Short & Sweet Treats discussion

One flew East
One flew West
One flew over the cuckoo's nest...
children's folk rhyme

Let's discuss One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.

Here are some questions to consider. Feel free to pose your own questions and insights of this book.


☯ Why is Bromden the narrator instead of McMurphy? Who is the protagonist?

☯ Discuss the role of men and women in the book.

☯ Have you seen the movie? What are the differences between the movie and the book? Did the movie capture the essence of the novel?

☯ The book is a reflection of Kesey's personal and professional experiences of his time. How does the novel stand on its own merit today?

I don't know if I can manage to read a book in -1 day ;) (start = 1 sept.; finish= 30 august...?!).

lol good catch elsbeth!

I can't wait to discuss this book with the group! There are so many layers to it. It was a tougher read for me, due to the nature of the story, but totally worth it. Happy reading!

I've read both the book and seen movie and the one things that I remember from both is what the nurse said.....

Chris French wrote: "I've read both the book and seen movie and the one things that I remember from both is what the nurse said....."

I'm afraid to ask.... lol

I finished reading this book today. The first chapter was hard for me to follow, but after that I really enjoyed the read. I found the relationships that the patients developed with McMurphy very interesting. What was it about this one man that would suddenly motivate all of these men to try to find themselves and their sanity? But I guess what I'm really curious about is: Was McMurphy a psychopath or was he a con artist?

I didn't get the impression that McMurphy was a psychopath, at least so far. I'm not quite done re-reading it yet. But I have to admit he's a little too bit of the stereotypical man for me - not that the character is written badly; he just grates on me a bit. I also find the depiction of the black orderlies a little off-putting. Good book nevertheless.

I didn't really get psychopath from him, either. I agree about the stereotypical man though. Maybe it was done on purpose, because I'm sure we can all think of someone to relate him to? Is he supposed to represent the "any man" that could be in that type of ward?

I think the tragedy of McMurphy is that he gets caught up in his own scheme. He's a malcontent, a drunk and a non-conformist. He's always looking for a way to get around hard work, wants to avoid responsibility on every level. He goes to jail and acts crazy so that he'll be placed in this cushy institution. They know he's a self-destructive manipulator, and when he finally does become violent (justified or not), he becomes the victim of his own scheme.

I really like your assessment of McMurphy, Ivan. I never saw him as a psychopath, though I had to ask the question as sometimes I miss the subtleties of a text.

The way the story was going, you start to think of the guys as not mentally ill but just a little weird. The ending few pages brings that to a complete stop and brings you out of the fantasy and makes you realize that the problems the guys had were not superficial and cannot be undone within a few months' time. Regardless of whether they actually had psychological problems, the brainwashing that they had been through for many, many years under the Big Nurse's guidance could not possibly be removed the way McMurphy tried to go about it.

Ivan, you say that he avoided responsibility at every level yet I wonder then why would he decide to take on the responsibility of twenty some mentally ill men? Was it because in them he found the perfect audience? So that they could feed his pride and ego and be regarded as the leader, hero and saviour? What I wonder is at what point did it stop becoming a joke to him (because that's what it was to him, initially). Did he do all those things because he could not help himself because he was, as you stated, part of the scheme and he could not get out of it or was it because of his friendship with the guys. Or was it always about having the last laugh?

It was saddening to see how easily the Big Nurse could convince everyone of something without even saying it outright. The way everyone said that they didn't blame McMurphy for Billy's death was eye opening because subconsciously they had already blamed him.

After watching the movie I was excited to see it was a book first so had to read it. It was a great book though again it's been a long time so don't remember the details.

The book is said to be better than the film. I can't bear to read it after seeing the film.