I'm not going to lie to you; I found the
first half of this book hard going. (Hence the Whisky!) I don't know what it is
about classic American literature, but I always seem to struggle with it, be it
F Scott Fitzgerald, Steinbeck or Salinger, there just seems to be a disconnect.
Many of you will have seen the film with
Jack Nicholson, and therefore know the basic story - McMurphy is a wise
cracking, gambler, who has avoided gaol (jail) for what he thinks is going to
be a few easy months in a mental hospital, and he brings turmoil and
discord to what was once a peaceful, psychiatric ward.
From what I remember, the film was really
quite good, but I saw it too long ago to make any meaningful connection with
the book; which I felt dragged, to the point where I had to put it to one
side and read something else, before coming back to it.
I suppose, being told in the first person
by an American Indian, who pretends to be deaf and dumb, is regularly drugged and resides in a mental
institute, may have had something to do with that, but it's not until a fishing trip, (about half way through the book) that I felt it really started
to get interesting.
There are flashes of greatness here, some of the
group therapy sessions are tense and leave you guessing. McMurphy's ability to
talk everyone around to his way of thinking, are intriguing but soon grow tiresome; the Chief's flashbacks of home are convincing and come with a
hint of sadness, but his visions of a hidden world, a world where everything is
controlled by the Combine, are lacklustre.
I think perseverance is the key with this
book. I'm glad I stuck with it, and in the end I can see why some of you might like
it, but for me, I can't recommend it.
Just scrapes three stars for those flashes
of excellence then, the fishing trip being the one true highlight, but without
that scene, it really don't think it would have been worth my while.
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