Ken Kesey Books

If u can follow this, and @ times it gets difficult, u can see why its classic. The observations reming me of 1984 and Animal Farm. Big Brother movin in to control us all, put us in our little molds, and if we dont fit... who knows where this world will lead us, eh?

All part of the great american adventure. Randall P. McMurphy is my new hero . Very enlightining because we always think about the movie but what I liked about the book was, it was chief's story as much as macks. I feel the movie was censored. I must admit when McMurpy spoke it was with Jack Nicholson's voice

This review is for the Penguin Books paperback edition, 2003, with illustrations by Ken Kesey and introduction by Robert Faggen. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, first published in 1962, was Ken Kesey's debut novel.

The setting is a ward at a hospital for the mentally ill, probably in the late fifty's. Chief Nurse Ratched has absolute control over her ward. Through insinuation and intimidation, she has oppressed the patients, aides, junior nurses and even the ward doctor into wimps. We see this through the eyes of the narrator, Big Chief Bromden Jr., a half-Indian who pretends he is a deaf-mute. The staff ignores him, and allows him to clean the staff room during their meetings. He's the all knowing fly on the wall.

Enter the new admission, Randal Patrick McMurphy, the roughneck gambler who got himself transferred to a mental hospital to escape the rigors of a prison work farm. McMurphy considers most of the patients essentially sane, and cannot understand why they have allowed Nurse Ratched to dominate and humiliate them. McMurphy rallies his fellow inmates towards mutiny in a long battle to undermine Nurse Ratched's authority.

Weaved into ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST is a social commentary on the mid-century ideas for treatment of those who could not or would not conform to normality. The novel, and the subsequent movie and play, undoubtedly helped popularize the need for change. Although that is behind us, this entertaining and often hilarious read remains.

One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kasey *****


One of the most important pieces of literature ever, and not just for American literature. One Flew Over The Cuckoos nest is simply put....perfect. It is the classic tail of good versus evil as told through the eyes of an Indian Cheif as he watches his once comfortable solitude be interupted by a one McMurphy who is just claiming insanity to escape a court ordered work farm. The head nurse, Nurse Racthed is maybe the most hanious villion in all of American literature. The book cronicles the up rising of the insane wards 'inmates' and their struggle to maintain their new found power. Easily one of the five best novels ever written.

I knew this book as one of the anthems of the sixties, bringing to the fore the themes of rebellion against arbitrary authority and the rejection of conformity. But I did not actually read the book till recently.

I found that Kesey's "sixties" novel passes the test of great literature. It transcends its moment in time and gains universality. The struggle between the individual and the demands of society is nowhere portrayed as sharply and brilliantly as in this novel. McMurphy is a bit extreme, as is Nurse Ratched, but the interplay of extremes is fascinating.

Do not ignore the fact that Bromden, the narrator, actually shows serious signs of mental illness. His constant references to the "Combine" and his fear of the "fog" are paranoid delusions. It's an amazing tribute to Kesey's skill that he chose to tell the story this way rather than in a more conventional mode of narration, and that he succeeded.

If you are a fan of Ken Kesey this western-flavored tale that Kesey wrote with the help of another former Merry Prankster Ken Babbs will not disappoint you.

I agree that this isn't Kesey's best work, but I have a personal reason for loving this book -- my great-Grandfather Parsons Motanic is a character (and he was a character) in this novel. Kesey never claimed that this was a true and factual account of the Pendleton round up, and he apologized to the people of Pendleton for taking liberties with the story. He got most of the details regarding my great-Grandfather wrong but I still enjoy the book and absolutely love that Kesey and Babbs included a picture of Parsons Motanic in the book. The narrative is jerky (much like motion pictures of the time) but some of the language is lyrical and almost lives up to Kesey's early works.

this novel recycles fact into fiction to create a tale about the original Pendleton Roundup. There's a heap of synthesis here, from oral and written histories, old photographs, interviews, newspaper articles and conversations. Kesey connects them and supplies imaginary material to create a farce with a gonzo tilt, as if he were on acid and explaining to Hunter Thompson. Kesey uses local color well and has an ear for period phrases, even when slapping them on with a palate knife, but that's the fun of it--watching Kesey stretch his brain around facts. The book is really about the author and how he chooses to indulge himself, not about what happened in Pendleton or what the reader should think about what went on there. In fact, the way Kesey jumps from one time frame to another shows how little he's concerned with keeping things straight for the reader. This book is bent. You can enjoy its distortions or look away, but you can't deny the brilliance or uniqueness of its colors. One burr under my saddle is that his cowboys aren't as "strong, silent and truthful" as I'd expect. Pendleton must have been far more polite and stuffy than Kesey lets on. But bizarre distortion reflects his intention of zonking out on history until it assumes a form more pleasing to him. In taking this trail, he proves that the humblest writer scribblng a dime novel from dubious fact is more of an author than all the librarians at the Library of Congress. The point, after all, is the mind in the act of making the mind. If connections seem bizarre, well, that's just Kesey taking on reality, whether the time is now or a century ago.

This book tells the story of the first Pendleton Round-Up. The Round-Up was organized to settle once and for all who was the greatest cowboy in the world. Contestants arrived from across the continent to vie for the prize, a magnificent saddle. Three of the men who came to try their luck were Jackson Sundown, a Nez Perce Indian, George Fletcher, an African American from Pendleton, and Jonathan E. Lee Spain, a youngster from Tennessee. When the final scores were tallied, these three came out in a draw, so special events had to be added to the contest to determine the winner.

The book tells the story from Spain's point-of-view. As one of the youngest contestants, his experience with rodeo competitions was limited. The authors take us behind the scenes to see how the rodeo favorites took him under their wing, teaching him more than just how to compete in the ring. The story is quite entertaining, with a full cast of characters, from Buffalo Bill to a young girl named Meyerhoff, who could ride like the wind. The only odd part of the story is the beginning, which is set in modern times, with Spain as an old man- -it's a bit hard to understand where the plot is going at first, but once it finally gets going, there's no stopping it.

During an interview on Bravo TV's excellent series INSIDE THE ACTOR'S STUDIO, Dennis Hopper (an artistic, historical and spiritual brother of Ken Kesey) shared a brilliant anecdote illustrating the nature of art. While teaching a lesson on painting, Thomas Hart Benton told Dennis Hopper to "Think loose and paint tight".

The late Ken Kesey's unique literary gifts and contributions lay in his incredible ability to "think loose and write tightly."

In both of his great works, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST and SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION, as well as some of his journalistic writing, Kesey brilliantly channeled magnificent, electric, free-floating, randomly abstract and stream of conscious ideas into tight, elegant sentences. Kesey forged the missing link between the spontaneous prose of Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs and the Beats with the laser-like precision of Hemingway and Fitzgerald.

While LAST GO ROUND certainly makes for a fast and fun read, it does not represent his finest work. Attempting to write a combination camp fire story/dime store novel Kesey allows himself to invert his precious balance.

Thinking tightly in the surprisingly demanding genre bounds of oral history and pulp, Kesey simply tries too hard. LAST GO ROUND lacks the spontaneous element of creation that courses throughout all his greatest work. Creatively he appears to be straining and reaching for ideas that should come easily.

While the creativity seems pushed, the writing itself appears unpolished and unfocused, relatively devoid of the razor sharp perceptions that one expects from a great author.

Ultimately though, this is really a small matter. Based on a historical event- The first Pendleton Round-Up (based in my hometown), Kesey does infuse his narrative with rich local color and texture. Having met the real George Fletcher when he was aged and in a nursing home, the story also has strong personal connections for me. That, and my personally autographed copy of the book from the late Kesey makes LAST GO ROUND a valued sentimental possession.

Not a classic by any stretch, but certainly worth reading. Especially for fans of Kesey.

Ken Kesey's recent passing made me look back at my favorite books of his and fellow trafficker in the anti-Divine Jack Kerouac and somehow I revisited SAILOR SONG first. The New York TIMES didn't like it when it was published in '93 but I recall thinking "They're just not on the bus... DUHHHH" and bought it anyway. The ride was stellar, and it still is. Kesey's tale of the last bunch of individualist crazies at the end of America (and the world too) has its flaws, and I agree with the other online reviews you will read here: the end has a deus ex machina look to it (not that one character, the bookish Billy the Squid, doesn't red-flag the reader with a warning mid-on; a spectacularly nervy aside), the romance subplot is a bit shaky, the air of the novel smacks of the NORTHERN EXPOSURE television show from a few years back, the end of Bad Guy Nick Levertov is not as well-described as it might be... but the central theme of a moneyed juggernaut sailing into an untamed, delightfully-chaotic-because-it's-meant-to-be backwater of America (whatever, as Jack K. said in his dedication in VISIONS OF CODY, that is) strikes a chord on my piano. In SAILOR SONG two halves of America (Babbitt versus Walt Whitman) collide, and thanks to the success of the Babbitt half over many years (the befouling of the natural world) the payback interrupts the flow of the novel. Another nervy trick from the old Prankster, but for me it works. Because as we can see from the disrupted weather patterns of the last 20 years, we are going to be in a similar situation very shortly. And Kesey's description of Mother Nature's payback to the human race is the best thing in the book. Well, not quite, but close. Ike Sallas is the tired hero, letting things swirl around him, stepping in at exactly the wrong moment to little effect, and his very ineffectuality is what makes him as real as he is here (most especially when he finds he has fans who take up his cudgel for him in the immediate vicinity). And the asides, some of them borrowed from Walt Kelly ("From here on down it's uphill all the way"), the Grateful Dead, Tom Pynchon, Rudyard Kipling, and Jack
Kerouac himself, all widen the scope into an 'American saga'
(yes, one of those) which may not be ON THE ROAD, but it isn't about finding oneslf by leaving. It's about finding oneself by living. A divine read. Thanks, Ken.

I read 8 other reviews of this book, and I am still buying it, for the second time. I was captivated by the issues, characters, and story line that was depressingly promissing. Hope. I do agree that all could have been wrapped up differently in the end. It was too quick and well empty. But it is not the joy of the top of the mountain that has us climb. It is the climb. Enjoy the ride! Enjoy Sailors Song.

Even though Kesey still displays his personal talent for characterization and interest, this book wholly failed.

Why? The ending.

Yes, one can argue that it is the ride that makes the book, but a failed ending, no matter what, can ruin even the most intruiging story.

It's not that I consider the ending of A Sailor Song to be horrible- it's the fact that there seems to be no ending in the first place. Like Seinfeld, I need closure!

Even for the ultimate failing, this book still deserves a two-star rating, if only for the story of the Backatcha Bandit. The characters are wonderful, and certainly unique to Kesey. From the reluctant hero to the mutt/Jamaican ladies' man, the characters are certianly colorful enough to keep one's attention.

If it's Kesey characters you want, I recommend this book- but don't expect an ending of the caliber of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest- or an ending at all, for that matter.

While the themes K. deals with in this novel are interesting and important (the vanishing of wilderness; pollution; the morally corrupting impact of capitalism and American mainstream entertainment in particular; the possibility of catastrophic environmental change in our lifetimes), much of this novel reads like a screenplay.

This distracts from K.'s ideas and from the creation of atmosphere....which K. can do so well. It's a shame to have Alaska's wilderness pushed so far to the background (and Australia, which Kesey has visited, dismissed rapidly and superficially early in the book). This is especially so as the human interactions are fairly predictable, as are even the most eccentric of the characters, and as the plot leans heavily on natural events and wild animals, especially near the somewhat frenzied ending.

Compared to earlier works, including the shorter, better focused pieces in Demon Box, Sailor Song is frustrating: on the one hand too short (spookily powerful descriptions of wilderness are cut off, interesting ideas such as the psychic life of indigenous people are only hinted at) and too long (we're given a lot of detail that leads us absolutely nowhere). Has Kesey been let down by his editors?

Up front: I'm a long-time fan of Ken's -- including the videos, the CDs, and his classic periodical SPIT IN THE OCEAN. I liked SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION a lot better as a book than a film. So that's where I'm coming from...

SAILOR SONG is superb, remarkable and unmatched in contemporary literature. Ken's grasp of the human condition is extraordinary: man/woman, inter-family, small town, international, global, you name it and Ken's got it in SAILOR SONG. It's an easier read than NOTION, but not as clearcut as NEST.

So many posts here question the ending; not me. I trust Ken ended this the way he saw fit, like the master he was. Life doesn't end cleanly, even though it begins with promise and evolves with careful plot. I don't think any other writer has addressed the scenario of the poles shifting, so while this isn't quite an "end of the world" tale, surely it's clear why Ken dubbed this his science fiction novel.

The characters are unforgettable, and yes the novel reads like a screenplay because it is so extraordinarily vividly written. There are plot twists and curlicues galore -- that's the skill and scope of Kesey coming across. SAILOR SONG, like his other novels, is brimming with quotable phrases and passages that ache for outboarding and inclusion in BARTLETT'S BOOK OF QUOTATIONS. He's that good.

The scenario overall is unforgettable, and the pace is so beguiling that despite the novel's length; when it was over my ONLY regret was that there wasn't more superb literature to keep me riveted. If you are anxious to be engaged, challenged and rewarded by a book time and again, savor SAILOR SONG to the last drop. There ain't no dregs here, just sweet wonderful language coming from a mind without equal. Ken's passing last November was a loss without measure, but we readers are blessed with these words. Enjoy!

In my life, there are four books I have read twice - Huckleberry Finn, Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Rings and One flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. It is a masterpiece. Unforgettable characters and poignant scenes make this a wonderful read. The faux world series, for example, is inspired. Once in a long while a book unfolds at a wholly unexpected level of artistry. This is such a book.

I also had to read this book for school, and truthfully, itreally wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I pretty much understood everything, and it was interesting to see what action McMurphy (the lead character) would take against the ward and its policy. The ending has a very ironic and sad twist to it-I don't wanna say anything else or I may spoil the plot! From (my) point of view, I actually enjoyed the book and would recommend it to people who like reading. END

This book was excellent! I wasn't required to read it for school. However, we did just happen to watch the movie in my ethics class. It was great! Nicholson did a wonderful job portraying McMurphy. Basically, the jist of this book is that McMurphy has gotten himself into some trouble. No one can figure it out if he is a criminal or crazy. So he gets placed in the mental institution where he thinks everything is a party until he finds out he cannot leave until they release him. The book really isn't too hard to follow, but if reading it for school, I would reccomend the Cliff Notes. They always have those great hidden ironies! I don't want to give away the ending, so I highly suggest getting the cliff notes, reading the book, or even just watching the movie! It is worth your efforts!

I had to read this book for school and am having trouble getting very far ebcuase it is nto interesting, it is about psych patients and stuf

There were no cuckoos or nests, and the only crazy person is me for reading this

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is a MASTERPIECE, dont let the review by the ignorant Korean fool you. This is truely a great book. The Protagonist is an Indian in a mental institution and it involves his life in the mental institute. It wasn't meant ot be about birds btw.

after reading one flew over the coocoo s nest, i thought that the book was definitely worth reading although i did notice a lot of unnessasery information. i definitely find that the book was quite boring until i got at a certain point in it. i admire the characters,espacially chief,for his actions. anyways, i liked the book but if i had to suggest anything, i would suggest you watch the movie because it is amazing and is quite close to the book, except that the book s ending is different. hope you enjoy your book!

31 Pages Total: 8 of general introduction to all the Gale Group Novel Guides, 3 pages plot summary, 4 pages character summary, only one page on themes, approximately one page on historical context, and ends with eight pages of essays by three different authors. One of those essays is once again, mostly summary. The final two essays, while strong, are not necessarily critical analyses of the novel, rather they argue why (even though the novel has controversial topics) the book is a teachable novel. There were four "ideas" for topics for further study, but they were very surface level and would not require much in-depth thinking. This guide barely scratched the surface, choosing to blatantly ignore Christian motifs and the themes of sexuality and violence in the novel.

If you have read the book and are simply looking for additional information and criticism I suggest getting some Cliff Notes or even using free online study guides. As a teacher I found this "guide" to be for those who haven't even opened the book. Going further and spending a couple hours browsing a library for critical essays would be much more valuable than spending (...)on this publication.