Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

6 reviews

sammirobinson's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Medical content, Suicide, Death, Emotional abuse, and Medical trauma

asolis's review

challenging dark emotional 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

I'm reading classics this month, and I came to this book as a bit of unfinished business. I think I read about 5 pages in high school and not much more. I remember thinking it was strange. 

 I wonder what I would have gotten out of it if I had read it all the way through back then. But reading it now, its richness was a pleasant surprise, and it is well-deserving of Classic status not just due to age but because of its quality. Now, I appreciate the many layers to this book, and the invitation to consider its themes of race, gender, sexuality, power, and conformity. A remarkable exploration of what it's like to be a kind of person society tries to erase. 

By reading it now, I got to connect with the PNW setting, and understand the implications of the various places mentioned. The Native narrator, albeit written by a white man, brings in some exploration of treaties, land rights, and the generational trauma of displacement. This piece is a great companion read to contextualize that aspect of the book: https://commonplace.online/article/ken-kesey-meets-lewis-and-clark/

Many summaries describe Nurse Ratched as the ultimate villain. And while she is the primary adversary, this ignores the whole point that she is only the local arm of the "combine," the societal machine that enforces conformity and compliance. If Professor Umbridge is the evil middle-aged jailer of our (millenial) generation, Nurse Ratched was her literary ancestor. But where the professor is pure evil and as such wholly unsympathetic, the cracks in the nurse's facade, the pain we know shaped her, makes her human. You may not root for her, but at least you understand her.

I felt pain when she was exposed at the end, the gendered violence, but it fit the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Self harm, Confinement, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Racial slurs, and Death

Moderate: Racism, Sexual violence, Drug use, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Suicide, Cursing, Homophobia, Colonisation, Physical abuse, and Drug abuse

sunflowerhour's review against another edition

challenging mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Medical trauma, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Medical content

Moderate: Outing, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual harassment, Torture, Terminal illness, and Sexual violence

skeptic_hecate's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Such a heart breaking read, I couldn't help but falling inlove with the characters, even though they are deeply flawed, maybe because of that. 

I believe that this book is especially about sexual repression. Women and men who are demonized by their use of sexuality. It is because of this sexism that no one can be free.

Also, nurse Ratched is properly evil, definitely one of the highlights of the book and one of my favourite villains. I highly recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Suicide, and Death

Moderate: Violence and Homophobia

Minor: Sexual violence and Sexual assault

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

jeremie's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Ableism, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Misogyny, Suicide, Racism, Racial slurs, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

Minor: Pedophilia, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders