Reviews with content warning for Forced institutionalization - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

I struggle with defining my overall opinion of this book. It is equally great and terrible.
The theme of emasculation is, frankly too much of a major theme to allow me to say I completely liked the book. I can give some things a pass because of the year the book was written, but it was just too much of a main theme to overlook. It is horribly sexist and constantly eludes to society being harmed by women demasculating men and not allowing them to be the true manly men they should be allowed to be. Terrible even for the time it was written.
The other major theme is about society forcing you to be what they want you to be and eliminating all that makes someone unique and different. That theme is something I enjoy.
It is also very humorous, something I think the movie missed the mark on.
Overall it's so-so. It was funny and had good symbolism of society destroying individualism, but the major sexist theme running through the book made it extremely unenjoyable as well. I would recommend reading it to form your own opinion even if I can't say it was a good book.

Content Warnings

rebeckareads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

It's a product of its time (ripe with racist language and misogyny etc blah blah blah we all know what classics are like by now) but goddamn, if the portrayal of institutional abuse isn't relevant to this day. The characters are loveable despite their... flaws and the writing is delicious.

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amradio's review against another edition

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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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