramatic. I needed this happiness, so I sucked it up. At the same time my head was screaming at me, “This is cinematic, this is fake, this is over-done.” I do not like books that are cinematic, BUT I did need the happy, sweet and brave to counter the crude, horrible, grisly and disgusting that the book began with.

Then we get to the end. Everything is tied up in a jiffy. A rapid succession of events concludes the tale. A little bit of reality is clamped on top, but not too much to squash out the feel-good feeling and a sense of satisfaction that something had improved.

The above describes my emotional journey through this book.

I am reacting to the book, and I have not seen the movie. If I have, it is long gone and forgotten. It annoys me when people insist on blending the two. They are two separate things.

The story is told by a so-called deaf and dumb patient, the towering, half-Native American Chief Bromden, an inmate at a mental asylum in Oregon, USA, in the early 1960s. The book was intended to be a criticism of mental care facilities and the practices of those times, and rightly so. The author did a huge amount of research and had worked at the Menlo Park Veterans’ Hospital as a night aid before writing this book.

Two other central protagonists fill the screen. The first is the loud, brash, rebellious, life-loving Randle McMurphy. Formerly imprisoned for battery and gambling in a prison work farm, he has had himself transferred to this psychiatric hospital seeking a cushier means of working off his sentence. The second protagonist is the hospital’s demonic, power-crazed head nurse, Nurse Ratched, referred to simply as “Big Nurse” by the inmates. All, the orderlies, the other nurses and doctors, are, in reality, subservient to her.

A number of other patients fill out the register. They add color to the story. One stutters. One is the Swedish germophobic clean-freak. One has to say everything in big words. This guy is called Hardy. Do you get the connection? Two prostitutes are thrown in for good measure. Remember the fishing excursion I spoke of? The ease with which inmates exit and the “girls” enter the institution turn the tale into a swashbuckling adventure tale, more fantastical then real. The central theme is what happens when the rebellious upstart, McMurphy, enters the scene, disturbs hospital equilibrium, throws all off balance and confronts Big Nurse’s iron fisted grip on power. We observe how McMurphy’s magnetism influences the other inmates.

The book is very much a book of its time. Sexism, misogyny and racism abound; all of this put together is hard to take. Hospital orderlies are repeatedly and always referred to only as the “Black Boys”. McMurphy comes in as a whirlwind. His language is filthy and crude. His presence engulfs not only the hospital but also the language of the story. It takes a while to see his good points.

There are two kinds of patients at the hospital. Those that are committed and those that may leave if they so wish, assuming Big Nurse consents. Some haven’t the courage to face the outside world and have put themselves there of their own freewill. Remember McMurphy chose this over the prison work camp. Bromden’s lack of sanity and his inability to hear or speak may be questioned. This widens the scope of the novel to include a discussion of how sanity is to be defined, but at the same time, it lessens the criticism of how mental institutions were being run. If people put themselves there, how bad were they?

The value of laughter is emphasized in the book. I like this. A quote from the book follows: “You cannot be strong until you see the funny side of things.”

Another important theme is personal motivation. Is McMurphy motivated by financial gain or is he motivated by the friendship that grows between him and other inmates? Sure, sometimes the two may overlap, but how do you behave when they don’t? Do you have the courage to help another when it is to your own disadvantage and harm?

I favor individualism over unquestioning acceptance of authority. I am critical of the authoritarian, unnuanced management of psychiatric institutions devoid of compassionate care. However, I do not feel compelled to give this book or any other book with an important message, a high rating. To me, how a message is conveyed is equally important. I find the presentation here to be simplistic and cinematic in tone. Parts are pure slapstick.

The unabridged audiobook is read by John C. Reilly. Be careful; abridged versions read by other narrators are out on the market. Reilly’s performance is very good; he does dramatize, but he does it exceptionally well. When Sorensen, the Swede, gets talking, I simply had to smile, even though he does sound more like a Norwegian. His personification of McMurphy will carry you away. Bromden’s docility and personal growth is heard. Four stars to the narration.