I wasn’t planning to write today, but sometimes a book finds you at the right moment and won’t let go until you talk about it.
That happened to me this afternoon. So here I am, trying to put into words what this story made me feel.
Ken Kesey’s Sometimes a Great Notion is an absolute masterpiece.
We’re in 1960s America, in Oregon. The Stampers are continuing their family business of logging, while other companies in the area have started to unionize. However, the Stampers’ refusal to join the union and their decision to keep working not only harm the others’ businesses and profits but also drive a wedge between the Stampers and the rest of the town.
The premise might sound dull — but the book promises so much more. The real story lies within the Stamper family itself.
Leland, the half-brother, returns to Oregon to rejoin his family after twelve years.
And what a return it is. Rivalry between brothers, feelings of revenge, things left unsaid, silent unease, storms raging inside — desires, passions.
It’s been a long time since I’ve read such a narrative.
I felt it in my bones, as if I were watching their lives unfold under Oregon’s never-ending rain.
The author, Ken Kesey — one of the famous hippies, the acid heads of the 60s — deserves a tip of the hat..
It may not be a book for everyone: because it’s long, because it’s somber, because it’s deeply rooted in the world of men.
And I don’t mean that in a sexist way — it’s about the masculine sense of rivalry, physical endurance, psychological vulnerability, and that raw instinct to protect the family.
Many characters speak in the first person, and the narrator changes without warning.
Sometimes even within the same paragraph, the prose slips into stream of consciousness — which makes it challenging to follow, but also strangely hypnotic.
If you’ve read this far, I say: get this book as soon as possible.
It looks like it’s going out of print soon.
10 stars to the Stampers!
These days, as we step into autumn — perhaps one of the best times for the pleasure of reading novels — this book, too, is a beautiful struggle.
