Other book reports

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

This is an intense social comment. It involves primarily a group of men who are in an asylum and what happened after R. P. Murphy arrived. It is told from the point of view of native American inmate Chief Bromden who pretends to be deaf and dumb. But it really has to do with how people survive in our world.

Combine is the word used by Kesey to describe those in control (Solzhenitsyn referred to it as Organs in his books). In this book, they are ostensibly there to help the inmates, but incontrovertibly their actions at best do nothing to help the inmates, and at worse drive the inmates deeper into their problems. The Combine measures effectiveness by the cleanliness of the ward and patients, following established procedures, and them peaceably passing their days in approved activities and pursuits. Many professionals visit the ward, who see it as an example of how all mental heath wards should be. Supposedly the days of cruelty to the mentally ill were gone.

The ward is dominated by a head nurse. Even though there is a doctor in the ward who should be making many decisions concerning the patients, she dominates him, too. Her crowning achievement is a daily group counseling session with all the inmates where they discuss together how to make things better in the ward and how to help inmates with their struggles. It isn't clear from the text whether the head nurse really believes that she is doing her best to help the inmates, or if she's just a hateful, manipulative despot ruling her kingdom. But the motivation of the head nurse is really not the point of book; rather even the other women in the book are mere caricatures.

Those who misbehave are dealt with in a variety of approved methods to cow them into submission. Bromden characterizes submission by hiding out in the fog which prevails in the ward. (The fog was from a past experience). Bromden has learned what happens when you cry out in the fog—they can then find you and subject you to a variety of undesired treatments.

Then Murphy arrives, a prisoner that somehow got committed to the facility from a prison. Murphy is loud, opinionated, uncooperative, and is a man who takes charge. But he is unsophisticated, and doesn't understand the rules of the establishment.

Murphy becomes a savior-type to the inmates there, and through his antics and his opposition to the head nurse, the fog begins to be dispersed. At times he even gets the doctor to agree with what he proposes, which causes tension between him and the head nurse.

But then Murphy comes to understand that he will be in the institution until the head nurse approves his release. This is quite a revelation to him knowing that his jail term was six months, but that his stay in the hospital can be indefinite.

He does an about-face and becomes very cooperative, and begins doing everything that was requested of him. But shortly he comes to understand that the head nurse is never going to agree to his release. He had disrupted her world, and she will never forgive him for it, and only in his destruction would she be satisfied.

There was even a more startling surprise for him when he discovered that most of the inmates were there of their own volition—they had checked themselves in. He was flabbergasted that they would be so unsatisfied with their lives in the ward, but they didn't have the courage to leave.

He then returns to what may seem on the surface antagonizing the head nurse and encouraging others to antagonize her, but really what he is trying to do is to have the inmates gain the confidence they need to step out of the fog, to check themselves out, and to live real lives.

He organizes a day fishing trip and convinces the doctor to come at the last minute. At the beginning they were scared and ill at ease, but after a day fishing, they gained their confidence. Even Candy who Murphy represented as his aunt to take them fishing, but really was a whore, was mercilessly mocked by those at the wharf before the trip, but got respect when she returned having caught a large fish.

After the trip came the inevitable confrontation between the head nurse and Murphy. She decided the only course of action was to subject Murphy to shock-therapy. But after each session, he would mock her and refuse to submit, even though he grew weaker and weaker.

Consistent with savior-type of literature, Murphy gives his life that others might live. The story ends with many of the inmates leaving her ward or the facility, the head nurse unable to enforce her commands, and Chief breaking out of the facility and going back to his native land.

This was truly a complex book, and I agree that it is a classic. I disagree with the Tucson Public Library classification as a teen book due to the intensity of the symbols that he uses to make his point.

Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett

This is another tragicomedy, existentialistic play. It has to do with our loneliness and inability to to have meaningful relations with others, who can't or won't remember what we just said, let alone what happened yesterday, or understand the points we are trying to make, or are distracted by various things; our being in unsatisfying and hollow relationships because we somehow ended up together and our inability to end those relations because our fear of the unknown has us over-idealize the strengths of our relationships; our tendency to be waiting for some great thing to happen in our lives, which always gets postponed, and which, when we really examine it, is really just a vague notion; that there is injustice in the world, and that on one hand we feel indignant about it, but we can't seem to do anything about it or to engage others to even acknowledge it, and other times we are unjust because of some injustice we have experienced; that often we feel trapped in our relationships because of perceived reasons beyond our control, but said reasons appear ridiculous to other people. The end of the play shows the characters very much like they were at the beginning, except some notion of time has passed.

Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin

I read this book when I was a sophomore in high school. I read it again. In 1959, Griffin took medications and treated his skin with an ultra-violet lamp to darken his skin, then traveled for a few weeks in the south as a black man. He first-handedly experienced extreme prejudice, discrimination, and the hate of the whites, and later published his experience. He was surprised at the extent of the hatred directed to him as a black by white people, and was very pleased with how supportive blacks were of an unknown back man in their midst. Especially troubling was walking by white churches when services were being dismissed, and experiencing the hate stares from those who just a few minutes before were ostensibly worshiping God. At the end of his experience, as his skin lightened, he could tint his skin either black or white and walk through the same places as a member of either race, and he documented how he was treated by members of both races as he altered his color. He proved his thesis that many people treat blacks solely on the basis of skin color.

He found a white culture that outwardly encouraged the blacks to educate themselves and to get out of their poverty, but provided limited educational opportunities for the younger blacks, and virtually no opportunities for post high school education; that would fire any black from their job if they showed the least amount of discontent with their situation, and would only hire them to do the most lowly of work that whites did not want to do; that claimed that if the blacks were patient, over time the issues would be resolved, but never made any real progress; that published in gory detail every crime committed or allegedly committed by the blacks, but was silent on their accomplishments; that would persecute any white who attempted to help the blacks.

He found a black culture that was in frustration and despair looking for help, with some who would pretend to be happy and content to survive, and others who had just given up and lived their lives drowning their sorrow in drugs, alcohol, and other destructive pursuits. The former group was held up as an example to all that “the blacks are happy in their situation” and the latter were “the few bad apples.” This despair would become rage as the 60s progressed.

This version of the book explains what happened in the years after his experience, how he became an advocate for racial equality. He went to countless communities trying to help them work through the issues, and he became very accustomed to how blind prejudices make people. Often he would meet with all the white leaders of a community to talk about the problem, and when he asked where the black leaders were, they often said they hadn't thought of inviting them. Other times a black leader would try to explain something to the white leaders, and they couldn't even hear it, but ten minutes later he would say the same thing, and the white leaders would accept it. He'd then point out that this black person had said the same thing ten minutes earlier, and why was it that they could hear him, but not the black person?

He found many compassionate, talented whites, who worked tirelessly to help, but who felt that the solution was really in the hands of the whites who had the skills and abilities to really help—even they couldn't see the blacks as equals who could solve their own problems if they were just given a fair chance. Other helpful whites felt slighted and offended as the black community gained power and influence and were able to help themselves.

Being an advocate for the blacks entailed many physical dangers but there were also legal entrapments that the opposition employed. They would find people who would swear out false statements before the law when these people came to help.

As the 60s unfolded a common rumor would be released that a group of armed blacks from community A was coming to community B to stir the blacks up to riot. Based on the rumor, the riot police would lock down the black neighborhoods of community B. Often, the residents of community B had no knowledge of the lock down and many were arrested and/or beaten. And finally when the blacks fought back, the headlines blared about the rioting, but no word of the contributing factors to the riot appeared. This scenario played out repeatedly across our nation, but not once was a group of armed blacks found. Thus the blacks were in a no-win situation where their only safe choice was to remain locked in their homes for some number of days until the curfews were lifted.

The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp

This book is the basis for The Sound of Music. P[...] and I read the book.

As expected, there were several differences between their story and the film: 1) The love triangle had some interesting differences, and the original story is as entertaining as the movie version; 2) They were married years before the Nazis took Austria; 3) As Nazism became infused into the culture of Austria, they determined to leave because they refused to accept this culture; 4) there was no sneaking out during a concert; 5) they didn't walk over the mountains.

It gave an insightful view of the relevance of the Catholic feasts and celebrations as they were followed with devotion and how it strengthened them.

At another time they were in the same restaurant as Adolph Hitler, and were close enough to observe him and his bodyguards. She wrote of Hitler, “If one hadn't been so deeply impressed by the fact that this man held the fate of many millions in his fingers, one wouldn't have looked a second time at him. He seemed to be very, very ordinary, a little vulgar, not too well educated—no resemblance to the hero in silver armor on the wall[referring to the propaganda posters that were everywhere].”

They came to America, stayed a while, and were deported when their visa expired; then returned and because of an ill-advised comment she made to an immigration authority they were imprisoned and could have been deported again, but with help of friends they were allowed to enter the country. It required a tremendous amount of work for them to establish themselves and to be able to pay their bills in the United States. Their sons were drafted and served in Italy returning safely at the end of the war. She almost went to jail for ten years for building a music camp without the proper authorizations as building was restricted during the World War 2 period.

During all of this they relied heavily on prayer to a kind God who looked over his children, and her testimony was that they were blessed, usually when they were down to their last dime, or when there was no more time left, or there was no other human help possible in their situation.