A Short Book Review On
Essay Preview: A Short Book Review On
Report this essay
English Book Review 1
Title: One flew over the cuckoos nest
Author: Ken Kesey
Editor, nr. of pages, year published: Published by the Penguin Group, 310 pages, first published in 1962
Summary: The scene is laid in a mental hospital. The narrator is an old Indian, called Chief Bromden, he plays deaf and dumb and he doesnt really take part in the action. The story starts when Randle Patrick McMurphy is admitted to the hospital. McMurphy is no ordinary patient, hes actually a bit too sane to be in a mental hospital. But that doesnt matter to the staff and especially Nurse Ratched, who thinks everyone in the ward should bow to her command. McMurphy is a stubborn man and doesnt feel like doing everything the Big Nurse says. Throughout the whole story Nurse Ratched battles McMurphy, with her somethings ridiculous commands and McMurphy fights back by ignoring her and playing pranks on her. McMurphy tries to make the other patients revolt against the Big Nurse and her ward policy. He tries to enjoy himself and the other loons as much as possible. He even smuggles a whore onto the ward, but , as always, gets caught redhanded. In the end the Big Nurse gives the order to enter McMurphy for a lobotomy. At the very end of the book the old Indian, the narrator, has become really fed up with everything and escapes from the ward.
Discussion of main characters and physical description:
Randle Patrick McMurphy: McMurphy is a broad, redheaded man. He doesnt take anything too seriously. He cant handle any form of authority. He always stands up for himself. His opinion wont go unheard.
Miss Ratched: Nurse Ratched, also called the Big Nurse, is a very dominant person. She is very bossy and if she doesnt have total control, she will act out very agressive.
Chief Bromden: The Chief is a tall Indian man.He plays dumb and deaf, but actually understands everything he wants to. He isolates himselve a lot, but McMurphy manages to get him back into our world.
The rest of the patients on the ward: The can mostly all be described as feeble minded. The cant stand up for themselves and try to avoid confrontations.
Background to the story: The story was written in the beginning of the sixties, in the USA. It reflects the feeling of the youth at the time. They felt misunderstood by the adults