One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey

I should imagine most of you will have heard of ‘One Flew...’ in some form or another, most likely as the film starring Jack Nicholson. I haven’t actually seen the film although I know it is widely considered a classic and is one of my mum’s favourites (usually a good sign). I had, however, been intending to read this book for a while, partly out of curiosity regarding the author, and partly because I knew that the film was based on the book and not vice versa. I recently noticed it on my boyf’s bookshelf and decided that now was as good a time as any... Okay, enough about why I’ve only just read it, let’s get on to the ...  Read the complete review

"One flew East and one flew West and one flew over the cuckoo's nest." Ken Kesey's novel, tells you from the very title that this book is about madness, it's about trying to do the undoable. There is no such thing as a Cuckoo's nest and the novel's title, taken from an old proverb, implies that some people will use their freedom or 'flight' to be the bird that chooses to fly over territory that has no substance. The novel tells the tale of Randle Mc Murphy's fight against institutions and being institutionalised. The story is set in a psychiatric ward, ruled over by the despotic but apparently sane, Nurse Ratched. It is told ...  Read the complete review

Vintery Mintery Cuttery Corn Apple Seed and Apple Thorn Wire Briar Limber Lock Three Birds in a Flock One Flew East and One Flew West And One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a fabulous book which was written by Ken Kesey in the 1960's. The setting is primarily that inside an American Mental Institute in Oregon and the book depicts the life of the inmates and their experiences at the time. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a classic, it is easily one of the best books I've ever read and it is one of the few that I have ever read twice. The story is told from the perspective of ...  Read the complete review

Why is is that novels with birds in the title are so good? I'm currently studying American Literature as part of my degree. With 'The Catcher In The Rye' on my reading list I decided to buy this as part of HMV's 2 for £10 deal. I had seen bits of the film a long time ago and remembered it was excellent. So too is the book and is surprisingly left off both my course reading list and dooyoo's own 'classics' section. The novel is set in a Combine Medical Hospital, under the dictatorship of Nurse Ratched - referred to as Big Nurse throughout the novel. She is very much like George Orwell's Big Brother and this is perhaps the ...  Read the complete review

As most people navigate their way through their lives they seek to break through the constraints placed upon them by society. Some succeed, some live their lives safely within societies boundaries for them, and others get so caught up on the constraints they forget they are alive. The daily routine and machinery that imposes boundaries upon people can seem overwhelming. Those who quit trying to break the machinery of society are those who have forgotten they are alive. Most of the characters in Ken Kessey's novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest are those who have forgotten they are living breathing human beings. They have become those ...  Read the complete review