Book Review | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

Hey my lovelies, happy Wednesday and welcome to a mid-week blog post! It's been a while since I've posted on a Wednesday so I thought it was about time I got my act together and did another two blog post week for you all. Now, if you read my October #wrapup then you will know that One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey was one of the books on my October, spooky season #tbr and I have already shared my very brief thoughts on this novel. However, I really wasn't happy with what I wrote and how I communicated my thoughts, as I feel like this novel deserved a little more credit than what I gave it in my previous post, so I decided to have a re-read and consolidate my thoughts a little better in an in-depth review of the story. So, grab your cups of coffee and biscuits whilst we sit down together to have a look into Kesey's highly-acclaimed novel.

Kesey's novel is set in a psychiatric hospital in Oregon during the 1960's, a pivotal time in America's history for both the Civil Rights and controversial deinstituionalization movements. Firstly, this novel is incredibly disturbing and tackles really difficult topics (eg. mental health, sexual harassment, rape etc.), including psychiatric "care", so if any of these are triggering for you as a reader then tread with caution. Also, any words placed in "quotation" marks, for the purposes of this blog post, are for emphasis/sarcastic purposes, for example I would not consider electric-shock "therapy" a legitimate therapy for mental illness. I feel a note should be made towards Kesey's own experiences working within a mental health facility and recreational drug-use, which evidently impacts the content of the novel. Overall, the quotes on the blurb of this book summarise perfectly what this novel aims to do and achieves, as it is a clear 'protest against middlebrow society's Rules and the Rulers who enforce them' and 'a devastatingly honest portrayal of the boundaries between sanity and madness'. 

A note on how I found reading the novel itself. I felt it took 100-150 pages for me to get into the book and want to continue reading, but at no point did I feel this was a story that gripped me and I couldn't put down. I feel like the first half of the novel was a warm-up, was quite slow-paced and nothing drastic happened in the plot, which added to the slow reading, but all of these minor incidents which take place within the four walls of the psychiatric ward lead to the climatic events which take place in the second half of the novel - which is where the plot gets more gripping . The last 10-20 pages of the novel are really when it comes into full-force, meaning everything happens very quickly. I found this slightly annoying considering the other 150 pages could have used some of this excitement, yet felt it was done intentionally by Kesey for the purposes of dramatic effect. Writing style wise, it reminded me of other pieces of canonical American fiction, particularly Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), despite the 20 year gap between the two. 

Going into a little more depth, the thing that stood out the most for me was definitely Kesey's writing style and use of metaphors throughout. In particular, the way he presented America's institutions and higher powers who implement such structures on society. Most interestingly, Chief Bromden, a half-Indian male responsible for the story's narration, uses the Big Nurse's uniform and it's pristine, crisp condition as a metaphor for these institutions. She's sees it as her responsibility to make these men fit and healthy (mentally), like the cleanliness of her uniform, so that they can return to play their role within the wider community. Which will ultimately be of no benefit to them, but instead to the higher power and Rulers above. 

For me, the addition of Chief Bromden to the ward and his vital role in the story's narration is what makes this story so special. The title itself originates from an Indian folk rhyme that Bromden and his Grandmother used to sing - this memory returns to him during an analepsis whilst he is receiving electric-shock "therapy". I believe Kesey was trying to say something deeper about identity and a sense of belonging, which unfortunately is not explored fully and feels slightly restricted for a number of reasons. Firstly, Kesey was unable to access the experiences of the characters in the novel, having never been in their position exactly, and secondly he could not access the identities/similar identities to his characters, especially Chief Bromden as a Native American. Through the inclusion of Chief Bromden, Kesey is able to briefly examine the impact of government institutional and hierarchal powers on identities of both individuals and wider communities. For example: during sections in which Bromden flashbacks to earlier years of his life, during his childhood when he lived with his family and tribe on what I presume was a Native American reservation, Kesey shows how the American Government tried and successfully removed and stripped away these reservations, which consequently meant stripping them of their home which was a fundamental element of their identities as Native Americans. I believe Kesey is trying to explore how structures and institutions are capable of damaging or taking away certain fragments of our identities, like the mental health facility, because we are programmed to believe/think/act in certain and particular ways. Considering the novel was published in 1962, during a time of incredibly heightened racial tensions in the US, this is something both relevant to the time of it's publication and the current day where it is becoming increasingly apparent we are living in a postcolonial, whitewashed world. 

Overall, although not an entirely enjoyable read, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is an important and genre defining novel of it's time. For any scholar or reader interested in American fiction, it is vital to include this novel on your #tbr. Kesey's writing is truly remarkable and subtly says something truly meaningful about the United States and it's many backwards, questionable systems. For me, this book deserves a solid ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️.5 stars. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this rather lengthy mid-week book review. I felt this novel deserved a bit more airtime than I had previously given it and hope I have been able to consolidate and communicate my thoughts in a sophisticated and understandable manner. Let me know if you have read this novel and what your thoughts were in the comments below, or if this post has persuaded you to add it to your #tbr. Hope you are all well and keeping safe, and I'll see you on Friday for another blog post. Lots of love xoxo