One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: Ken Kesey

Just finished this book and it was great. I actually started reading it back in November. I was about halfway through when I broke my leg and was in the Italian hospital. Clark brought some stuff to my hospital room including this book and while I tried to read it there it was just a little too scary haha. I didn't need to read about these guys in a mental hospital while I was in a hospital in a foreign country. So I waited until now to finish it. The copy of the book that I have I bought at the thrift store on base and it has a fun comic book illustrated cover and even some sketches within the pages done by Ken Kesey himself.

I really like the book as a whole. There are misogynistic and racist remarks and tones but I think that is part of the culture when the book was written. The story is basically about people, the men in this insane asylum, trying to be normal in a country that is basically ruling you and judging you and causing you to change because of what society sees fit. At least thats what I got from it. It is also a book that has been banned in schools since the 1970s so of course I had to read it. And while yes there are imagines of gambling, sex, drugs, fighting. It tells the tale of something bigger. And since high schoolers are seeing all the stuff anyways without no real meaning I hope that in today's world they can read this book. Although will some language (the F word and N word, etc.) I am sure there are people who would be highly offended if they saw this book in schools again no matter what the overall meaning is.

I am sure this will be one of those book that I come back to in a few years and read again. 

Favorite quotes from the book:

"He hadn't let what he looked like run his life one way or the other."

"You don't have to apologize for my inadequacies, my friend. It neither fits your character now compliments mine."

"In this country, when something is out of order, then the quickest way to get it fixed is the best way."

"There is generally one person in every situation you must never underestimate the power of."

"The doctor's lying made us feel worse than ever- not because of the lie, so much, but because of the truth."

"He knows you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy."

"Never before did I realize that mental illness could have the aspect of power, power."