One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

[anti machine]

HEre is the story of an insane asylum, a symbol of "the system". Randall McMurphy, a booze-drinking, fist-fighting, con-man from prison comes to the asylum faking insanity to try and get out of prison. Refered to by some as a Christ figure, Mac tries desperately to awaken his inmates to the glories of the outside world and eventually reaches them. His conflicts with the Big Nurse, friendships with an indian inmate who fakes being deaf(and is also the 1st-person narrator of the book), all add up to the books sad, grand finale ending.
A must-read, my analysis doesnt do the book justice. It is Ken Keseys greatest work, a superb movie starring Jack Nicholson and a few other familiar faces,and an American classic.

[Xvall]

I have that moive..
A great film, I might say..

[Menshevik]

The movie really doesnt do justice to the book. Oh, well. Cuckoo's Nest is a total period piece. Kessey's theme of, "what if the crazy people are really the sane ones," is used a lot in the 60s and early 70s.

[man in the red suit]

yeah I saw the movie and it was awesome, is the book better in your opinion?

[Menshevik]

MITRS, absolutely, the book was a lot better. You don't get much of a sense of McMurphy in the movie. You never get a chancce to understand why he cares about the other patients.

[man in the red suit]

I see. that makes perfect sense. I will have to read the book some time. :)

[pce]

i disagree, the movie is just as good as the book. they are both amazing, just different. you can't expect movies to cover everything the book does because the mediums are so different.

by the way, Randall P. McMurphy's initials are RPM which also stand for "revolutions per minute." i think i remember reading that was done on purpose.

[Menshevik]

Sure, but that doesn't make the movie as good as the book then.

[Dutch Commie]

if you've seen the movie you should read the book, it's much better

[vox]

The book is outstanding, and there's little doubt that McMurphy is a Christ figure, but as I recall the symbolism of the bird and the dog didn't quite work. It's been a while, but I remember that bothering me.

Still, very good book. I saw the movie first and loved it. Years later I read the book, then saw the movie again, but somehow the movie didn't seem as good as it did the first time around.

vox

[Menshevik]

Exactly. The book ruined the movie for me, but that doesn't really matter because the book has so much more craftsmanship and artistic value.

[red senator]

I watched the movie before I read the book, and I think it helped me understand the book (so I wasnt too confused by all of the chiefs hallucenations, although some are symbolic).