One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: 01/05/25

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey (1962) - four stars (p. 26) is a microcosmic look at 1960s society from the POV of a selectively mute narrator from within the confines of a state mental hospital in Salem Oregon. For my generation (young Gen X) it's one of the novels we all had to read for AP English Literature. It's also one of those novels that made a lasting impression on stories told in its wake.

If you'd only seen the 1975 film you'd think Randle Patrick McMurphy is the protagonist. He's not. He's certainly the focus of the protagonist. Instead it's the tall guy with the broom who doesn't seem to do much until the very end. I'll tell you right now that I found the film disappointing and frankly I don't like how the actor who played McMurphy always seemed to suck the energy out of his fellow players to make the scene all about him and his character.

You'll also know if you know me or you've followed this blog for a while, I'm not much of a re-reader. Maybe 1 or 2 percent of my overall reading is re-reading. Sometimes has to compel me to re-read.

So what did it for this book, a book that was part of a class I didn't especially like but took because it was expected of me? It was that hot mess of a book, In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune (2023). While it's mostly a weird retelling of Pinocchio with some nods to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz it's populated with robots who have names from this book and speak as if they're from this book. Well, the speak like someone who thinks they remember what characters from this book speak like.

With a thirty-three year old memory of reading the book I wasn't sure what the inspiration was. Now I can see it (but I still don't like it). Chief Bromden imagines the ward he lives in as being part of a greater machinery. He sees himself and the other patients (sometimes) as being part of that machinery.

In all honesty, I probably missed the machinery part the first time around. We were reading so many novels those last weeks before the test and graduation. I also, as a seventeen year old, didn't read as astutely as I do now (and I still miss things but at least I'm aware now that I'm probably missing things). The machine imagery also explains the references in Futurama.

Four stars

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