RECCOMENDED BOOK: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

I just recently read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, a novel by hippie counterculture icon Ken Kesey. This book is amazing and probably one of the best I have ever read. The story is about an Oregon mental hospital and the struggles and victories of its' patients. The book is narrated by Chief Bromden, a schizophrenic indian chief who fakes deaf and mute. I think Chief Bromden makes an excellent narrator because of his seemingly deaf/mute status he serves as an almost omniscient narrator because he is allowed in all areas. His days are all spent mopping and sweeping the whole ward, incuding cleaning the staff meetings. The Chief hears and observes all the interworkings of the entire ward from a seemingly harmless perspective.

The ward is divided into two groups; the Acutes, a group of younger patients that are considered "fixable" and the Chronics, a group of older "vegetables" that are usually beyond repair and mostly just take up space in the ward. The ward is organized by a strict regimented schedule which is enforced by the notorious "Big Nurse." The Big Nurse is a heartless woman who is feared and respected by all of the patients until a new patient is committed who turns the whole ward upside down.... I won't spoil anything else, but I would highly reccomend you read this book. Kesey did vast amounts of research on this subject and his writing style and VOICE are amazing.
For a whole year Kesey lived in a mental ward in Menlo Park, California near San Francisco. During this time Kesey lived with the patients, took all their medications, submitted to drug testing such as; Marijuana, LSD, cocaine, and a whole list of other drugs. Kesey even voluntarily submitted himself to the infamous electro shock therapy just to gain some insight into what it was like for the patients.