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In this classic novel, Ken Kesey’s hero is Randle Patrick McMurphy, a boisterous, brawling, fun-loving rebel who swaggers into the world of a mental hospital and takes over. A lusty, life-affirming fighter, McMurphy rallies the other patients around him by challenging the dictatorship of Nurse Ratched. He promotes gambling in the ward, smuggles in wine and women, and openly defies the rules at every turn. But this defiance, which starts as a sport, soon develops into a grim struggle, an all-out war between two relentless opponents: Nurse Ratched, backed by the full power of authority, and McMurphy, who has only his own indomitable will. What happens when Nurse Ratched uses her ultimate weapon against McMurphy provides the story’s shocking climax.

《飞越疯人院》中，精神病院里的护士以严厉的手段、冰冷的器械和冷酷的心肠统治病人们，试图把他们改造为柔顺的、规矩的、毫无个性的机器，直到不受约束的麦克墨菲进入了疯人院。在病人中，印第安人布罗姆登最懂得体制的力量，即便麦克墨菲仿佛一步步走向胜利，但布罗姆登却知道更严酷的压制在等待着他们。当麦克墨菲从手术室被送出来，变成了一具眼神空洞的塑料娃娃，胆怯而沉默的印第安人敲碎了窗户，逃离这个疯人院。《飞越疯人院》实际上是当时美国社会的一幅缩影，《时代》周刊称此书“是向体面阶级社会的陈规以及支持这些陈规的看不见的统治者发出的愤怒抗议”。《纽约客》则说此书“预示了大学骚乱、反越战、吸毒以及反文化运动”。