An international bestseller and the basis for the hugely successful film, Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is one of the defining works of the 1960s.
In this classic novel, Ken Kesey’s hero is Randle Patrick McMurphy, a boisterous, brawling, fun-loving rebel who swaggers into the world of a mental hospital and takes over. A lusty, life-affirming fighter, McMurphy rallies the other patients around him by challenging the dictatorship of Nurse Ratched. He promotes gambling in the ward, smuggles in wine and women, and openly defies the rules at every turn. But this defiance, which starts as a sport, soon develops into a grim struggle, an all-out war between two relentless opponents: Nurse Ratched, backed by the full power of authority, and McMurphy, who has only his own indomitable will. What happens when Nurse Ratched uses her ultimate weapon against McMurphy provides the story’s shocking climax.
“BRILLIANT!”—Time
“A SMASHING ACHIEVEMENT...A TRULY ORIGINAL NOVEL!”—Mark Schorer
“Mr. Kesey has created a world that is convincing, alive and glowing within its own boundaries...His is a large, robust talent, and he has written a large, robust book.”—Saturday Review
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.
