Reading 1001 discussion

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
3/5 stars

For all intense and purposes I should have liked this book. I generally like books about healthcare, it is familiar to me and the world in which I work but this book just did not do it for me. I found myself saying, more often then not, that couldn't happen, we have policies against that, etc. One pet peeve I had was the portrayal of staff cleaning residents as well as toilets. Those are separate jobs, no? I realize the book was written in the 1960s but I guess it wasn't old enough for me to read it as history. Having said all that, the writing was solid and I know most folks that read it like it. McMurphy was a guy you could get behind. An outsider who questioned the status quo and pushed for change no matter the cost.

Acutes - “because the doctors figure them still sick enough to be fixed.”
Chronics are in for good, the staff concedes. Chronics are divided into Walkers like me, can still get around if you keep them fed, and Wheelers and Vegetables.

This was one of those rare occasions in which I liked the movie better than the book. The all-star, young, cast was fun to watch. I can see why it won the Academy Award.

December 30, 2009 – Finished Reading
Rating: 5 stars
Review: Power and abuse of power over residents in a mental institution. Absolutely great read.

5 stars

This book is the strongest and most realistic portrayal of mental health treatments of the time that I have ever encountered. Kesey used humor, compassion, wit, and sarcasm to illustrate the horrors of disease and the further horrors of the barbaric (by today's standards) treatments. McMurphy is certainly a troublemaker but he also gives the other patients so much hope.

This book was an emotional read for me as mental illness is a big part of my life. I lost a brother in law to suicide in 1997. I lost a cousin to suicide a few years later. My great uncle was BiPolar and this resulted in him being institutionalized for 30 years, and I can only guess at the things to which he would have been subjected. I take medications to control my depression and I have watched my own child struggle with suicide ideation which isn't helped by the use of medication. I have seen that todays medications are not always enough and do not always work, but the care that all of us received has been vastly better than we would have received at any time prior. I am grateful for the medical advances that keep me from being a Billy or a McMurphy.

I highly recommend this book -- with the caveat that the entire story should come with a trigger warning.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - 4 stars
Read August 2021 for my TBR challenge.

Great book, I agree with Kelly's review above , this was a realistic and strong portrayal of mental health institutions.

Powerful telling of the fight for some independence and dignity in a mental health institution back in the day of the horrors of Electric Shock and Lobotomy. I knew the end before even starting to read as I had seen the film and liked it. However, I was not expecting the nuance Kesey brings to the characters, especially of the Chief. Very disturbing read for Oct 2023 Banned Book Month