2026 Reading Challenge
Sometimes a Great Notion

Questions About Sometimes a Great Notion

by Ken Kesey

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Answered Questions (4)

I just reread this Classic for the fourth time, since first being turned on to it while visiting Oregon some fifteen years ago. Does anyone agree that it is better than prolly 80% of Pulitzer Fiction Winners since the 1960s? And that it's arguably one of the Top Five American Novels of the 20th Century? It's in my personal Top Three of All Time. It might even be my Desert Island novel!
Shaun McElhatton Agreed. If you liked Sometimes a Great Notion, you may also like Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen.
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Why does a novel with such an awesome average rating have only 16,000 ratings? I suppose it's mainly due to the 600+ page length? Or maybe because a lot of people disapprove of his psychedelic drug use.
Chris Holme I don't believe his drug use had much to do with it, but maybe it had to do with Kesey's LATER stuff not amounting to much, I can't know, but THIS boo…moreI don't believe his drug use had much to do with it, but maybe it had to do with Kesey's LATER stuff not amounting to much, I can't know, but THIS book is one of my top 3 favorites of all time, an absolute legend of style, prose, atmosphere and character, did I mention style? Holy Smokes. Reviews mention a likeness to Faulkner, but whereas Faulkner had me on the outside looking in, trying to figure what was actually up, Kesey HAS me, voice, writing structure, style and story. An incredible accomplishment just a couple of years after "Cuckoos Nest". I am re-reading it from start to finish (over the years I have just picked it up and read a few pages, at any point, and enjoyed it again)(nobody can write a story like this) I say it is one of my top 3, one of the others is "Suttree" by Cormac McCarthy (nobody can).(less)
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What is the significance of the photograph at the end?
The Guzzard The photograph is first introduced from Lee’s perspective as a photo of Viv and an unarmed young Stamper, and is described as capturing Viv’s pre-stam…moreThe photograph is first introduced from Lee’s perspective as a photo of Viv and an unarmed young Stamper, and is described as capturing Viv’s pre-stamper essence, her lost self. At the end when Viv sees the picture it’s revealed to be a photograph of Lee as a boy and his mother, not Viv, this is right after Lee realizes that his mother had continued to write love letters to Hank, that Hank had paid Lee’s tuition, and the life insurance policy (as opposed to Henry). Hank had “stolen” Lee’s 12 years with his mother and he hadn’t known it. When Viv sees the picture she feels hatred for the women in it, as she has been at the center of the conflict between Lee and Hank, while Viv has served as a kind of Freudian substitute for this women in their conflict (Lee literally sees Viv in the photo). This is when child Viv tells adult Viv she promised to be with someone who loved all of her, the real her, and not just what they needed her to be. So instead of Lee and Viv leaving together, and Hank letting her go, just as Lee and his mother did, this time Lee doesn’t run and let Hank win, he learns the lesson and finally goes to regain his strength, while Viv leaves to regain herself and free herself from the Stampers she’s been caught in like her hair in the zipper, which she cuts with a knife in her last scene.(less)
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This question contains spoilers... (view spoiler)
Chris Holme Hank was not Leland's father, there is a 12 year difference in their ages and the relationship started on Hanks 16th birthday, Right?
…moreHank was not Leland's father, there is a 12 year difference in their ages and the relationship started on Hanks 16th birthday, Right?
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