Sometimes a Great Notion Ken Kesey

Sometimes a Great Notion  Ken Kesey

Overview:

The magnificent second novel from the legendary author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Following the astonishing success of his first novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey wrote what Charles Bowden calls "one of the few essential books written by an American in the last half century." This wild-spirited tale tells of a bitter strike that rages through a small lumber town along the Oregon coast. Bucking that strike out of sheer cussedness are the Stampers. Out of the Stamper family's rivalries and betrayals Ken Kesey has crafted a novel with the mythic impact of Greek tragedy.

Sometimes a Great Notion is more rooted in realism than Kesey's previous work, the phenomenally successful One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but is also more experimental. It has been compared to William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! in both form and content.

The novel uses the technique of having multiple characters speak sequentially in the first person, with no announcement that the first-person speaker has changed. A first reading can be confusing, but subsequent readings reveal that Kesey always provides a clue, quickly referring to the previously-presumed first character in the third person. This technique allows Kesey to weave an intricate braid of characters who reveal their motives in depth to the reader, but do not communicate well with each other.

In 1971, the novel was adapted into a film, which was also marketed under the name Never Give A Inch. The film was directed by Paul Newman, who starred alongside Henry Fonda. It was nominated for two Oscars.

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And Blessed Are The Ones Who Care For Their Fellow Men!