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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
Such an interesting novel. Sexist, a teensy bit racist, a phenomenal commentary on power and violence both quiet and loud, government-sanctioned and punishable by lobotomy, absolutely despicable and rather inspiring. This story is a fantastic exposition of how death can happen before you die, but with the right kind of help, you just might be able to rise up from the ashes.
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Again, I am just not a fan of the classics. I could not enjoy this book.
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I listened to the audiobook and hated the narrators voice - which is probably affecting my review.
The story was good but it just didn’t pull me in and felt like a chore to finish.
The story was good but it just didn’t pull me in and felt like a chore to finish.
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this is nothing like my usual fare, and i didn’t actually enjoy it that much, but i can recognize that it was incredibly well done. i think reading this as a woman was definitely different than it would have been as a man, because i was deeply uncomfortable (to say the LEAST) with the depictions of women and the extreme sexualisation of every female character. i do recognize that a lot of this was intentional but it just did not make my reading experience very enjoyable. (also i know that mcmurphy is obviously supposed to be flawed but you can’t cast a guy as a pseudo-protagonist and then tell me he’s been convicted of statutory rape. like, sorry, i can’t root for that guy.) the racial dynamics were super interesting though, especially the indigenous main character and how he moves in a world of white men (and the “role reversal” of black men being supposedly in charge of the white patients- though honestly they never have much power over them at all) like i feel like i could DEFINITELY write an essay or two on this book easy peasy but i also just did not really like it lol.
it was crazy to read as an oregonian though because i am NOT used to recognizing place names. i kept being like omg beaverton?? portland? THE DALLES??? so weird to encounter the dalles in a literary context.
aaaaaanyway i thought this was a great book- so horrifying and so confusing (in an appropriate way) and i loved how the boundaries of what was real were very blurry. still….did not really enjoy the book itself. 😝🤷♀️ (also the end was truly chilling, this woman is on some evil shit omg)
it was crazy to read as an oregonian though because i am NOT used to recognizing place names. i kept being like omg beaverton?? portland? THE DALLES??? so weird to encounter the dalles in a literary context.
aaaaaanyway i thought this was a great book- so horrifying and so confusing (in an appropriate way) and i loved how the boundaries of what was real were very blurry. still….did not really enjoy the book itself. 😝🤷♀️ (also the end was truly chilling, this woman is on some evil shit omg)
Story: 2☆
Audiobook Narration: 2☆
Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy 'One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest.' It was nothing like I was expecting and I found it quite the slog to get through. While I'm sure this book was highly influencial when it first came out, I don't think it has aged particularly well. I have a hard time explaining why I didn't like it (because mostly I just found it a bit dull) but I will try to explain a couple of my thoughts below:
1) The biggest ick for me about this book was the fact that the primary antagonist (Nurse Ratched) wasn't portrayed as problematic because she was tyrannical - she was portrayed as problematic because she was tyrannical AND ALSO female. She was constantly described as a castrator of the men in the book (side note: and was also constantly sexualised), meanwhile there were hundreds of other male staff who were complacent in her behaviour (which was inarguably monstrous) and whom were excused of all their part in it the whole ordeal. And it didn't stop at Nurse Ratched, all the problems the men in this book had were attributed to a woman in one way or another. Moreover, the patient's treatment in the hospital was described as: stripping the patients of their 'manhood' rather than their 'humanhood.' And, it all just felt a tad misogynistic. Like, why does it have to be so gendered?
2) The book did not really explore the fact that many of the patients within the hospital had real, genuine psychological challenges. All of their issues were attributed to the conditions of the hospital and the treatment from nurse Ratched (and the loss of their 'manhood'). I have no doubt the horrible environment that they were in contributed to the worsening of their symptoms but it cannot be the sole reason for the challenges these men faced. For example, the protagonist Chief Bromden was able to seemingly 'cure' (what I assume was) his schizophrenia by escaping the mental institution at the end. Sorry, but that's not how Schizophrenia works. Yes, being in that awful mental instutition likely made his symptoms worse, but he will go on to suffer from symptoms outside as well. Being 'free' will not solve his psychological challenges. And I just don't feel like that was addressed. It almost gives of the assumption that mental health challenges are not real (but merely the result of poor treatment and the 'castration' of their manhood).
3) The book had some serious pacing issues. Scenes with little weight to the plot of the story were given waaaaay too much page real estate whereas big events (like the death of a patient) were described in like 1-3 sentences and then were quickly moved away from. Like, can we sit with some of these big impactful events a bit more? Give the seriousness of the situation time to sink in.
Ultimately, I think I just don't really enjoy contemporary fiction. It's not really for me (unless it is extremely well crafted). I have heard the movie is better than the book though, so maybe I'll give it a watch sometime and see what I think of the story then.
Audiobook Narration: 2☆
Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy 'One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest.' It was nothing like I was expecting and I found it quite the slog to get through. While I'm sure this book was highly influencial when it first came out, I don't think it has aged particularly well. I have a hard time explaining why I didn't like it (because mostly I just found it a bit dull) but I will try to explain a couple of my thoughts below:
1) The biggest ick for me about this book was the fact that the primary antagonist (Nurse Ratched) wasn't portrayed as problematic because she was tyrannical - she was portrayed as problematic because she was tyrannical AND ALSO female. She was constantly described as a castrator of the men in the book (side note: and was also constantly sexualised), meanwhile there were hundreds of other male staff who were complacent in her behaviour (which was inarguably monstrous) and whom were excused of all their part in it the whole ordeal. And it didn't stop at Nurse Ratched, all the problems the men in this book had were attributed to a woman in one way or another. Moreover, the patient's treatment in the hospital was described as: stripping the patients of their 'manhood' rather than their 'humanhood.' And, it all just felt a tad misogynistic. Like, why does it have to be so gendered?
2) The book did not really explore the fact that many of the patients within the hospital had real, genuine psychological challenges. All of their issues were attributed to the conditions of the hospital and the treatment from nurse Ratched (and the loss of their 'manhood'). I have no doubt the horrible environment that they were in contributed to the worsening of their symptoms but it cannot be the sole reason for the challenges these men faced. For example, the protagonist Chief Bromden was able to seemingly 'cure' (what I assume was) his schizophrenia by escaping the mental institution at the end. Sorry, but that's not how Schizophrenia works. Yes, being in that awful mental instutition likely made his symptoms worse, but he will go on to suffer from symptoms outside as well. Being 'free' will not solve his psychological challenges. And I just don't feel like that was addressed. It almost gives of the assumption that mental health challenges are not real (but merely the result of poor treatment and the 'castration' of their manhood).
3) The book had some serious pacing issues. Scenes with little weight to the plot of the story were given waaaaay too much page real estate whereas big events (like the death of a patient) were described in like 1-3 sentences and then were quickly moved away from. Like, can we sit with some of these big impactful events a bit more? Give the seriousness of the situation time to sink in.
Ultimately, I think I just don't really enjoy contemporary fiction. It's not really for me (unless it is extremely well crafted). I have heard the movie is better than the book though, so maybe I'll give it a watch sometime and see what I think of the story then.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes