Author: Ken Kesey
Story: 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.
Start: july 19th 2013
End: july 23rd 2013
Comment: Off course I have seen the movie and this is one of those rare examples where the movie is better than the book. I love the movie, but I didn't have that same feeling with its novel. I like how the story is told by Chief Bromden, a fragile giant who has delusions about the Combine, a conspiracy that runs the economy and keeps the population under control. In the mental hospital where he lives, the Combine is capably represented by Nurse Ratched, a rather tightly wound mother figure. Using a combination of psychological manipulation, drugs, and shock therapy, she and the rest of the staff keep the inmates in a passive state until McMurphy arrives, a red-headed drifter and non-conformist. It began a little slow, however the contents were extremely elaborate. It's a tough book to get into, but once you are it's very interesting. The story took two different directions. Sometimes it was really depressing and at points it was quite amusing. The balance isn't quite right, because the switch between those two emotions is sometimes too extreme. Don't get me wrong, it's a good book, but it had some flaws.
Rating: 3/ 5
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