Another rereading of a classic from my early 20's. It's hard to realize that the novel is really Chief Bromden's book, whereas the play belongs almost solely to Randall P. McMurphy. It's easy to picture Kesey himself in McMurphy's role.
One of the highlights, I think, is Bromden coming out of electro-shock. It has imagery that could come straight out of Kesey's drug experiences. Also, the Chief stops hearing voices and the noises of the combine pretty much when McMurphy gets him to talk. Nurse Ratchid also comes off as much colder and more calculating in the book than she does in the play.
Using the Chief really changes the tenor of the book, and I think it may be one of the great narrators of literature, especially as he is able to spy on the Nurse's meetings with the staff and give so much more background to the book. The chief goes back to Addy Brundren or even to Sound and Fury. (Brudren = Bromden???) And Mc Murphy comes off as a Christ figure in the book. Although he may seem a selfish pigface, it's clear that he sticks around for Billy's soiree. And it's clear that that's why he attacks the nurse. The chief says that it was inevitable, even if McMurphy had left. It is a great anti-establishment novel as well as a great novel of drug stream of consciousness.
Author: Kesey, Ken
Date Published: 1962
Length: 13hr 26min
Narrator: Hammer, Mark
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