One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (Ken Kesey) - Book Review

For a bunch of people in a mental hospital there is a whole lot of decent sense making going on.

'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' by Ken Kesey is an exploration of social stigma, overbearing control and fighting for the defenceless. The overbearing power of The Combine matched with the machinery of the institution forms a force that seeks to bring order by squashing all before it. Taking place in a mental hospital, it's narrated by one of the patients (The Chief) as he watches the slick newcomer (Randall McMurphy) as he battles the personification of these processes (Nurse Ratched). 

I summarised the book as follows. "It's a rather bleak story overall but this hits afterwards as during the reading it's mostly amusing. What I really enjoyed were the solid characters that popped out for their uniqueness. It's a great book but I wouldn't put it in my best of all time as many people seem to do. Although I found the themes fascinating it didn't hit as hard as I think it may have during the different era of when it was published." 

I hope you have a fantastic day wherever you are in the world. Kyrin out!

Timeline:
(0:00) - Intro
(0:34) - Synopsis
(4:02) - The Combine: Squashing everyone down to size ...... until it can't.
(11:08) - Institutions: What happens if 'order' goes too far?
(15:59) - Observations/Takeaways
(20:31) - Summary


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