Author: Ken Kesey
Published Year: 1963
Pages: 311
Genre: Fiction
I would classify this as a classic once I finished it. Its one of those that I started to read years ago, couldn't get into it so I put it down. Just recently I picked it back up, and got hooked right into it. I guess as I aged it was easier to imagine the things going on in the book, I consider myself still young, but obviously more life experiences at 27 versus 19 brought this book to a whole new light for me.
This book was published in the year my mom was born. Being set in a mental institution, it is a book full of struggles and discovery. Mainly the patients within the ward, and their long-term struggle with the "big" nurse. It is told through the eyes of "Chief" who is a Native American and whose father was a Chief before his tribe was paid to leave their land to build a dam. He is thought to be mute and deaf, and so his story is detailed and rich. The newest patient McMurphy is the crusader who tried and turns things around for the men within the ward he is confined too.
Hilarious at time, and moving at others it is an awesome read. Power struggles abound in this book, and it is totally worth the read.
No comments:
Post a Comment