One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: 50th Anniversary Edition Free Audiobook Download by Ken Kesey

Ken Kesey's seminal work, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," has been adapted for film and radio, but it is still best enjoyed when read. This 50th Anniversary edition includes "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: 50th Anniversary Edition" narrated by John C. Reilly, a man of great literary talent at narrating audiobooks.

Ken Kesey's best-selling novel and the Oscar-winning film adaptation were released 50 years ago on October 11. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was an instant, worldwide success. It continues to stand as a classic of American literature.

In this classic novel set in a mental institution, a group of inmates and the narrator hatch an elaborate plan to escape from the oppressive Nurse Ratched. The protagonist, Randle Patrick McMurphy, is a free-spirited man who decides to take charge of the other patients and lead them on a game of basketball. Seeing that they are helplessly confined with little hope for freedom, Randle quickly realizes his efforts are futile and instead sets up a meeting with his buddy Chief Bromden who is being forced to chop wood. After revealing himself as McMurphy, he's able to convince Bromden that they are one in the same person and their plan will be just as futile as theirs was.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest tells the story of a mental hospital in Oregon. One day, Nurse Ratched is giving an interview to a reporter when she notices that one of her patients is missing, and she takes it upon herself to find him. She begins questioning other patients about anything unusual they may have seen or heard. Soon, she's pulled over for questioning by two military men who think she might be a spy for Chief Bromden. As the story progresses, we learn more about the patients and how their illness affects their thoughts and behaviors.

The novel begins with Chief Bromden, a Native American, in a mental hospital. He is brought there by the State after being found on the floor of his own home, half-dead from drinking too much coffee. Nurse Ratched is the one in charge of his treatment and has been for some time. She tries to break him down and take over his mind by using non-violent methods that she believes are therapeutic.

Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was published in 1962. In a nutshell, it is about an elderly and cantankerous, yet amiable psychiatric patient named Randle Patrick McMurphy who arrives at an Oregon mental institution to serve his sentence for having a fight with a sports writer. He quickly takes control of the ward and turns it into a party atmosphere for all the patients. At first, McMurphy gets along well with the other inmates until Nurse Ratched takes interest in him and threatens to have him transferred back to prison if he doesn't behave. Although McMurphy is not intimidated by her, he soon comes up against Nurse Ratched and ends up finding himself in more trouble than ever before