Paperback, 393 pages
English language
Published July 15, 2006 by Penguin Books.
Being "mad" isn't easy...
Tyrannical Nurse Ratched rules her ward in an Oregon State mental hospital with a strict, unbending routine. Her patients, cowed by mind-numbing medication and the threat of electric shock therapy, dare not oppose her. But everything changes with the arrival of McMurphy – the swaggering, fun-loving trickster with a devilish grin. McMurphy battles Nurse Ratched and the ward regime, challenging everyone's beliefs about madness... who, of them all, is really insane? --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.
