Sometimes a Great Notion

By: Ken Kesey

Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte

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

not happy with the conclusion at all.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

several.
one thing is two people were talking first person in the story. it was confusing.

this should have been made very clear.

the ending was as if the author just stopped writing the book and decided not to really conclude it.

What could Ken Kesey have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

made it clear who was talking first person in different parts of the book.

make a satisfactory ending.

What does Tom Stechschulte bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

the fact that i finished it. i would not ever read this myself. i would have given up after half of the book was finished.

it seemed to be finally picking up in the past part of the book when it just came to a complete stop.

Do you think Sometimes a Great Notion needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

no, because the first book needs a conclusion. THEN you do a followup.

One of my new all time favorites!

My only experience with this author came over forty years ago when I read the stage adaptation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I liked it but had now idea how talented the writer is. This book is complex and very satisfying. The narrator changes frequently and the reader's skill let's you know whenever the speaker shifts. He and Kesey are a great pairing!

My Singularity

Where does Sometimes a Great Notion rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 5

Who was your favorite character and why?

Hank Stamper is a classic tragic protagonist much like Achilles. He can't get out of the way of his own personality; a personality fraught with courage and recklessness, love and selfishness, loyalty and despair. In truth it is hard to say you have known someone just like him, but it is easy to say you have known someone he reminds you of.

Which character – as performed by Tom Stechschulte – was your favorite?

I can't separate the performance from the substance; at least not in this regard. Hank is the dynamic engine of the story despite his younger brother's, Leland's, appeal in an anti-hero way. Hank or Leland could be Oscar winners if acted in accordance with the characters as developed by Kesey.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The great American Novel brought to life.

Any additional comments?

This book is about as far from my comfort zone in reading as I have strayed. I don't even know what brought me to it unless perhaps it was that I wanted to see an example of the "beat generation" of American authors. To say that it was a worthwhile experience is an understatement. Often we are exposed to a work of art that impresses us at the time which, like the introduction to a person at a party,is immediately thereafter forgotten. This book stays with you.

Great Performance

The point of view changes multiple times within the same scenes. This would be confusing if done poorly, but Kesey achieves greater immediacy of action because he succeeds the technique—a basic violation of the point of view rule that point of view should remain the same within a scene. Also, the reader does a fine job of distinguishing these changes of character perspectives.

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.

unexpected pleasure

This was a book chosen for our book club. I considered it to be a book I would not read on my own because of the length, dense writing style and subject matter. Because of the length I decided to listen to it as I knew I wouldn't have time to finish if I were reading it. I'm so glad I did. The performance was wonderful, the writing is brilliant, and I found the story to be very engaging once I got into it. I still think about some of the characters weeks later. I do think that having the story read out loud made a huge difference. The preponderance of dialogue in various dialects as well as the shifting points of view would make for a challenging read. The audible version made it a pleasure to listen to. I was sad when it ended.

Where is it going? When will it end?

What did you like best about Sometimes a Great Notion? What did you like least?

I was attracted to this title by the name Ken Kesey, recalling his prior work, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. It proved to be a disappointment.

I found it very difficult to keep track of which character was narrating at any given time. The narrative went on and on and on. I was wishing for the end by the second of four parts. The ending itself was quite unsatisfying, definitely not worth the significant investment in time.

"To Jump in the River and Drown"

Would you consider the audio edition of Sometimes a Great Notion to be better than the print version?

The audio edition was great. Was it better than the print version? I can't go that far. The audio edition did have great inflection though. The narrator, Tom Stechschulte, does an excellent job of differentiating between the characters. Sometimes I had trouble following the time sequence and the switch in orientation in the audio edition that I did not have in the book, but it was still an excellent production.

What other book might you compare Sometimes a Great Notion to and why?

It is difficult to compare this book to other books. It is quite unique in many ways. The author writes in first person from the viewpoint of several different characters and then switches to the third person and back again. I have never seen another book do it quite like this. It makes it a little hard to follow at times, but it also made it a very interesting style. I liked it, but I don't think many authors could pull it off.Ken Kesey's other book, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, was not at all like this. The current book is much more realistic in that it is dealing with a family, the logging Stamper Family of Oregon, and their problems--problems that exist in most families. The biggest problem being, like most families, a failure to communicate.

Which scene was your favorite?

There are many, many scenes that I really enjoyed, but there are two scenes that really stick out. One is when Joe Ben Stamper has a log fall on him and he is pinned in the river with the water rising. Hank Stamper gives his cousin breaths of air while he is underwater, but the two can't help but laughing which has deleterious effects.

The other scene that I particularly liked is the very end where Viv, Hank's wife and Lee's love interest is in the bus leaving town while Hank and his brother Lee, having reconciled to save the family business, are running the logs down the river. Meanwhile the frustrated union organizers are lined up on the riverbank where they see logs going downriver and are shocked to see the unique symbol of defiance and disdain for them displayed on the roof of the tugboat.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This was a book that is nearly impossible to listen to in one sitting, but you want to anyway. I found myself getting up in the middle of the night to listen just a while longer. It is a shame that Ken Kesey was not more prolific.