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therat8's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Suicide, and Colonisation
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, and War
savage_book_review's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I don't know what it is with me and books that are labelled 'classics', but I don't think I've found one yet that I've truly enjoyed. This was no exception - I just couldn't immerse myself in the story or even pick out moments of clarity that stuck with me. While I understand that this is written from the point of view of a mentally ill person confined to a hospital ward, and by choosing this narrator the author has allowed the reader to experience the 'fog' of confusion and twisted logic experienced daily by the patients, it's rambling relaying of events left me more lost than confused. I followed the general plot, but had no inclination to take more care with my reading to study the text and events in depth.
From a modern perspective, the methods outlined in the story are clearly not the right way to treat mental illness. But then I queried whether several of the characters illnesses were all that acute anyway. Yes, some people (the narrator included) clearly did have delusions or other issues that may require in-patient care, but there seemed so little character building on much of the supporting cast that it felt like they were there purely to pad out the cast list.
I guess the author's main aim was to try and make the reader consider whether McMurphy's illness was feigned or genuine. He reminds me a little of Campbell Bain in 'Takin' Over The Asylum' (although I'm sure in reality the latter was in some way influenced by the former); a manic depressive who, after a moment of inspiration, starts to subvert the normal order of things within his environment. But this right here sums up how hard I found the book to relate to; if I'm drawing parallels with the works of David Tennant (rather than just picturing him as my leading man), then you know my mind has wandered to a better place!
I also can't understand where this reputation for Nurse Ratched being one of literature's great villains has come from. To me, she seems like a no-nonsense, firm but fair person who is doing her best to do what must be an incredibly difficult job without letting it affect her, and doing what she thinks is best for her patients based in the knowledge of the time. Yes, it's clear that McMurphy gets under her skin and she does start to become a little vindictive about punishing him for his transgressions, but I just can't equate that with the totally twisted person I had been expecting going into this. I can only suspect that it's because the story is written through the male gaze at a time when women in positions of authority were rare and dangerous creatures...
Not what I was expecting or hoping for, and quite underwhelmed. Never mind. I tried.
Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual content
mintii's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The ending was not at all what I thought it would be.
It's like when people say "Don't be sad because it's over, smile because it happened." Taking the initiative to control whether or not you or other could be sad perhaps shows the influence of such an institution as this mental hospital and Nurse Ratchet's power.
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol
Moderate: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Classism
Minor: Cultural appropriation
traingossip's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Confinement, Eating disorder, Hate crime, and Homophobia
lizkocher's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Dementia, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Sexual harassment, and War
tortoasa's review against another edition
Graphic: Sexism
asmodeous's review
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Gaslighting
Minor: Misogyny, Self harm, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
ricardo_sb's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Medical content
Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cursing and Racial slurs
ynit_g's review against another edition
- 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
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
Also the fact that
And while Mack's character is loveable in some ways
I also love the aspect of the Chief and his backstory especially
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Colonisation
Moderate: Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, and Antisemitism
Minor: Pedophilia, Violence, Excrement, and Murder
foxo_cube's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting
Moderate: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail