The nursery rhyme “One flew east, one flew west, one flew over the cuckoo’s nest” influenced the title of our book this week. Before reading, you may have wondered how a nursery rhyme can reflect a novel centered around a mental hospital. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey is a great book for the individual who wants to travel to another place and time to experience the unknown. Usually, the book’s readers enjoy exploring a realm that is completely outside of the ordinary, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest does just that by showing the systematic, routine setting of Nurse Ratched’s hall and individuals such as McMurphy who are just waiting to stir the pot. For fellow patients, and eventually readers, McMurphy serves as the symbol of freedom through the role of the hero.
Why you should read it: After reading this American classic, I fell completely in love with the quirky characters and environment that Kesey so perfectly captures. Who hasn’t wondered what life would be like in a mental ward? Okay, so even if you haven’t been curious… One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest will grab your attention and make you feel right alongside McMurphy as he sneaks two prostitutes into the mental ward for a night the patients soon won’t forget.
From the back cover: “In this classic of the 1960s, Ken Kesey’s hero is Randle Patrick McMurphy, a boisterous, brawling, fun-loving rebel who swaggers into the world of a mental hospital and takes over. A lusty, life-affirming fighter, McMurphy rallies the other patients around him by challenging the dictatorship of Nurse Ratched. He promotes gambling in the ward, smuggles in wine and women, and openly defies the rules at every turn. But this defiance, which starts as a sport, soon develops into a grim struggle, an all-out war between two relentless opponents: Nurse Ratched, backed by the full power of authority, and McMurphy, who has only his own indomitable will. What happens when Nurse Ratched uses her ultimate weapon against McMurphy provides the story’s shocking climax.”
HCxo,The Bookworm Belle