Additional Relevant Links - 2nd Tri (Farewell?)

Hello readers! To close off my blog posts for this section of the year (or probably ever), I provide a few additional links to enhance the experience of reading both The House of the Seven Gables and Cat On a Hot Tin Roof - just a few small things to make the reading experience better. If this is my last post on this blog, then I thank my teacher, classmates, and any other readers for following me on my journey through a few works of literature. Thanks for your time here, and maybe check out my personal film review blog that I shall be updating soon: Creeper's Reviews from the Abyss. Anyways, here are the links:

• Critic's Review of the 2013 Play Revival
• Big Daddy and Brick's Talk (Movie Scene)
• Essay from 2010 AP English Student (Analyzing Judge Pyncheon's character)
• The House of the Seven Gables (Movie Trailer)

Third Title: Cat On a Hot Tin Roof

     For my next title, I choose something a little different to add to my variety of literature. I decided next to move on to Tennessee Williams' tense play on serious subjects, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof. Many may have heard of or seen the film based on the play, or at least read William's most famous play, A Streetcar Named Desire. I'm reading this play not only to make up my page limit but to increase the variety of literary works of which I break down and analyze.
     Williams first released this play in 1954 - a time where most of the play's subject matter was not spoken of in public. The play deals with the ideas of feminine desire, homosexuality, sexual tension, and what it means to be a man, most of which in the golden days of the 1950s were not readily talked about in the media. The play stands as one of the most controversial of its time. The intense mood is already set by the end of Act One, and one could predict that it's only going intensify further.

To enhance my experience reading the play and your experience reading my blog, I present you with a few relevant links:

• Possible themes and symbols via SparkNotes: http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/cat/themes.html 
• Trailer for the 1958 film (starring Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, & Burl Ives): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWsG_Qj1wUo
• Critical review of the film and play collectively: http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/sep/30/cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof

Additional Relevant Links: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

     As I conclude my in-depth study session of Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, I leave my audience with these last few relevant links to help clarify any unclear meaning and enrich the understanding for both the novel and the film. Thanks to the readers for following me in this literary discussion and stay alert as I will be looking at another novel or set of works soon. Stay classy, and stay reading!

Creeper's Reviews from the Abyss, my critical analysis of the film adaptation: http://creepersreviews.blogspot.com/2015/11/one-flew-over-cuckoos-nest-1975-review.html

"Madness and Misogyny in Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", an in-depth essay analyzing theme and meaning in the novel: http://www4.ncsu.edu/~leila/documents/VitkusonKesey.pdf

Student reading guide from Shmoop, a site similar to SparkNotes, but more general: http://www.shmoop.com/one-flew-over-cuckoos-nest/

Final Overview: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

     One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey is an amazing novel, standing above the rest for its time and even today. In reading the novel, so much verisimilitude and meaning was revealed through a compelling story with all characters being fairly dynamic in each's own way. For intense readers, the novel serves as a pleasant treat with well-crafted language and a heavy mind behind it. For casual or novice readers, the novel serves as an outstanding piece paling in comparison to most books said reader has read in his or her lifetime. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest has received loads of recognition throughout the years, including an Academy Award-winning film being made of the novel and the novel's recognition in the prestigious AP Literature exam.

     The novel left quite a lasting impression on me as I went about reading it. The novel definitely belongs in the canon of books with the most literary merit, as it hints at important themes in a vivid, intelligent way. One of the things that impressed me the most is the novel's focus on the idea of thought control. A prevalent theme in the text is how it takes one to rule the masses with fear, but it takes one better to actually lead the masses. Throughout the novel, Randall McMurphy and Nurse Ratched battle between control of the patients in the asylum, but only McMurphy leaves a lasting impression that causes the patients to fearlessly think for themselves. The novel basically feels like an allegorical battle between thought manipulation and mental liberation. The Head Nurse leads the patients to think a certain way, but McMurphy proves to them that the system can actually be challenged. Evidence of this is present even early on in the text when all-knowing Chief Bromden observes that McMurphy had "shown us what a little bravado and courage could accomplish, and we'd thought he taught us how to use it (227)." One other thing I also enjoyed in reading this novel is the power of the vivid, descriptive language the author uses to set the tone for each scene. Kesey uses vivid language to set the tone for each scene, from describing the nightmarish "special" shower (258) to setting the tone for the monotony of the asylums' "mechanism" (170). The biggest treat aside from the actual story in the novel is Kesey's brilliant use of language to convey his meaning. 

     The film based on the novel is also just as much a treat. Though the two pieces seem like entirely different entities altogether, each has its own set of ideas to focus on. In transition from the novel to the screen, a lot is lost, such as the Chief's powerful narration and some of the more riskier elements presented through the text. However, clarification is gained in certain other aspects of the source. Irony's role is made clearer, as it becomes more obvious the ones actually "committed" to the asylum tend to be the most sane. Also clarified and less two-dimensional would be the transition from controlled to free thought, as signified through the rebellion of the patients against the Nurse. 

     One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest remains as true a novel as it is a film. The composition altogether is an intelligent and challenging look at the question of mental illness and thought control. The book, as well as the film, has reserved its place in my favorites.

First Title: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

     For my first literary title to pick apart, I chose Ken Kesey's notorious novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Kesey wrote this book in 1962 about individual rights being taken and complete control over human nature. A film was made in 1975 starring Jack Nicholson as the main character, Randall McMurphy. The film won numerous Academy Awards including Best Picture, but even with all of this cinematic prestige, it falls in comparison to the novel. The insightful, omniscient point-of-view given by the "deaf" Chief Bromden is lost in the film adaptation, as well as the colorful language in which he paints the novel's many scenes.

     I hope to delve deeper into this surreal novel, as well as the film, for I'm already peering into Part 2 of the novel.. Stay alert for more posts, discussing basics such as plot synopsis and journal entries to deep discussions about theme and verisimilitude through close reading. Until then, here are some relevant links to keep you entertained. 

Ken Kesey's biography: http://www.biography.com/people/ken-kesey-9363911#synopsis 

Critics Consensus of the film by Rotten Tomatoes (a film review website, much like IMDb):  http://www.biography.com/people/ken-kesey-9363911#synopsis 

50th Anniversary literary review of the novel: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/26/ken-kesey-s-wars-one-flew-over-the-cuckoo-nest-at-50.html