Friday

Book Review: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest- Ken Kesey
I watched this film with my best friend about 7 years ago, and all I really remembered was a mean nurse and Jack Nicholson who seemed to be fiegning mental illness. So, even though I'd seen the adaptation, I pretty much went into this book completely blind as to the content.

The book tells the story of R P McMurphy, a new arrival in a mental health hospital, as narrated by Chief Bromden, a man who is fiending deafness and mutism. McMurphy is a cocky, calculating patient, who is determined to break down the dictator-like Nurse Ratched.
Although it was at times beautifully written, with fascinating poetic descriptions, I found it extremely slow. There were times when I would switch off for an entire page, then read it back over and realise I hadn't missed anything important. I understand this though. It's symbolic of life inside the hospital. With nothing to do but play card games day-in, day-out, time moves slowly and there are few incidents of note. 
The final third of the book picked up for me. The long-winded descriptions made way for recounts of events, and eventually reached a climax that was both heartbreaking and triumphant. The ending really made this book for me. It's a haunting conclusion to an otherwise rather slow-paced story. 

4 comments :

  1. The film is brilliant and the overall story is good but like you I would switch off for pages, very long winded but a good story nonetheless :) xo

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    Replies
    1. I agree! I enjoyed the story but I do think it was unnecessarily long.

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  2. Replies
    1. Let me know what you think when you do.

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