The Banned Book That Changed My Life by Emma

If I had to name any banned book that had an effect on me growing up, I would have to say One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. A cult classic about a group of middle-aged men in a psychiatric hospital may seem like an odd book to choose, but it had a pivotal role in my development as a writer, reader, teacher and librarian.

I was a young teenager flicking through some old paperbacks at a yard sale when one with Jack Nicholson on the cover caught my eye. I knew he was a famous actor, and I was going through my somewhat pretentious movie phase, so I was torn between this book and one featuring short stories by Alfred Hitchcock. I only had enough money for one, but seeing my indecision, the man running the yard sale let me have the Kesey book for free.

I’d always been a reader, but One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest was unlike anything I had ever read before. It marked the transition between my reading as a child and an adult. The story is seen through the eyes of Chief Bromden, one of the great unreliable narrators in modern literature. Although he is observant and sees details that most wouldn’t, his shaky mental health means he relays things that cannot be true. Prior to this, I had always taken the words of the narrator as the absolute truth, so this book was the literary equivalent of realizing that grown-ups can lie. It made me see stories as not just something I could consume wholeheartedly, but something I could engage in and collaborate with, study, and analyze. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, a banned book, opened a world of stories to me that has shaped my life ever since.