Paperback, 392 pages
French language
Published July 15, 2013 by Stock.
Dessins inédits de l’auteur
Devenu un classique contemporain, le roman de Ken Kesey, paru en 1962, n’a rien perdu de sa puissance. Il plonge dans le chaos d’un hôpital psychiatrique « un monde de carton-pâte peuplé de personnages en trompe-l’oeil, surgis de quelque histoire de fou qui serait vraiment drôle si ces héros n’étaient pas des types en chair et en os... » L’infirmière en chef Ratched règne en maître sur son service. Jusqu’au jour où débarque McMurphy, un sacré énergumène bien décidé à redistribuer les cartes et à redonner un peu de dignité et d’espoir aux malades. Rebelle et gouailleur, il engage alors à ses risques et périls une résistance acharnée contre l’institution.
Criant de vérité, Vol au-dessus d’un nid de coucou est une dénonciation en règle de l’enfermement psychiatrique, un hymne à la vie envers et contre tous.
Source: back cover
This book was quite an amazing read. I loved following the adventures of McMurphy as he bucked against the system and tried to help those around him. Seeing through the eyes of Bromden with his psychedelic descriptions were like watching a Tom and Jerry cartoon and really made this story enjoyable.
Ken Kesey wrote an absolutely perfect story, the plot grips you asking what McMurphy will dare next, written from a perspective that happily contextualizes and compares the exploits of McMurphy, until the very end. This is a must read book for anyone interested psychiatry and a tribute to Ken Kesey's literary power.
I really enjoyed this book. I'd been spoiled by the (also classic) movie, but there was plenty of extra perspective and detail to make it worth experiencing in its original form. Kesey's straight forward, spoken word style is charming, occasionally devastating, and definitely hard to put down.
A classic tale into the human mind; I was quite fond on the movie but the book was way different and much more interesting. A dark and at times humorous look into a Psychiatric hospital and the institution processes used in this asylum. This was a story of the fine balance between treatment and processes; there is a balance between healing the mind and just controlling the patients.
I was very interested in the way these patients lived and how their healing process was disrupted at times by the doctors and nurses. I’m not an expert with mental health but I think I gained an insight into just how fragile the human mind can be. This book was really enjoyable and would recommend it to anyone interested in psychology.
