One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest [Paperback]

Ken Kesey (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Signet (February 1, 1963)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451137094
• ISBN-13: 978-0451137098
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #252,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ken Kesey was born in Colorado in 1935. He founded the Merry Pranksters in the sixties and became a cult hero, a phenomenon documented by Tom Wolfe in his book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. He died in 2001.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Conceptions of Real Living Beings, January 21, 2010

By 

ajacki (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Paperback)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest depicts a certain Native American's (Indian's) last months as a patient in a west coast mental hospital, sometime during the late 1950's to early 1960's. Kesey's first person narration and life-size characters highly intensify both the absurdity and the validity of human existence, making this novel a classic.

Chief ("Broom") Bromden's narration permits the reader to view through his eyes the horrors of the ward that the Big Nurse (Ratched) and her black boys control with such precise efficiency. The Chief introduces the reader to the other Acutes and Chronics - and to a new Admission by the name of McMurphy. The reader knows, just when Chief Broom does, that McMurphy is quite different from the other patients on the ward; McMurphy's presumptuous style makes it impossible for him to be classified as either Acute or Chronic - or insane, for that matter. Because Chief Broom has remained silent for so long, everyone considers him deaf and dumb; but it is through him that the conversations of staff personnel are heard and interpreted. The reader quickly acquires an understanding of the patients' fear of the Big Nurse and of those around them. The Chief's perception of McMurphy and his knowledge of this ward are far greater than that of any other, effectively giving the novel a limited and, therefore, ultimately powerful perspective.

Kesey's characters are superb conceptions of real living beings. Most of the patients develop from timid "rabbits of the rabbit world" to stronger, self-assured humans who realize that they can take charge of their own destiny. The most notable of these are the giant Chief "Broom" Bromden (a Chronic) and the Acutes Harding and Bibbit. Having been huddled within himself for years, Bromden evolves from a fearful, silent broom-pusher into a man who feels as big inside as he is physically. Harding, ashamed of his own feminine mannerisms and sexual preferences, develops into a clear-headed, intelligent individual and eventually leaves the hospital with his wife. Bibbit matures from a stuttering, thirty-something year old child into a happy, giggling adult - or, at least, almost. The exceptions are Big Nurse and McMurphy. Both display an iron-core strength; both manipulate the other characters to their own advantage; both pit themselves against each other; and both are inevitably broken. It is this conflict between the two strong characters that allows the weaker characters to find strength in themselves.

Both Chief Broom's interpretations and the characters in the ward magnify the novel's powerful emotional charge. The Chief sees the struggle between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched as something bigger - something a man can't ever win, something a man's got to keep fighting - but he doesn't ever state exactly what that something is. However, he realizes that control of one's life lies within the self and that as long as a person keeps laughing, keeps smiling, then just maybe that something can't win either. Bromden realizes that for all its absurdities, life is essentially good. While he finally states he has "been away a long time" in the context of his childhood home, the reader gains the impression that it is really life he is returning to.

Kesey's novel, although dealing by an extreme with the insane, gives all human life a resounding stamp of worth and value. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest keeps the reader on an emotional pendulum: laughing at McMurphy's pranks, recoiling from Nurse Ratched, strengthened by McMurphy's courage, defeated by the patients' helplessness, and cheering for their victories. It appears that for Kesey, a person without a spirit is just a blank, empty shelll. His regard for meaningful life stands strong and clear.

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorites, August 18, 2011

By 

Gemini Twin - 10 - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Paperback)

This book is one of my favorites. I have two versions of this book - english and german.
I think the movie is a good adaptation, but the book is a definite must read!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars my favorite book, December 28, 2009

By 

Teri J. Lanoue "mizslack" (Missoula, MT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Paperback)

This is my favorite book. So much better than the movie. You must read this, you will not be sorry.