Tyrannical Nurse Ratched rules her ward in an Oregon State mental hospital with a strict and unbending routine, unopposed by her patients, who remain cowed by mind-numbing medication and the threat of electric shock therapy. But her regime is disrupted by the arrival of McMurphy – the swaggering, fun-loving trickster with a devilish grin who resolves to oppose her rules on behalf of his fellow inmates. His struggle is seen through the eyes of Chief Bromden, a seemingly mute half-Indian patient who understands McMurphy's heroic attempt to do battle with the powers that keep them imprisoned. Ken Kesey's extraordinary first novel is an exuberant, ribald and devastatingly honest portrayal of the boundaries between sanity and madness.
The Sexy Nerd's Review. . .
It has taken me quite some time to finally read this novel. I’m not exactly sure what took me so long to get around to it, but now was the time and here is my assessment of it.
It’s so hard to believe this iconic novel was written sixty-two years ago. What I found most interesting is how much control Nurse Ratched ruled on her Ward which reminds me of the political arena we have going on right now. There is always someone who wants to dominate others to make themselves feel grand. Nurse Ratched should have never been allowed to get away with the evil doings she wielded on the staff and patients of the mental facility. She had been in her job for well over twenty years and because of her seniority and superiority, she did whatever her heart desired. And, she didn’t care who didn’t like it. If you didn’t fall in line with her rules, awful things would be brought against that individual. Much like we find our main character, Randle Patrick McMurphy. A hot-blooded, red headed, Irishman trying to make it in an otherwise crazy world happened on Nurse Ratched’s Ward. Perhaps it was the luck of the Irish or who knows? 🙄
McMurphy was a fun-loving con man doing whatever he could to get out of things. Like working, for instance, which brought him to the mental asylum. When he arrived, he noticed immediately that the patients all seemed like dead zombies just occupying space. They had no life or soul and just did whatever Nurse Ratched said because they knew her wrath and didn’t want to become part of her reindeer games. This didn’t phase McMurphy in the least bit. He aided in getting the patients to see there was more to life than just popping pills and taking orders for a middle-aged tyrant.
Luckily for those patients, especially Chief Bromden, who navigated us through this bizarre story, all of them began to come out of their shell. Nurse Ratched was threatened by McMurphy’s spunk and tenacity, and she had to put an end to him. I’ve seen the movie adaptation of Jack Nicholson’s iconic role as McMurphy and after having read the novel, I realize Nicholson had the crazy down pat, but he didn’t look anything like the character Kesey described. Of course, Hollywood wants who will draw people to the box office.
This was a sad story, but one that is necessary to read because what it demonstrates is the lengths some will go to control whatever and whomever they can. It also screams how the individual who possesses this control is just as insane, if not more insane, than those allegedly committed. Nurse Ratched, like so many evil people living today, want to destroy what they don’t understand or can’t control. Wow! What an incredible read! I could not put this book down.
The Sexy Nerd gives One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest five additional patients to be committed. What an amazing story told so eloquently by Chief Bromden. If you’ve never seen the movie, I highly recommend you read the book because as you already know, there were so many details that never made it into the movie and there were always questions I had because Hollywood, as usual, always changes what was perfect to begin with. After having read the story some things make sense to me now that I know the context in which they belonged. Always read the book first if you can help it. Until next time, Nerds, you know how we do!
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