One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a novel written by Ken Kesey. Set in an Oregon psychiatric hospital, the narrative serves as a study of institutional processes and the human mind; including a critique of psychiatry, and a tribute to individualistic principles
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11recommend
25mentions
24people
2008–2026years
44% recommend48% neutral8% critical
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Ken Kesey was a guinea pig in the CIA's early experiments with LSD. He went on to be amongst LSDs earliest recreational users, and that led to "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", which is a strikingly original and lucid novel.
- Are you reading by opening up to page 1 and reading through to the end? Don't do that. I know, I know, spoilers, but unless you're reading mysteries, it's not a big deal. The best fiction isn't just the ending. Everyone knows Captain Ahab dies at the end of Moby Dick, but that doesn't spoil anything.
So, read the first chapter. Read the beginning and end of the rest of the chapters – a few paragraphs, a page, something. Read the last chapter.
Analyze the story: make a list of characters and their relationships to each other. If there are people related to each other, make a family tree. Consider the locations: map them out, especially if they reference real world locations. Get a feel for how the story moves through the world. Tolkien's books are famous for including the family trees of his characters, timelines, and world maps. Do that.
Try reading a novel that's been made into a good film. Follow along reading and comparing the film adaptation to the novel. Something like C. S. Forester's book The African Queen and the 1951 film directed by John Huston.
Pick a novel that riffs on subjects you're already into. Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar involves psychology as a major plot element, as do One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Requiem for a Dream. All three have been adapted into excellent films.
- Altered Carbon - Richard K Morgan
The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie
A Walk Among the Tombstones - Lawrence Block
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
Use of Weapons - Iain M Banks
Blood Song - Anthony Ryan
Red Rising - Pierce Brown
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
The Short Timers - Gustav Hasford
- I don't think "one flew over the cuckoo's nest" romanticizes mental illness, for me it is about demonizing institutionalization.
It pictures the time when mental illness diagnostic was an easy method to put away anyone annoying or inconvenient (the subject really having a mental illness or not made little difference). It talks about institutional cruelty like torture and lobotomy.
But then I didn't read the book, just watched the movie - perhaps the "romanticization of illness" angle is more pronounced in the book but I'm pretty sure it was not the main theme and the novel did more good than bad for those diagnosed with a mental disorder or developmental disability.
- I'd read a little about the problems caused by involuntary commitment. Even a novel like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman or Woman on the Edge of Time might give you a different perspective. I understand where you're coming from, but making it possible for people to get others committed against their will has historically not worked out.
- Yes, it's almost like "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" divergence level at this point. The movie/show and book(s) are both excellent but tell very different stories.
