Chief Bromden, half American-Indian, whom the authorities believe is deaf and dumb, tells the story of a mental instituion ruled by Big Nurse on behalf of the all-powerful Combine.

Into this terrifying grey world comes McMurphy, a brawling gambling man, who wages total war on behalf of his cowed fellow-inmates. What follows is at once hiilarious and heroic, tragic and ultimately liberating.

Since its first publication in 1962, Ken Kesey's astonishing first novel has achieved the status of a contemporary classic.

'Kesey can be funny, he can be lyrical, he can do dialogue, and he can write a muscular narrative. In fact there's not much better come out of America in the sixties... If you haven't already read this book, do so. If youhave, read it again' Douglas Eadie, Scotsman

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Product details

Paperback : 310 pages
ISBN-10 : 0330235648
ISBN-13 : 978-0330235648
Dimensions : 13 x 1.3 x 19.7 cm
Publisher : Picador Pan Books; Reprint edition (1 Jan. 1973)
Language: : English

Best Sellers Rank: 405,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 14,784 in Fiction Classics (Books)
- 35,003 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- 43,784 in Contemporary Fiction (Books)

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2,647 ratings

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"A glittering parable of good and evil." ("The New York Times Book Review")

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The cult classic novel that was turned into the famous film starring Jack Nicholson, this should be on everyone's 'must read' list.

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2 star		2%
1 star		2%

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R T Twinem

A book that still retains the magic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 September 2017

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Can it really be 50 years since the publication of this book, I remember my first reading in the mid 70's and it has been a great pleasure, and a walk down memory lane, to once again make the acquaintance of the residents of an Oregon Psychiatric Hospital and in particular one Randle P McMurphy. Most people will remember the 1976 movie and the electric performance of Jack Nicholson as the audacious and colourful "Mack", in a movie that won many awards. The book has lost none of its magic even now reading the it so many years later, and the emotions that it can produce are still very real.

McMurphy is moved to the mental institution from a prison farm where he was serving a sentence for the rape of a 15 year old girl. Although he is not mentally ill, he is hoping to avoid hard labour and serve the rest of his sentence in a relaxed environment. The life of the rest of the inmates is now turned on its head as McMurphy proceeds to wreck havoc in an attempt to control and alter the mundane existence of lethargic and inactive inmates...."We are lunatics from the hospital up the highway, psychoceramics, the cracked pots of mankind."....The only obstacle standing between Mack and his dreams is the formidable figure of the steely strict Nurse Ratched....."Her face is still calm, as though she had a cast made and painted to just the look she wants. Confident, patient, and unruffled."...

The story is told in the first person through the eyes of one long term resident Chief Bromden a tall native American believed to be deaf and mute. Through a series of minor misdemeanours and coercion McMurphy is hoping to breakdown the stranglehold of power that Nurse Rached holds over the inmates, who are dulled and kept under control by the constant and daily consumption of medication. It would therefore appear that the prime function of the institution is to manage, by this use of drugs, the minds and temperaments of the residents, rather than try to rehabilitate them and reintroducing them back into society where they might once again make a useful contribution. If the use of drugs and stimulants fails to pacify the disturbed mind the institution is willing to apply electroshock therapy and in the most severe cases a lobotomy is performed.

This is a book fully entrenched in the methods and institutions of its time. It is also a story of power and authority, those who wheel it and those who would attempt to question it by any means possible. It is a wonderful and colourful narration, strong and memorable characters, essentially funny yet ultimately sad. To me Randle P McMurphy is more than a comic figure, he chooses to question the reality and sense of his surroundings and by doing so set himself on the road to confrontation with the soulless Nurse Ratched and ultimately there can only be one winner, and an ending that is both shocking and captivating. Highly Recommended.

16 people found this helpful

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So much more than I had expected...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 April 2020

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I have always loved the movie of this book but have only just got around to reading it. In some ways the screen version has more emotional punch, particularly at the end, driven in part by Nicholson’s mesmerising performance. The book, however, is far more textured and layered - I was not expecting the richness of the Chief’s narrative: the echoes of a lost way of life and the powerful extended metaphor of a new way of life like some enormous machine or ‘combine’ controlling people. It has a romantic edge - a warning of the turning away from the land, a warning against institutional control. A beautiful book, elegiac in tone, one I will return to in the future to fully appreciate the scope of its vision.

5 people found this helpful

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Miss K. Southern

There were moments while reading that I felt like it was a true masterpiece

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 January 2018

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I had to think about things for a long time before I got round to deciding how to rate this book. There were moments while reading that I felt like it was a true masterpiece, and there were moments that I felt uninterested and quite confused. I have actually seen both the film and the play (both of which I loved) in action before reading, so I already had a very clear idea of how the story played out, but I don't think my feelings would be different if I was coming into reading the book with fresh eyes. Randle Patrick McMurphy was such a character and despite his obviously devilish, sneaky ways I fell for him as soon as he entered the book. Meanwhile, Nurse Ratched is probably one of the most terrifying villains I've ever come across in a book and I'm finding it tough to imagine any character ever beating her in this. Her calm, icy demeanour played off against McMurphy's fiery, quick-thinking personality perfectly and I adored watching them try to outsmart each other. These two were an example of perfect characterisation and I thought it particularly meaningful that the 'hero' was a conniving petty criminal, and the villain a supposedly charitable nurse who dedicates her life to 'helping' people. Chief Bromden was an interesting character but I wish less time had been dedicated to his slightly bizarre thoughts/memories and he'd had a little more to do. Kesey wrote well enough and built his world spectacularly also, but I'm afraid to say the overall message didn't wash so well with me. There is a lot of very racist, misogynistic language to be found in this novel and it has a very clearly symbolised anti-feminist tone that also conveyed a lot of hatred towards society as a whole. A lot of this was left out of the aforementioned film and play and so I didn't realise quite what I was getting myself into until I started reading. Although I think this book was cleverly written and did bring some brilliant moments to the table, it lost itself in the message it was trying to convey.

4 people found this helpful

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Was not drawn into the story in any way so gave up and moved on

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 February 2020

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I bought this book ages ago as I had heard it was so good. Problem is that it had then sat on my bookshelf for years with me putting off reading it.
However I had now decided that I'd give it a good go.
This edition has a dreadful introduction which is very academic. I'm sure it would be useful for anyone studying the book but does nothing except put off a regular reader. There is a brief note from the author about the drawing throughout the text which was useful and contextualised the story.
I tried very hard to read novel this but could not be drawn into the world, finding it very hard going with nothing to persuade me to keep reading. After a few days of reading interrupted by anything else I could find I gave on and will relegate this book to a charity shop where I hope someone will love it.

One person found this helpful

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