One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest

When I first chose this book for my Independent Reading I had no idea what it was about. I decided to go out on a limb and try it out. The first scenes really caught my attention. The story is told from the point of a deaf and dumb Native American patient, Chief Bromden, who is capable of hearing and is very intelligent. He was a very interesting character and by far my favorite. Even though his speech is not very elegant or sophisticated, it is easy to follow and he gets his point across. There are many advantages of the story being told from his perspective. For example he hears all the conversations between the Big Nurse Ratched and the staff on the ward that he wouldn't hear if he wasn't faking his deafness.

This book contained multiple hidden meanings and themes. The best part about the book was that all the themes were presented in a humorous way. Ken Kesey uses the rebellious Randal P. McMurphy to lighten up all the patients and show them that living in fear of the outside world is no way to live. McMurphy gives them the strength to face society again. Kesey's ability to show these messages through humor made me love this book; I can honestly say it is one of my favorite books, and I usually like commercial science fiction books. 

There is also a movie made based on the book, which I plan to watch sometime this weekend and compare the book to the movie!