Baby Got Books

One Finally Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

I’m not a film fanatic, but I have friends who are. I don’t dislike film by any means, but I’m not nearly as well-versed as my, well, uhm, well-versed friends. And any way you slice it, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is rated as one of the best films ever made. It won the big four Academy Awards — Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress. Only one film before, and one film after, had won all of those (do your research — it will serve you well on trivia night).

I, however, haven’t seen that film, and took it upon myself to read the book first. Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, first published in 1962 or 1963 (I can’t tell from this printing that I have) is flat-out astounding. I’ve read lots of books about power struggles (Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, etc.), but this is the one the one that really struck home for me. It didn’t resonate with me because of my time on the funny farm (which may or may not have happened); it resonated with me because of the humanity exhibited by our protagonists.

The book is narrated by Chief Bromden, a half-Indian patient in the insane asylum, who everyone thinks is a deaf/dumb/mute. It turns out that he’s not, but he carries on throughout a good portion of the book maintaining that front. The main character is Randle Patrick McMurphy, a patient who is sent to this hospital from a prison work camp because of his behavior. And then the fun begins, as you (and the characters in the story) try to figure out who’s crazy and who’s not, and they wrestle for control of the facility.

There are multiple dynamics at work here, between McMurphy and the other patients (to determine who’s the alpha male of the ward, a/k/a the “bull goose loony”), between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched, between the patients and the orderlies, and between patients themselves to figure out what their roles are in the “therapeutic community” model of the ward. And there are a cast of characters — Chronics, Acutes, and Vegetables — each with their own story and peculiarities.

As much as I want to recount this story, I really don’t want to say anything more about the “field trip” that a group of the patients take, or about the party they throw at the facility. I assume that many of you have seen the movie. But when I’ve spoken to people who’ve seen the movie, they undoubtedly don’t recall some of the most critical elements of the book.

If you’ve seen the movie and liked it, you should read this book. If you’ve seen the movie and didn’t like it, you should read this book. And if you haven’t seen the movie, you should read this book. I think that about covers it.

I myself can’t wait to see the movie. While Jack Nicholson can get on my nerves a little bit, I think the role of McMurphy is absolutely perfect for him, and I’m excited to see this story play out on the screen.

Books, Fiction, Review | Shaft | February 22, 2010 8:13 am

3 Comments

By Shaft, February 22, 2010 @ 12:16 pm

This just in — I saw the movie last night. I thought it was a really good film, but I think that the changes they had to make to adapt the book to the screen resulted in the loss of a lot of the dynamics that I thought made the book so moving, particularly being told from Chief Bromden’s POV. So to what I said before, you should read the book even if you’ve seen the movie, because the book is better (and features a number of critical events that were either altered or missing from the film).
By Christina, February 22, 2010 @ 12:57 pm

When you see the movie, please do a review to compare the two. I’d love to read that!
By Shaft, February 22, 2010 @ 1:26 pm

Christina — It would be hard to do a review of the movie with dropping spoilers left and right about either the movie or the book. I think the most fundamental thing about the book is that it’s told by Chief Bromden; McMurphy is still the focal point of the story, but what McMurphy’s role is and what he means to the story is very different when seen through the Chief’s eyes vs. seeing the scenes acted out with McMurphy being the centerpiece. And a few of the big scenes in the movie came about very differently than they did in the book, which changed a lot of the subplots and dynamics (e.g., between McMurphy and the Doctor).