"I never been in a Institute of Psychology before." - Randall P. McMurphy



"… but you do understand: everyone…must follow the rules." - Nurse Ratched



I'll start this review by stating that, indeed, I did watch the movie. However, it was such a long time ago that I can't claim to remember a great deal about it. Only vague scenes flicker through my mind: the maniacal grin of Jack Nicholson's character, the quiet grace of the giant Indian chief who, at some point, loses his composure, and the absolute menace of the nurse.




When Ron proposed this as a buddy read with Dawn, I was enthusiastic. It's one of those situations where I wonder why I've never read a particular book before, especially one that is most definitely regarded as a "classic". And a cult classic at that.




This book is set in the psychiatric ward of a hospital. Our narrator is Chief Bromden (also known as "Broom" or "Chief"). Standing six foot seven, he is a solid, brooding presence of silence. Allegedly deaf and mute, he perceives far more than most people realize. And he hears far more than they are aware of.




Chief explains that the men are divided into one of two categories: Acutes and Chronics. The first group hasn't been broken yet and can still be "saved"; there is a chance they will once again rejoin the outside world. The second group are lifers, who have long since been broken and abandoned by society; they have nowhere to go.




Then there are the sub-categories. The Wheelers, the Walkers, the Vegetables. You get the picture.




Each man has his place. Each man knows his place.




Enter Randall Patrick McMurphy. Boisterous, full of vitality, cracking jokes, full of life, and full of himself. Into this sterile world of disinfectant and mysterious therapy rooms, McMurphy is like a breath of fresh air. Like the windows being thrown wide open in a house that has been locked up for far too long.




Yet, the problem is that not everyone welcomes fresh air… not the medical staff and especially not Nurse Ratched, who runs her ward with an iron fist. She is the mistress of her domain, without a doubt. And she doesn't appreciate anyone disturbing the status quo.




McMurphy is a riot of colors and emotions. Ratched is cold, hard steel. Fire meets ice.




McMurphy has ended up in this institution by faking mental illness to avoid working on a prison farm. His reasoning is that he'll be fed three square meals a day and have "…orange juice every day for breakfast!" Jesus wept.




Don't misunderstand me; McMurphy is certainly no angel, and he wasn't working on a prison farm for no reason. But the ending…oh, the ending.




As the story unfolds, we gain insight into Chief Broom's mind. We see flashbacks of the platoon he served in. We see his father, an Indian chief living on a reserve. And the fog…always the fog, making everything a bit blurry. Which is preferable to seeing it clearly. That is until McMurphy arrives to驱散 the fog.




This raises the question of how much of Chief's narrative is true. Is the story he tells us about McMurphy, Nurse Ratched, and others fact or fiction? Or a combination of both? Is he a reliable narrator? How many of us are reliable when it comes to recounting the events that occur in our daily lives?




I have to admit that I couldn't help but laugh at many of the things McMurphy said during his first Group Therapy Meeting. He's quite the character and definitely stole the show. As he did in future meetings. And in his unofficial cold war with Nurse Ratched.




Here's a great line from when his punishment is to clean the latrines: "I try and try, ma'am, but I'm afraid I'll never make my mark as head man of the crappers."




McMurphy goes out of his way to cause trouble and antagonize Nurse Ratched. Which is something that has never happened before. He starts a rebellion among the men who have been there for years. To speak up, to think. Once the can of worms is opened, you can't put them back in.




The use of humor highlights the power struggle between these two strong characters. Which, upon reflection, makes this book even darker.




From the opening lines, there is an atmosphere of menace in this story. A malevolence. A definite sense of unease and discomfort.




"…society is what decides who's sane and who isn't…"




This was a challenging read, in the sense that it brought home to me how fragile our minds are, how they control our entire being. Our good qualities, our bad qualities, and all the qualities in between. How easily we can break. And how the power of those who are supposedly responsible for caring for people who need help can be misused and take a sinister turn.




Is McMurphy an anti-hero to be admired? Perhaps. Did he push the boundaries? Without a doubt. Did he pay for it? Absolutely.




This is a definite must-read. At least once in your lifetime. Tick it off your reading bucket list. Utterly disturbing. 3.5★s



*** Buddy with Dawn & Ron. Thanks for joining me. Another fascinating choice that left me with a lot to think about. Make sure you check out both of their reviews. ***



As an aside, it's interesting to note that Ken Kesey and his friends, the "merry pranksters", dropped LSD and cavorted around the countryside in a fluorescent, psychedelic-decorated bus. One of the pranksters and the driver at the wheel being none other than Neal Cassady, best friend of Jack Kerouac. Wowza! Talk about six degrees of separation. And of truth being stranger than fiction.

One of the key novels in the 1960s US counter/LSD culture is this one, and I firmly believe it must be read in the context of that era. While I did have some liking for this novel, on the whole, it was rather disappointing.

The novel's strongest points, as I see them, are as follows. Firstly, the main characters, R P McMurphy, Nurse Ratched, and the ongoing power struggle between the two, which lies at the heart of the novel. They are very well created, written, and executed, with a distinct sense of authenticity.

However, the novel also has its weaknesses. For instance, the attempted parallel (I think) between the treatment and processing of mental health patients in the story and the ramblings/memories/hallucinations of Chief Bromden. I felt this was unsuccessful and at times just deliberately and self-consciously obscure. Additionally, perhaps at the time, this novel was important and revolutionary in its content and approach to subject matter such as the exertion of power, control, personal freedom, and the processing of individuals in institutions and wider society. But with the 1960s US counter culture now (at best) a distant memory, I don't think this novel and its style have endured very well at all. Instead, it feels somewhat crudely and naively constructed and written, very much a product of its time. Moreover, the racist over/under tones throughout also need to be addressed. These are prevalent and rather surprising considering the civil rights movement of the time. It's not just the fact that the 'Black Boys' (as they are almost constantly referred to) hold the more menial positions on the ward, which could perhaps be justified on the grounds of realism, but the way they are referred to and the light in which they are portrayed. It's all too easy to dismiss this significant and overshadowing flaw as satire, but I don't agree.

There are hugely important issues regarding mental health, the processing of individuals in wider society, individual power, and corruption that I feel this book only partially and ultimately unsuccessfully deals with. Without wanting to sound too conservative or reactionary, perhaps less LSD use would have led to a more focused and powerful book.

This is one of the very rare occasions when the film is better than the book (despite the Hollywood changes).

A heavy weight of hours has chain'd and bow'd
One too like thee - tameless, and swift, and proud.

Percy Bysshe Shelley.

When is deep conviction at the Hand of The Absolute ENOUGH? The simple answer is it may Never be Enough. It depends on the depths of sin within us.

The Absolute, of course, is The State, which bears no resemblance to our absolute, loving God. And it is the state psychiatric hospital into which McMurphy is plunged, for his medical Cleansing By Fire.

***

McMurphy has no choice. He has sinned against all 'normal' prudence and probity. And that, of course, is nowadays the unforgivable sin. A Sin against political correctness.

By 1970 my earlier conviction had Obviously not been Enough. Once autistic as a log, my sudden fear was now at fever pitch, and I had to be Stopped dead in my Tracks. And made to see that blinding light which, at midnight - as John of the Cross says - was my Dark Night of the Soul.

Converted by subtle subterfuge to a mad midnight sun (religious tenacity being labelled a danger).

Crossing that invisible line, I now felt, as Salman Rushdie suddenly did under edict of that fatal Fatwa, permanently and irrevocably denuded of any and all ordinary human rights and privileges.

With the right meds, I'd be contained. A mess, but contained. A Chronic. Once cured, I'd be released, a 'Cured' Chronic. Vegged-out normal.

The State had its reasons.

God is My Bright Abyss. My first DARK abyss was in 1970 (but I still didn't see it). In 2021 I saw only my Blinding Anger, still as an Acute, because my hold on fractious reality was tenuous. I still believed in happy ever after endings, and never in simple, ordinary, banal reality and the necessary blunt awakening it gives.

I liked my miasmal aspie mist!

Anyway, as I ordered Kesey's grim Tale of Nurse Ratched when the hoar frost blighted the pumpkins last November, 2021, my hypertension meds seemed useless. I was still angry. Some guys never learn. My learning curve was still too steep for the soft sorta introvert I was.

I was now an "Acute"; they wanted to heal me by turning me into a harmless Chronic. Kesey was neither, when they corralled him into going there.

For medicated Chronics like us, the world has now become a bland Flatland. I've learned now that's my only chance for escape. (Though my mind has been labelled No Exit by my meds.)

Escape... never again in this world, as the Acutes even now in their fury still believe. That's nuts. Look around you! Our very own worldwide little middle class life is now a Flatland.

What happened? Nothing, really. Many of us now believe in nothing. But I believe in the Redemption of Christ, who followed the Path of Peace.

A peace in Spaceland (read more in the book, Flatland!).

That will come for us all. 3D conviction, no exit.

Christ gave us the straight goods. Our chances outta here are between slim and none, but we can at least find refuge in being a voice for Peace. A Chronic Believer.

The straight and narrow path lies between, on one side the playful Pharisees, and on the other, the grim-faced Saducees.

Ever seen that Jack Nicholson (as Kesey) Film on Netflix? You should read the book FIRST. The book is Written from multiple POV's - from the vicious outre orderlies to the Wizened Chronics - and won't let you GO.

It is an Inside Scoop on the Funny Farm - through Kesey's masterly eyes! It's so good it's to DIE FOR. This is how it really feels to be inside. We are ALL there now. Just call our all-seeing Big Sister in the Sky, Nurse Ratched, to doublecheck.

If you admit such a thing to your friends, they'll henceforth see you thru jaundiced eyes. So it goes.

Get stronger first!

But you’ve Gotta read it.

Even if you're only Politely Prepped by the Flick.

***

Though I started it in 2021, when the world had to be squeaky clean hygienic, the best part was in 2022 -

When the world through COVID overkill had finally learned to Keep Its Polite Distance from Too Much Reality (and from me) -

I, finally, was Strong Enough to Bear it all, now that I had been given the Grace to do it and the world hadn't.

And at last found therein my clear Chronic Peace.

That mad midnight sun runs but a simple circular course. Seen through as being useless, beyond tedium, it finally sets.

Though for the one who finally flew over -

The Peace that Passes all Understanding is Pyhhric.

But by letting my captors destroy my old self, I was Freed.

The statement "because a moving target is hard to hit" on page 82 holds a certain truth. It can be applied not only in a literal sense but also metaphorically. In life, we often encounter situations where we are faced with moving targets. These could be goals that keep changing, or people who are constantly evolving. Just like in the story of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", the characters are in a state of flux. McMurphy, the rebellious protagonist, is constantly challenging the status quo and the power dynamics within the psychiatric facility. His actions are unpredictable, making it difficult for those in authority to control him.

The setting of the residential psychiatric facility during the reform years adds another layer of complexity to the story. The institution is going through changes in evaluation, assessment, and treatment, which further disrupts the lives of the patients. The narrator, Chief Bromden, who pretends to be deaf and dumb, provides a unique perspective on the events that unfold. His reflections on his youth and upbringing add a touch of nostalgia to the narrative, while also highlighting the contrast between his past and present.

Overall, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is a captivating read that combines humor, tragedy, and thought-provoking themes. It makes us reflect on the little things in life that can have a big impact. In comparison to "Fight Club", which I recently read and felt missed the mark, this book was a much better read for me. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a solid and engaging story.

4.5

"He knows that you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy."

This was one truly remarkable, intelligent, gripping, and daring novel. While Ken Kesey's work is classified as a classic, it in no way resembles that of Jane Austen or Charles Dickens. It was vulgar, uncomfortable, and highly controversial at the time of its publishing. However, it was also an incredibly complex, mind-numbing, page-turner of a story. Set in a psychiatric hospital, a setting often overlooked in literature, it questions freedom and confinement in our society. This was truly a great, great book that I wholeheartedly recommend. Forget about perfect characters, sunny settings, and polite "kind sir's" and "ma'ams". This story was filled to the brim with complications, grit, and a strange blend of humor and darkness. The ending will leave you completely speechless. It was brilliant and thought-provoking, a real knockout of a book.

Working on my "worst books of the year" list, so I thought now would be a great time to share with you the six-page essay I wrote for class on why this book is utter garbage.

Ken Kesey's widely renowned novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, was published during a crucial point in America's history: the 1960s. This era witnessed both the Civil Rights movement and second-wave feminism. Kesey's novel directly responds to these movements, with the storyline often serving as a means for him to strategically convey his stance against feminism. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest contains blatant anti-feminist and misogynistic messages, depicting women in power as domineering figures determined to strip men of their masculinity.

The most prominent female character in the novel is the machine-like Nurse Ratched, the villain. Through her interactions with the patients in the ward, the reader quickly realizes that Nurse Ratched is obsessed with conformity and expects the patients to follow her rules, unafraid to brutally punish them if they dare to defy her. As Bromden tells the reader, she "tends to get real put out if something keeps her outfit from running like a smooth, accurate, precision-made machine. The slightest thing messy or out of kilter...ties her into a little white knot of tight-smiled fury. She walks around with that same doll smile...but down inside of her she's tense as steel" (22). In many ways, Nurse Ratched represents society, or "The Combine", as Chief Bromden refers to it. She is frequently described in mechanical terms, as Bromden says "she's got that bag full of a thousand parts she aims to use in her duties today—wheels and gears, cogs polished to a hard glitter, tiny pills that gleam like porcelain, needles, forceps, watchmakers' pliers, rolls of copper wire" (4). Ratched is presented as a negative, controlling figure from the first page. Nurse Ratched's role in the story is Kesey's way of showing that he does not believe women are capable of holding positions of power without it going to their heads. The characters themselves express this, as Harding states during a group session, "in this hospital...the doctor doesn't hold the power of hiring and firing. That power goes to the supervisor, and the supervisor is a woman, a dear old friend of Miss Ratched's; they were Army nurses together in the thirties. We are victims of a matriarchy here, my friend, and the doctor is just as helpless against it as we are" (53). Given that this novel was written during a time when women were campaigning for more visible roles in society and equal career opportunities as men, it is reasonable to assume that Kesey had an issue with the idea of women having the same roles as men. Kesey seems to believe that women will take it too far and use their positions to try to keep men down and suppress their masculinity.

Furthermore, Kesey appears to believe that masculinity is directly related to sexuality. Throughout the novel, the characters are constantly under the threat of emasculation, both literally and metaphorically. The hero of the story, the revolutionary Randle McMurphy, is in many ways the ideal man compared to the others in the ward. McMurphy is unashamed when it comes to his sexuality, saying "now they tell me a psychopath's a guy fights too much and fucks too much, but they ain't wholly right, do you think? I mean, whoever heard tell of a man gettin' too much poozle?" (11). Through McMurphy's rebellion on the ward, he also seems to be rebelling against the standards set by society, specifically those imposed by women in an attempt to limit a man's sexual urges. McMurphy has even been arrested on a statutory rape charge, although he doesn't consider himself to have done anything wrong, blaming the fifteen-year-old girl and claiming she was "plenty willin'" (37). Throughout the story, the men frequently fear the loss of their sexuality, as McMurphy analyzes Nurse Ratched, calling her "a ball-cutter...seen 'em all over the country and in the homes—people who try to make you weak so they can get you to toe the line, to follow their rules, to live like they want you to...you ever been kneed in the nuts in a brawl?...there's nothing worse. If you're up against a guy who wants to win by making you weaker instead of making himself stronger, then watch for his knee, he's gonna go for your vitals. And that's what that old buzzard is doing, going for your vitals" (51). This quote illustrates many of the major messages in the story, showing how the characters view "ball-cutters" as people obsessed with conforming to society, which the characters in the ward have refused to do. In McMurphy's mind, conforming to society would mean a man surrendering his sense of sexuality, an essential part of masculinity, even going so far as to refer to a man's balls as his vitals. The characters suggest that the reason Nurse Ratched is so uptight is due to her lack of sex, suggesting McMurphy should just "just throw her down and solve her worries" (160). The men view their only weapon as their penises and their ability to use them against women, with Harding saying "“how does one go about showing a woman who’s boss, I mean other than laughing at her? How does he show her who’s king of the mountain?...You don’t slap her around, do you? No, then she calls the law. You don’t lose your temper and shout at her...so you see...man has but one truly effective weapon against the juggernaut of modern matriarchy, but it certainly is not laughter” (60). The men and their fear of castration are present throughout the book, as McMurphy muses "yes; chopping away the brain. Frontal-lobe castration. I guess if she can't cut below the belt she'll do it above the eyes" (158) and another man commits suicide by cutting off both of his balls, to which McMurphy remarks "all the guy had to do was wait" (108), implying that the institution would eventually have castrated him in one way or another. Much of McMurphy's rebellion consists of him refusing to let go of his sexual desires, such as standing around in a towel, pinching Nurse Ratched's butt as she walks away, and hiring prostitutes to awaken the sexual desires of the other men in the ward. This message directly ties into the concept of toxic masculinity, as the story implies that a man cannot be masculine without being sexually active. Kesey seems to be vehemently opposed to conforming to society, specifically to the rules imposed by women in power who expect men to behave appropriately rather than give in to their sexual desires, as Kesey sees this as taking away a man's freedom.

Additionally, there are very few female figures who are not shown as bitter, controlling, and in need of being put in their place by a man. The only women shown in a positive light are the prostitutes, who exude sexuality and seem to know their places as objects meant for men to satisfy their sexual desires, never attempting to impose rules on them. Any woman who dares to exert any sort of power over a man is portrayed as domineering and preventing men from reaching their true potential. Harding blames his wife for attracting the attention of other men, seeming to hold a deep bitterness towards her. McMurphy tells the doctors that the teenage girl he raped became controlling and abusive, forcing him to flee town. When McMurphy was ten years old, he lost his virginity to a girl between eight and nine years of age, who he calls a "little whore…(who) knew a lot more than a good many pros" (216) and blames her for his deviant behavior, saying "from that day to this it seemed I might as well live up to my name—dedicated lover—and it's the God's truth: that little nine-year-old kid out of my youth's the one who's to blame" (217). Chief Bromden's mother is another example of a woman who puts down the men in her life to make herself bigger, as her husband takes her last name and eventually becomes a weak alcoholic. And poor Billy Bibbit is the victim of an overbearing mother, her doting wearing him down and making him afraid of his own sexuality. When he finally rebels from under his mother's thumb, his freedom is extinguished as soon as Nurse Ratched brings up his mother, telling him "what worries me, Billy...is how your poor mother is going to take this" (267) to which "Billy flinched and put his hand to his cheek like he'd been burned with acid" (267). Billy is so distraught at the idea of disappointing his mother that he takes his own life rather than face her. The only way the men feel they can break free of a woman's control is to sexually harass them, as seen in McMurphy's rebellion, which culminates in a final, vile act in which he assaults Nurse Ratched. He pins her to the wall, "terror forever ruining any other look she might ever try to use again, screaming when he grabbed for her and ripped her uniform all the way down the front, screaming again when the two nippled circles started from her chest and swelled out and out, bigger than anybody had ever even imagined, warm and pink in the light" (271). This is the act that takes away Nurse Ratched's power - revealing her status as a woman, as seen when she returns wearing a new uniform that "could no longer conceal the fact that she was a woman" (272). In the revelation that she is a woman, she has become depowered. The men on the ward no longer see her as a threatening, mechanical figure, simply as a powerless woman, further establishing Kesey's disturbing views of gender roles.

This novel was written during an incredibly tumultuous time period, when the concept of feminism was heated and controversial. Is One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest simply a product of its time? Or is it the result of a man who felt threatened by powerful women and feminism, attempting to further his agenda?

The overt male chauvinism in this novel is likely to make it a difficult reading experience for some. Others may be able to overlook it, favoring the cultural touchstones and sheer entertainment value. Overall, it is up to each individual reader to decide how they feel about the portrayal of gender roles and the messages presented by One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, although Kesey's anti-feminist themes in this book should not go unexamined.

From time to time, it's not bad to step out of our comfort zone and read things that go beyond our usual standards to discover gems like the one I bring you today. It's not horror, it's not suspense, it's a drama with a capital D.

I took advantage of having watched the recent series Ratched to finally pick up this book. It's a highly regarded classic and I didn't want to miss it any longer, but the similarity between the two is just a coincidence.

I have to say that the role of Sarah Paulson in the series is very different from the character she is supposed to embody. I thought I would find a dark and sinister character, but I saw a very benevolent nurse.

The Big Nurse in the novel is cold, mechanical, very strict, manipulative, and not at all empathetic. In short, they could have given it another title and made another series without the references to the classic.

And I still haven't seen the movie starring Jack Nicholson, but I'll take advantage of having the novel fresh in my mind to watch it.

As you know, everything psychiatric fascinates me and in this case, I dare to say, even without seeing it, that the movie will be as good as the novel.

The novel is divided into three large parts, without chapter separation, where we will see how Nurse Ratched, or the Big Nurse as the patients in the mental institution refer to her, along with Dr. Spivey, will be the main responsible for "caring" for the inmates and organizing the ward as the narrator of the story, Bromden, refers to what happens around him, not only in the center but also as the way it controls and governs the world. Bromden is an American Indian who pretends to be deaf and mute to find out everything that happens around him while he sweeps and does his daily chores. But his dull life there will be reactivated by the arrival of McMurphy, a rebel without a cause who will manage to drive the strict and controlling head nurse crazy and cause a real revolution among the inmates.

These inmates will win our hearts and show us the true value of friendship; Billy Bibbit, the great Bromden, Harding, Cheswick, or Scanlon. It will be difficult to forget their exploits and how together they can overcome everything. That courage and value that McMurphy has taught them by seeing them for what they are, people with their needs and not animals in cages.

Despite reflecting quite a few typical sexist thoughts of the time, mainly on the part of McMurphy, and some occasional dips during the reading, I have enjoyed it from start to finish

This renowned classic is a slow-paced read that offers an intense character study. Set within the enclosed environment of a psychiatric hospital, it presents a captivating narrative.

Nurse Ratched rules her ward with tyranny and close scrutiny, causing the patients to bend to her will and live in fear of any misstep that might upset her. This status quo persists until a new character arrives and threatens to usurp Ratched's rule.

In their fight for dominance, the inhabitants of the ward begin to gain a better understanding of personal freedom and the role they play in the well-oiled machine of the ward.

The casual racism and the horrific treatment of the psychiatric patients are difficult to read about, but they are a necessary evil in delivering the power of this tale. Without the reader developing a deep understanding of the horrors on a psychiatrist ward and the accepted norms of that time period, this text would not have remained so influential, relevant, and widely studied.

It is interesting that the story is told from the perspective of one of the patients. This lends an untrustworthy air to the events, leaving the reader uncertain of all they are told. Additionally, the philosophical nature of the text keeps the reader actively engaged, as they must work hard to untangle the narrative and uncover the truth hidden within the series of anecdotes.

Despite the subtle power in all aspects of this tale, on a baser level, I enjoyed some scenes more than others. Those that moved beyond the confines of the ward lost some of their interest for me, although they remained moving and educational. They became less compelling when action took center stage and character studies and societal insights were pushed to the background. However, the ending returned to the philosophical insights that I earlier appreciated, and I ultimately found myself really appreciating how this novel made me think about all the subject matters and events discussed in an entirely new light.

Reread after more than twenty years.

Ken Kesey was truly a master at writing novels. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is a work that is incredibly rich in detail. It delves into the inner workings of the asylum, revealing its complex hierarchies and procedures. The vivid descriptions of the sights and, most importantly, the sounds, as told through the voice of Chief Bromden, an Indian inmate pretending to be deaf and dumb, are truly captivating.

This book reminded me of my own early days in a men's hostel in my twenties. I used to be filled with dread living there among all those tough kids, and I would often play dead, keeping a low profile until I managed to make some friends. Chief Bromden's observations about the happenings in the asylum and his own past, shared through flashbacks, evoked a great deal of sympathy in me. He was a weak and defeated man.

Kesey masterfully describes the dazzling McMurphy for us through Chief Bromden's defeated voice. The quote "only the weak can truly appreciate the strong" came to my mind. Randal Patrick McMurphy's characterization is that of a brawling all-American character, representing raw power and individuality. However, he is more vulnerable in the novel than in the popular movie adaptation. A particularly memorable scene is when he drives through his hometown after an asylum fishing trip and spots the dress of an old sweetheart with whom he lost his virginity.

The witty dialog in the book also deserves special mention. McMurphy and Harding exchange some sensational lines. McMurphy's sexually rambunctious street language contrasts with Harding's educated voice, and their exchanges are truly dazzling.

And then there is Nurse Ratched. I believe there is a little bit of Nurse Ratched in each of us. But she is also a bit of a mystery. Another nurse character makes an observation about Ratched that unmarried army nurses above the age of 35 should not become nurses at asylums, but there isn't much else known about her past. I don't think Kesey knew much about how evil works. He simply describes her as one of the enforcers in a mechanized system. Or perhaps he was trying to show that Ratched was a nobody in the face of McMurphy's sexy and dangerous personality.

Overall, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is a remarkable novel that continues to resonate with readers even after all these years.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is truly one of the most remarkable novels that pits individualism against the vast and impersonal forces of industrial society. Ken Kesey demonstrates an extraordinary understanding of the challenges we all encounter in modern civilization. He skillfully conveys his profound ideas through some of the most vivid and rich imagery I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

My favorite line in the novel occurs when Chief Bromden, the paranoid schizophrenic narrator, utters, "But it's the truth, even if it didn't happen." This line immediately sets the stage for a story where one's perception of situations often reflects the truth more accurately than the outward appearance of things. The story can be a bit perplexing to follow at times, given the narrator's paranoid schizophrenia, making it difficult to distinguish between reality and his hallucinations. However, it is precisely in these hallucinations that we often find a more accurate reflection of reality than in reality itself.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone. I have read and taught it numerous times, and it never fails to offer new insights and revelations. Additionally, the film starring Jack Nicholson is well worth watching. Although it won many Academy Awards upon its release, it diverges significantly from many of the book's themes. One of the most fascinating aspects of the book is that it is told from the perspective of a paranoid schizophrenic. Attempting to do this in a film would be extremely challenging and more likely to result in a cheesy portrayal rather than the insightful and revealing exploration we find in the novel.

Profane, hilarious, disturbing, heartbreaking, shocking – powerful.

Ken Kesey’s genre-defining 1962 novel, which was made into a Broadway play and then an Academy Award-winning film starring Jack Nicholson, is sure to inspire strong emotions. I can envision people either loving it or hating it.

I, for one, loved it.

First and foremost, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart: a book that is banned from libraries has a special place on my bookshelf.

So all you amateur censors out there – you are my enemy. I don’t like you. I defy you. A book that you don’t like is a book that I do, and I want to flaunt it in your face.

This is what Wikipedia has to say:

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is one of America's most highly challenged and banned novels.

• In 1974, five residents of Strongsville, Ohio sued the local Board of Education to remove the novel from classrooms. They deemed the book "pornographic" and claimed that it "glorifies criminal activity, has a tendency to corrupt juveniles, and contains descriptions of bestiality, bizarre violence, and torture, dismemberment, death, and human elimination."

• In 1975, the book was removed from public schools in Randolph, New York, and Alton, Oklahoma.

• In 1977, it was removed from the required reading list in Westport, Maine.

• In 1978, it was banned from St. Anthony, Idaho Freemont High School, and the teacher who assigned the novel was fired.

• In 1982, it was challenged at Merrimack, New Hampshire High School.

• In 1986, it was challenged at Aberdeen Washington High School in Honors English classes.

In 2000, it was challenged at the Placentia Unified School District (Yorba Linda, California). Parents said that the teachers could "choose the best books, but they keep choosing this garbage over and over again."

The teacher who assigned this as reading was FIRED??? In the year 2000? The year 2000??? We are in the 21st century, and someone is calling this garbage??

Ok.

First of all, McMurphy is alive.

“Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing.”

The dramatic tension between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched was literary gold – a rare treasure. Kesey created a novel where there was a clash between an unstoppable force and an immovable object. Clash! That’s what it was, and a reader could see it coming from a mile down the tracks, like a freight train whistling and steaming. Here it comes.

McMurphy was the novel’s tragic hero – a red-headed Irish American troublemaker who everyone loves deep down. The Big Nurse – Mildred Ratched, is the Man. She is the embodiment of the institution, the rules, the law, the Order. Kesey has drawn an epic clash between chaos and order within the halls and bleached clean walls of an insane asylum.

Though I couldn't help picturing Jack Nicholson as McMurphy while reading this, Kesey’s McMurphy is really described more like Charles Dickens’ Fagan, a red-headed trickster, and perhaps in mythic terms he is Coyote, or Loki, he is THE TRICKSTER GOD, he is that opposing force that makes the orderly way of the universe stronger.

“Rules? PISS ON YOUR FUCKING RULES!”

In another way, McMurphy is the quintessential American, and he can be seen as a metaphor for the spirit of America. He is the entrepreneur, the self-starter, the untamed rebel who makes his own rules. He is the great equalizer, the leader who kicks down the boundaries, who champions the little guy, who colors outside the lines and who picks the small boys and the fat kids on his team and then wins anyway and wins big.

“All I know is this: nobody's very big in the first place, and it looks to me like everybody spends their whole life tearing everybody else down.”

Kesey’s narrator is also an unlikely choice: Chief Bromden, nicknamed Chief Broom because he is made to sweep the halls. A giant of a man, the rational, modern world has emasculated him, made him small and without a voice or strength. Chief is clearly schizophrenic but also lucid, and he and the other patients are humans, deserving of respect and sympathy; one of the central points made by Kesey, who is as humanist as Kurt Vonnegut and as fun as a barrel full of monkeys. Chief’s dramatic and dynamic evolution is the barometer of this great work.

The Chronics and acutes. When McMurphy arrives at the institute, the residents are informally divided between the chronics – those whose condition has demanded their lifelong commitment; and the acutes, those whose insanity may be temporary and remedied. Interestingly, many are there voluntarily. McMurphy’s friendship with Chief (an erstwhile chronic) and his championing of the acutes' status is a central theme of the book.

“What do you think you are, for Chrissake, crazy or somethin'? Well you're not! You're not! You're no crazier than the average asshole out walkin' around on the streets and that's it. ”

Like Upton Sinclair’s muckraking journalistic exposures in The Jungle, Kesey’s novel can also be seen as a bright light shone on the mental health facilities in the 60s.

“He Who Marches Out Of Step Hears Another Drum”

A book that should be read.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a well-known work that was published in 1962 and set in an Oregon psychiatric hospital.

It offers a critique of psychiatry during a time when other notable thinkers like Laing, Foucault, Szasz, and Goffman were also writing about mental health treatments.

The story has a famous plot and cast list, especially after the 1975 film with Jack Nicholson as Randle Patrick McMurphy.

Narrated by Chief Bromden, who feigns deafness and dumbness, the novel makes valid points about the brutality of mental health institutions and treatments at that time.

However, the work is marred by racism and misogyny. The only blacks are portrayed as stupid and malicious orderlies, and the only "right-on" women are mindless whores.

Nurse Ratched is a woman, perhaps because of Kesey's supposed hatred and fear of women.

Kesey tries to present McMurphy as a lone male challenging the system, but the antagonists being female or black gives the work a one-sided and unconvincing nature.

The white doctors seem powerless, and the matriarchy is presented as oppressive to the white males.

Overall, the work is very overrated, lacking nuance and a deeper exploration of the roles of the various characters.