Sometimes a Great Notion

By: Ken Kesey

Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte

Length: 30 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

A literary icon sometimes seen as a bridge between the Beat Generation and the hippies, Ken Kesey scored an unexpected hit with his first novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. His successful follow-up, Sometimes a Great Notion, was also transformed into a major motion picture, directed by and starring Paul Newman.

Oregon’s Stamper family does what it can to survive a bitter strike dividing their tiny logging community. And as tensions rise, delicate family bonds begin to fray and unravel.

©1963, 1964 Ken Kesey (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

It was a Great Notion

If you could sum up Sometimes a Great Notion in three words, what would they be?

Never Give an Inch

What did you like best about this story?

All of it except for the 70s reminders

Have you listened to any of Tom Stechschulte’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Well Done.

If you could take any character from Sometimes a Great Notion out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Joe Ben

Any additional comments?

You need this book.

I first read this in the 70s. Kelsey's Best!

The movie was a total disaster, having read the book first, it couldn't compare to epic wrought by Kesey.

a bit of me died in this book.

I loved this, I'm a few generations removed from the characters but these are my ancestors. dirty, crass, Christian, but barely, athiests but barely, gritty, determined, woodsmen and pioneer women, all the serious characters were lively, believable, whole, and unique, just like a big extended family you dread to see on Thanksgiving as a kid, and as an adult you yearn for that normalcy with singular thought.

The Best American Novel in 60 years

I read this book long ago, but remembered it as confusing. Not so with the Audible version. This narrator is a genius with voices and inflections. Because of that I was able to follow the quick dialogue and changes of voice. It is like Faulkner in that past and present switch and weave. With the writing clarified by the reading, I was able to see how these characters and their deep conflicts were so masterfully portrayed by Kesey. Just superb!

A window into the soul of Oregon

I've had a copy of this for years, but couldn't get through it until I listened to this excellent performance. And it happened to coincide with my moving to Oregon, which was a perfect introduction to the fiercely-independent, deep-woods-and-rain soul of Oregon Kesey depicts here.

It was repeated several times that "you must go through one of these winters to have some notion." And having spent my first winter in the state, I can understand that now.

The narration is almost essential to read the book. Because of the Faulkner-style free association of the writing, it is sometimes difficult to figure out who is talking. But the narrator's voice changes with each character, and that helps tremendously to follow the threads. And his characterization of Joe Ben will be a particularly lasting memory for me.

So if you invest the 30-odd hours of listening, you will be rewarded with a rich picture of the tangled Stamper family dynamics, the gnawing Waconda river, and life in a hard-scrabble wet insular logging town in the Oregon coast range.

Interesting narrative structure

I've listened to other novels that change from third person to first person, but this is the only one I've listened to that has more than one giving his first person account along with a third person account. The narrator is pretty good, but I do wish he had used different voices for the first person accounts. Sometimes it took a bit to realize which character was talking.

An amazing telling of an incredible story

This book is amazing and I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of classic American literature. It feels like Ken Kesey is writing in John Steinbeck’s style. It is beautiful and wonderful and deals a lot with the balance between good and evil. The reader is amazing.

One the the Greats

If you are into well written and well crafted stories, this is one of the best books I’ve ever read and listened to. The narrator was perfect

loved the characters!

the second half of the book really hooked me in. wonderful to know the local areas. great read

But is it plausible, from seamless head to head?

Having just finished this and now wondering why the focus should drift on Indian Jenny's thrill and affirmation as the focus exits the narrative finally, the undercurrent of Lee's what? resentment?, anger?, hatred?, I am finding lacking a thorough plausibility.
I am asking if I could make human revenge believable myself?
The building blocks of a crazed vendetta, one would think would be necessary, would seem to be in place, yet Hank, excepting for a too easily provoked, mostly physical, rage is portrayed nearly too decent to sustain an, "I'll get you back, good..", evening of a score. And do Lee's actions bare out this ambiguity of plausibility when he runs off to join his brother on an apparent suicide log drive. (Lee says he's joining him to best him or to mitigate his triumph as a lone shimmering logging legend, but is he really hoping for a true family, brotherly, camaraderie such as he had know previously in this narrative?
*Anyway, is this the way true manly men live?
The obligation to physically fight and really really beat on each other seems unnecessary to me.
Life is hard enough, there is so much really hard work to do, to do good in the world, and you're doing this? You're beating up so severally on each other?
Is Viv the moral center of the book?
"Talk to the ones in the jail cells."
"You'll see they all have a story to tell."