University of Virginia Library

Well Written

The use of Chief as narrator
breaks down only occasionally
when the narrative gets so powerful
that it is obviously too much for
him to have written, but the scenes
are so well written that one realizes
only in retrospect that Chief
couldn't have written it. Further,
he describes beautifully some
scenes from his childhood, and the
crimes of the white man that had
driven him to silence.

There are also a series of
powerful scenes that happen while
Chief is being given electronic
therapy as he spills out his mind in
a series of high voltage images.
These scenes which Kesey presumably
wrote while experimenting
with drugs, are especially good
taking the reader into obscure
netherworlds.

Stylistically, the book is an
advanced piece of writing which
anticipated by years, many currently
popular techniques. Kesey
doesn't merely tell the story, he
makes you live it. His characters,
only occasionally contrived, become
a part of a supramedia
portrait of a world whose insanity
becomes irrelevant, and makes one
wonder where one is.

If life in Charlottesville is boring
you, try life in the Cuckoo's nest. It
is like no other experience.