Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

18 reviews

socialpsysteph's review against another edition

challenging reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is definitely a TBR vet for me. For whatever reason I just haven't gotten around to it but this was the year! I listened to this on audiobook and I think that was a great way to consume this. The story is told from the perspective of an unreliable narrator (he has schizophrenia), so listening was definitely easier than physically reading would have been. I really enjoyed getting to know all of the characters and the dynamics on the ward. This is definitely not a light or easy read, but would recommend for anyone interested in the history of mental healthcare/psychology. I think this story does a good job of humanizing those with mental illness and touching on a lot of the abuses that used to be present in these institutional settings. 

This book counts for Popsugar 2022 for a book with an onomatopeia in its title.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Racism, Drug abuse, and Drug use

amradio's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

So first off there's racism all up in the book let's just get that out of the way (well there's actually a hell of a lot of things that could count for a warning that I tried to tag)

The book overall while feeling slow in parts is a very good read and I think might be considered an important read on "mental hospitals" coming from someone who is antipsych partly because of how these institutions are still horribly ran

I think some of the important little notes

when you find out most of these guys are self admitted because of course society tells you there's something wrong with you if you don't fit their mold of a "normal healthy mind" and since so many people nowadays still play straight into psychiatrys hand by telling everyone "therapy is for everyone"

Also the fact that

two of them are seemingly in there because of seizures like these institutes are well known for forcing disabled people into them for simply being disabled

And while Mack's character is loveable in some ways

still disturbing that he's seemingly a pedophile but I can appreciate how far he went for these guys like he could've left multiple times near the end but didn't not to mention you can tell that the two characters who did die during the story both had an impact on him

I also love the aspect of the Chief and his backstory especially

the bits when he's getting electroshock therapy

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Colonisation, Racial slurs, Chronic illness, Ableism, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Antisemitism, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Murder, Pedophilia, Violence, and Excrement

foxo_cube's review against another edition

dark emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is, I think, my favourite book of all time.

I will say that it isn't perfect. It's, shall we say, a product of its time: most common-or-garden varieties of discrimination are thrown in casually here and there, and it does make me cringe a little bit at points. Personally, I try not to hold older books to the same standard I'd hold new publications in that regard, but it's worth mentioning as it is a little off-putting.

The main storyline is that of a criminal, McMurphy, entering a psychiatric ward expecting an easier life than what he was experiencing on a work farm, and discovering that he has made a terrible mistake. Being a rebel by nature, he quickly makes it his job to break down the strict and cruel Head Nurse.

The clashes between the staff and McMurphy are great - sometimes funny, sometimes shocking, sometimes devastating, often some mix of all those things - but what I love so much about the book is how the patients of the ward have real humanity to them, and the slow but sure change in atmosphere throughout the war between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched is written beautifully. McMurphy is a rough, problematic, but undeniably charming character with a gentleness to him we only see through Bromden's eyes, especially when they form a friendship.

This aspect, the platonic love story, is one of my favourite things about the book overall. The way Bromden discusses him, and their conversations, even when they're focused on boosting Bromden's confidence (usually in pretty bawdy fashion), is written with a lovely tenderness. McMurphy is a grey-area character who most definitely manipulates the hell out of a lot of the patience for money and cigarettes, but his growing care towards the people on the ward and rage at the mistreatment they face is, nonetheless, very real.

Bromden is a proudly unreliable narrator who phases in and out of the "fog", as he describes it - seemingly dissociative periods where he exists on autopilot, or flashbacks to his past, or hallucinates. He has spent his time on the ward pretending that he can neither hear nor speak, meaning he gets to be a fly on the wall during private meetings and such due to the staff often using him as a cleaner. He hates the system he's in, the state of the world, and the treatment he faces on the ward, but feels powerless to stop it, meaning that McMurphy is both a godsend and a terrifying presence to him. His character growth is fairly subtle at first, but the end scenes - which are devastating - are a powerful culmination of the book's events: when McMurphy is lobotomised, Bromden performs the most sincere expression of love and respect that he possibly could have.

I've read this book a good few times now, and it's always a total rollercoaster ride of emotions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Blood, Suicide, Ableism, Misogyny, Bullying, Violence, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Death, Racial slurs, Confinement, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cursing, Racism, and Gaslighting

Moderate: War, Sexual assault, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Grief, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

sweetchocolatez's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Racism, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Rape, Racial slurs, Mental illness, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty, Drug use, and Animal death

mariaviola's review

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Confinement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, and Medical content

Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, and Homophobia

squelchyworm's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

i hate this book and they should stop teaching it in schools

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Violence, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Mental illness, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Cultural appropriation, Body shaming, Blood, and Alcohol

ejoyce's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

ah, yes! the source of all problems in society is... women! women oppress men! not the other way around! women oppress men and men need to use sexual violence to reclaim their rightful place at the top of the food chain, only then will society flourish!!!

(if you can't tell, that was sarcasm.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

kristinadegreef's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Misogyny, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Drug use, Violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexism