One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

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Title: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Author: Ken Kesey

Genre: Classic

Length: 281 pages

Published: 1962 (original) 2002 (copy I read)

Publisher: Penguin Classics

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) Boisterous, ribald, and ultimately shattering, Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is the seminal novel of the 1960s that has left an indelible mark on the literature of our time. Here is the unforgettable story of a mental ward and its inhabitants, especially the tyrannical Big Nurse Ratched and Randle Patrick McMurphy, the brawling, fun-loving new inmate who resolves to oppose her. We see the struggle through the eyes of Chief Bromden, the seemingly mute half-Indian patient who witnesses and understands McMurphy's heroic attempt to do battle with the awesome powers that keep them all imprisoned.

My Review:

I give this book a 3 out of 5. 

This one was rough for me. While I did end up liking the book, I had to mark this as three stars because I simply had the hardest time getting into it. I don't know if it's because I've been really distracted lately or if it's because I just didn't like Kesey's writing style, but it took me until around Part Three before I started really enjoying it.

The plot is good. The story is from the point of view of a half-Indian patient who everyone believes is deaf and mute. When a new patient comes in, he eventually opens up to him (McMurphy) and everyone is surprised to find that not only can he hear but that he is smarter than anyone has ever given him credit.

McMurphy enters into a battle of wills with Nurse Ratched, the head of the ward. As McMurphy and Chief Bromden eventually learn, the other wards are not nearly as awful as theirs but the nurses on those wards can't do much to help them as Nurse Ratched controls who is hired and fired, by making simple suggestions to the head of HR, her friend.

All in all, it was enjoyable, once I got over the hump of not getting into it enough to read more than a few pages at a time. 

You can purchase One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest through Amazon in hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.