The book I have chosen to become best friends with over the next few months is titled, Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey. As I read the exposition and start to experience the development of the plot, I have many questions. A few times the author doesn’t use correct grammar, and leaves out words in sentences when the main character is talking. I think the purpose is to change the tone of the main character, who, as I just found out, might be deaf, to a more rudimentary and simple vibe. The setting of the book is a mental hospital, so readers can’t be sure if the narrator is all there when it comes to mental processing. There are two types of patients; Chronics, who will never be released, and Acutes, who have a chance of getting out. The Big Nurse runs the place, and keeps everyone in order, but a new “patient” threatens that simple obedience.
His name is McMurphy, and he is unlike all the other patients. His booming laugh fills the room with a sound most patients, including the Narrator, haven’t heard in years. His overconfidence and gambling habits strike the acutes and chronics alike as unique, and draws them toward his challenging attitude. To add to the complexity of the story, sometimes the narrator describes situations in ways that make it seem like fantasy. Unrealistic and out of this world descriptions sometimes make the mental hospital seem like a scene straight out of a horror movie, which remarkably juxtapose with the benign descriptions of McMurphy and his interactions with the other patients. Overall, I’m starting to warm up to the plot of the novel and can’t wait to see where it leads.