582. Sometimes a Great Notion

Sometimes a Great Notion
Ken Kesey
1964

Around 715 pages

Speaking of clunkers. I was not at all impressed by One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, so I wasn't looking forward to 700+ more pages of Kesey. And a novel about logging strike? I'm already asleep. I only want to read about labor disputes if Emile Zola is at the helm.

The novel takes place in the lame Wakonda with a "O," which is located on the Oregon coast. The union loggers go on strike, but the hard headed Stamper family aren't known for their flexibility and don't support the strikers. Which I guess is why we need 715 pages.

So this was just kind of dull, the Stampers are an unlikable bunch, and I was unpleasantly reminded of Faulkner. Kesey doesn't do female characters well, and the action doesn't pick up until the very end.

In conclusion, this novel will make you want to saw logs. I'm here all week folks.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Film adaptation directed and starred Paul Newman.

UP NEXT: The Passion According to G.H. by Clarice Lispector

566. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Ken Kesey

1962
Around 320 pages

Our tour of misogyny continues with One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. I was ambivalent about the movie. It's not really my thing, but I have sexually confused feelings about young Jack Nicholson, so it was fine. But the book is even uglier than the movie, and I have no desire to revisit this story ever again.

The novel is narrated by "Chief" Bromden, a giant Native American patient of a mental hospital, who pretends to be deaf and mute so everybody will leave him alone. Randle McMurphy is a rebellious criminal who faked insanity so he didn't have to serve his sentence at a work farm. Randle is constantly waging war on Nurse Ratched who is hellbent on controlling the ward.

Nurse Ratched could be a really good villain, but I feel like the patients' perception of her is so rooted in misogyny, that it's hard for me to enjoy rooting against her character. I also found the story rather predictable, which is probably because so many other novels that take place in mental hospitals have borrowed from this plot.

I guess this is a classic, but honestly it's skippable.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Time magazine included the novel in its "100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005" list.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is one of America's most challenged and banned novels.

UP NEXT: The Collector by John Fowles