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calarco 's review for:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
by Ken Kesey
When the world is mad, why not read about madness? That, combined with Netflix airing their new series Ratched (which is ridiculous and wonderful), was all the motivation I needed to finally read Ken Kesey’s [b:One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest|332613|One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest|Ken Kesey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1516211014l/332613._SX50_.jpg|2100252].
While this was my first time reading the book, I had previously seen the play, as well as the 1975 film, so I was unusually familiar with the characters. Told from the perspective of patient “Chief” Bromden, the novel follows the events of Randle McMurphy’s arrival to a psychiatric hospital headed by Nurse Ratched. Much of the series sees these two figures butting heads as they vie for dominance of the psych ward. At times these fights are hilariously petty, and at others they are genuinely dire.
I feel like McMurphy antics juxtaposed to Ratched’s cold demeanor, leave many to falsely equate their battles as ones between “good” and “evil.” When the reality is, they are both objectively terrible people, and their clash is more so representative as a tug of war between “entropy” and “order.” McMurphy uses chaos to alter power structures and social dynamics to his favor, while Nurse Ratched imposes unyielding dominance to maintain her superiority. McMurphy may be kind to the Chief, earning him a softer characterization, but he does so to his own benefit — having the biggest guy on the ward endeared to you is textbook McMurphy.
At the end of the day, this is a novel filled with unreliable narrators, it takes place at a psych ward after all. For as disordered as the central cast may be, I think the central craziness of the novel comes from the psych ward itself. The state of psychiatry in the 1960’s left much to be desired. While the players on this chessboard are flawed, the established system is perhaps the greatest monster in this tale. Shock therapy, lobotomies, questionable drug treatments, and the shaming of unconventional behavior are all things that should have never been on the table to begin with, let alone options regarded as legitimate and viable treatments. Just thinking about it could drive one crazy.
Overall, this is a good story, though one that at times could overly rely on stereotypes of the era, and could have better developed more characters. This could very well be attributed of the unreliable narrator, but could also have served to better shape the plot. That aside, I think there is a reason this material keeps getting adapted, and there are some good core central ideas here worth revisiting.
Rating: 3.5 stars
While this was my first time reading the book, I had previously seen the play, as well as the 1975 film, so I was unusually familiar with the characters. Told from the perspective of patient “Chief” Bromden, the novel follows the events of Randle McMurphy’s arrival to a psychiatric hospital headed by Nurse Ratched. Much of the series sees these two figures butting heads as they vie for dominance of the psych ward. At times these fights are hilariously petty, and at others they are genuinely dire.
I feel like McMurphy antics juxtaposed to Ratched’s cold demeanor, leave many to falsely equate their battles as ones between “good” and “evil.” When the reality is, they are both objectively terrible people, and their clash is more so representative as a tug of war between “entropy” and “order.” McMurphy uses chaos to alter power structures and social dynamics to his favor, while Nurse Ratched imposes unyielding dominance to maintain her superiority. McMurphy may be kind to the Chief, earning him a softer characterization, but he does so to his own benefit — having the biggest guy on the ward endeared to you is textbook McMurphy.
At the end of the day, this is a novel filled with unreliable narrators, it takes place at a psych ward after all. For as disordered as the central cast may be, I think the central craziness of the novel comes from the psych ward itself. The state of psychiatry in the 1960’s left much to be desired. While the players on this chessboard are flawed, the established system is perhaps the greatest monster in this tale. Shock therapy, lobotomies, questionable drug treatments, and the shaming of unconventional behavior are all things that should have never been on the table to begin with, let alone options regarded as legitimate and viable treatments. Just thinking about it could drive one crazy.
Overall, this is a good story, though one that at times could overly rely on stereotypes of the era, and could have better developed more characters. This could very well be attributed of the unreliable narrator, but could also have served to better shape the plot. That aside, I think there is a reason this material keeps getting adapted, and there are some good core central ideas here worth revisiting.
Rating: 3.5 stars