Select language, opens an overlay

Comment

Mar 21, 2017
This book is set in a psychiatric ward of a mental hospital, and told through the perspective of a half Indigenous man who has been a patient at the ward for a very long time. He does not trust his surroundings, and he feels as though the “Big Nurse” it out to get him. After a new patient by the name of McMurphy joins the ward, chaos ensues as he questions the status quo and brings a humanizing light to the patients. The book is raw, clever, and touching as it looks at different structures in society and the treatment of the mentally ill. I would rate this book 4.5/5 stars and recommend it to those interested in seeing new perspectives. @The_Reviewer of the Teen Review Board of the Hamilton Public Library Ken Kesey's most famous novel, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is an, at times, surrealist novel that follows a male psychiatric ward in the 1950's turned upside down by the arrival of patient Randle Patrick McMurphy, a manly man who battles with Nurse Ratched, the totalitarian female nurse. Full of symbolism, Kesey's novel is often tough to read at times and would appear as misogynistic in these times: Nurse Ratched is nothing but a corrupt woman in power who wants to "emasculate" the men of their dignity and is ultimately attacked by McMurphy. However, the book is still in the canon and should be read if only for that reason. The male patients, such as Chief Bromden and Billy Bibbit are interesting and sympathetic characters that you feel for. McMurphy? Not so much. - @reallylikesmusicals of the Teen Review Board at the Hamilton Public Library