The Tag-Along Book Club discussion

Hey everyone! I realize the book club sort of petered out, due in large part to my careless timing- the holiday season is not really an ideal time to embark on a novel as complex as Kesey's. Still, I enjoyed the book thoroughly and since I'm currently slogging through the well written, but depressing '12 Years A Slave' I figured I'd take a break to share a few final thoughts on the novel.

The overall theme of madness being a society designated term fascinated me. It really spooked me to think about schizophrenia from that perspective. What good is "reality if the person experiencing the hallucinations believes it's real." Also, I'm not quite sure I believe that chief is insane, hallucinations aside. His hallucinations are visual representations of the facts; there are many little cogs that control the delicate balance of our society, and almost everything we do or damn is built into our very genes. We are at the end of the day programmed robots running on a complex system of electrical impulses. If anything, Chief's hallucinations allow him to get to the root of most situations rather than being distracted by the social implications surrounding them.

Anywho, I didn't want to get into too long a rant. I wanted to give anyone the opportunity to throw in a few more observations before we call this particular book quits. :)