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This was yet another Book Club choice, only difference here was that I had (thankfully) already heard of this book and was relieved that someone had selected something that actually had some merit. No offence, but I was getting a little irritated having to plough my way through mediocre books.
Obviously, the Jack Nicholson film of the same name is based on this book and what with that being such a classic (being one of only three films ever to have been awarded the "Big Five" Academy Awards!), I've not only seen it but own a copy. If you haven't seen it yet, then go do so now! If you have, then it's basically the same in the book.
That being said, I'd be lying if I said I was over-joyed at the choice. Sure, I was happy that we were getting to read a "modern classic" but I wasn't predicting that it would really add anything that the film hadn't already mastered on its own. In some ways, I was right but in others I was wrong.
Like I said, the story is almost identical - psychiatric hospital run under the tight control of Nurse Ratched (an apt name for such a bitch of a character) turned upside down after a new patient arrives, McMurphy. But I've always found the film to be slightly without depth if that makes any sense whatsoever. I suppose that is supposed to be the point with Jack Nicholson as the happy-go-lucky McMurphy bringing some form of emotion in this warped environment. The book, however, was a lot more entertaining and, despite the overall plot structure to be the same, Kesey's writing was a joy to read.
I'm not going to get into all the fascinating questions of insanity and the perception of power in such a tiny blog post (mainly because I read this book a while ago and I can't remember most of what I thought!) but maybe one day, if I ever get a chance to look at this book under a microscope, I will return with super insightful observations and we can get a discussion going.
But here are the answers so some other very important questions:
Would I recommend it? YES
Would I read it again? MAYBE
Stars out of five? Solid FOUR
But here, if you don't want to take my word for it, check out these interesting visual rating statistics:
Goodreads: overall 4.17 out of 5
Amazon:
Until next time, happy reading! ^!^
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