Existing comment:
Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's (1962)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was an immediate success for its author, Ken Kesey, who based much of the novel on his experiences working in a mental institution and a Veterans Administration hospital. Through characters as memorable as inmates Randle McMurphy and Chief Bromden, and the notoriously hateful Nurse Ratched, Kesey presents an unvarnished indictment of mental institutions and their treatment of patients. The oppression and control practiced inside Kesey's fictional institution can also be seen as a metaphor for the rigid societal constraints of the times. The rebelliousness of McMurphy and Bromden mirror the turmoil of 1960s America. The 1975 film adaptation was also an enormous success, winning the top five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. |