One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

by Ken Kesey

Robert Faggen (Introduction)

Ken Kesey's bracing, inslightful novel about the meaning of madness and the value of self-reliance, and the inspiration for the new Netflix original series Ratched

Boisterous, ribald, and ultimately shattering, Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is the seminal novel of the 1960s that has left an indelible mark on the literature of our time. Here is the unforgettable story of a mental ward and its inhabitants, especially the tyrannical Big Nurse Ratched and Randle Patrick McMurphy, the brawling, fun-loving new inmate who resolves to oppose her. We see the struggle through the eyes of Chief Bromden, the seemingly mute half-Indian patient who witnesses and understands McMurphy’s heroic attempt to do battle with the awesome powers that keep them all imprisoned.

• ISBN10: 0141181222
• ISBN13: 9780141181226
• Publish Date: 31 December 2002 (first published 1 January 1962)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 31 January 2010
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Penguin USA
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 312
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780141181226

Reviews

[celinenyx]

Tragic, funny, sad, endearing. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a great book. The story is set in a mental hospital, and after having seen the movie, I was surprised that it was written from Chief's point of view. This large Native American man who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia has convinced the doctors in the hospital that he is deaf and mute. One day, McMurphy, a loud, smoking, laughing, brawny man is admitted to the ward, and he engages into a power struggle with the dominating Nurse Ratched.

The story is written amazingly well - the perfect combination of hallucinatory commentary and subtle characterisation. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest deserves to be a classic because of its writing alone, but it also offers and interesting view on individualism in a time of collectivism. While I don't necessarily agree with all the points made in this novel, it's fascinating reading.

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

A classic tale into the human mind; I was quite fond on the movie but the book was way different and much more interesting. A dark and at times humorous look into a Psychiatric hospital and the institution processes used in this asylum. This was a story of the fine balance between treatment and processes; there is a balance between healing the mind and just controlling the patients.

I was very interested in the way these patients lived and how their healing process was disrupted at times by the doctors and nurses. I’m not an expert with mental health but I think I gained an insight into just how fragile the human mind can be. This book was really enjoyable and would recommend it to anyone interested in psychology.

It takes a lot for me to be unsettled. This book left me feeling ill. I finished it but I was seriously debating giving up. It was unbelievably sad and horrific in its content and even now I still feel utterly devastated. It could be that that's not a good reason to judge a book "worst book ever" but as far as I'm concerned reading should be enjoyable whether that's pure "light reading" or because the book educates and challenges you. This book just made me sick.