One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest By Ken Kesey

Ken Kesey

“He knows that you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy.”

“If you don't watch it people will force you one way or the other, into doing what they think you should do, or into just being mule-stubborn and doing the opposite out of spite.” 

     This is a novel that many students read while in high school, but I was never assigned it and never got a chance to read it on my own.  I read it over my winter break after my first semester of college.  I had already seen the film adaptation of the novel several times, so I knew the story and characters very well.  However, like most stories the written version was richer and full of more content. (Not that the movie wasn't great.)  Note: I don't find it necessary to summarize the novel in any of these posts because an explanation better than I could ever write is a couple of clicks away, I focus more on my own thoughts concerning the novel. The protagonist is a fascinating figure that I found easy to admire and enjoy. He carries himself in an honorable manner with a certain code of twisted and humorous reason/logic.  Thrown into this atmosphere of a nurse dominated life, he has immediate problems with authority being forced upon him and acts out in satisfying and funny ways. The author makes obvious remarks on the human mind and what insanity actually is, and figuring that out was one of the more satisfying parts of this novel.  To me, what makes this novel great is the love and compassion that the protagonist shows for his fellow "insane" patients, whether he is helping them for his own amusement or his own affections is unknown and to me,  irrelevant.   It did bother me that I read this entire novel with Jack Nicholson's face planted firmly in the middle of every page, so I do recommend reading before watching if you get the chance. 4/5