Author: Ken Kesey
# of Pages: 325 (paperback)
Genre: Classics, Fiction, Psychology
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: In this classic of the 1960s, 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, back 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.
Review: This was a very...strange read. But I should have expected as much from a book that takes place in a mental hospital.
I'm a bit hesitant in writing this review, although I find myself writing it nonetheless, following the habit of writing reviews almost immediately after finishing the book. But I feel I have not actually READ the book; I just did a "quick," surface-level read through.
However, I did find the whole mentally ill (or not?) vs Nurse Ratched conflict very interesting. I'm cheering for McMurphy in his fight against the evil nurse and yet I can not entirely support him and the other patients due to some of their reckless decisions (i.e. their last "victory" in part 4). The prevalent misogyny also attributes to my slight distaste for the book.
This is among the many book on my required reading list. If I had been given a choice, I would not have read it. Would I chose to read it over other books? Definitely - although some parts of the book are confusing (when the narration is by a patient in a mental hospital, what can you expect?) and make it a difficult read. But would I read it again? Not if I can help it.
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