It's Kind of a Funny Story
by Ned Vizzini
This is hands down my favorite read about depression, suicide, and an adult psychiatric ward that I've ever encountered. But in all honesty, how often do I read books about psychiatric wards? Answer: not often.
Craig is a fifteen-year-old boy who is accepted into Executive Pre-Professional High School, a high school for the most gifted students in New York. That's the way life works, right? You need to go to the best high school to get into the best college to get the best job so that you can have the money to get married and have kids and live the cookie cutter American Dream. Craig, however, finds himself crumbling under the pressure of how much work school his, and he works hard to crank out 93 percents in all of his classes as his friends glide their way through AP classes, volunteer work, extra credit, and honor rolls. The pressure to be a school robot who cranks out A++'s like nobody's business quickly overwhelms Craig, and one night he nearly commits suicide. He finds himself in an adult psychiatric ward at Argenon Hospital. 6th North. Five days minimum.
This story is outside of the box. I love out-of-the-box stories. Every single thing that happens during the duration of the book is unique and obscure. Every single thing in the story absolutely leaks with humor and poignancy. It's kind of a crazy book about slightly crazy people (aren't we all) told from the perspective of the relatively normal-seeming Craig.
Craig is a stressed teenager. Though the things that happen to him, like making it into New York's most competitive high school, being suicidal, and spending a week on an adult psychiatric floor at his hospital aren't things that happen to every teenager, the things that he thinks about are. A lot of the worries he had I think are really common worries among teenagers. A job, money, grades, getting into college, getting a boy or girlfriend, and school top this list. I find his character to be incredibly believable.
One of the things that makes this novel so satisfying is that Ned Vizzini himself was hospitalized for depression a few years ago. Immediately following his release he wrote this novel. The other thing is that it's not an IN-YOUR-FACE book. It's not trying too hard to be the best novel about teenage depression or the deepest novel about teenage depression. A lot of depression-related books are so darn depressing, which is pretty counterproductive if you think about it. This book is not at all depressing. I liked its spirit.
Delving into spoiler territory—in other words scat if you have not read yet—I particularly enjoyed the end. I read a review someone wrote that said they thought Craig was unreasonably happy one he got out of the hospital, but I don't think his happiness was unreasonable at all. He knows, and makes a point of saying, that he is by no means cured, but he is better, and suicide to him is now a possibility, not a probability. I thought that was great.
I really liked the movie as well. It was just as crazy as the book. I can't believe I haven't seen it before. Actually I normally don't see movies until years after they're released because I refuse to pay twelve dollars to see them in the movie theater and then I forget about it.
★★★★★ - 5/5
*Gosh, that is one word I will need to add to my "words I can't spell" list. The + rap + ist.
Craig is a fifteen-year-old boy who is accepted into Executive Pre-Professional High School, a high school for the most gifted students in New York. That's the way life works, right? You need to go to the best high school to get into the best college to get the best job so that you can have the money to get married and have kids and live the cookie cutter American Dream. Craig, however, finds himself crumbling under the pressure of how much work school his, and he works hard to crank out 93 percents in all of his classes as his friends glide their way through AP classes, volunteer work, extra credit, and honor rolls. The pressure to be a school robot who cranks out A++'s like nobody's business quickly overwhelms Craig, and one night he nearly commits suicide. He finds himself in an adult psychiatric ward at Argenon Hospital. 6th North. Five days minimum.
This story is outside of the box. I love out-of-the-box stories. Every single thing that happens during the duration of the book is unique and obscure. Every single thing in the story absolutely leaks with humor and poignancy. It's kind of a crazy book about slightly crazy people (aren't we all) told from the perspective of the relatively normal-seeming Craig.
Craig is a stressed teenager. Though the things that happen to him, like making it into New York's most competitive high school, being suicidal, and spending a week on an adult psychiatric floor at his hospital aren't things that happen to every teenager, the things that he thinks about are. A lot of the worries he had I think are really common worries among teenagers. A job, money, grades, getting into college, getting a boy or girlfriend, and school top this list. I find his character to be incredibly believable.
One of the things that makes this novel so satisfying is that Ned Vizzini himself was hospitalized for depression a few years ago. Immediately following his release he wrote this novel. The other thing is that it's not an IN-YOUR-FACE book. It's not trying too hard to be the best novel about teenage depression or the deepest novel about teenage depression. A lot of depression-related books are so darn depressing, which is pretty counterproductive if you think about it. This book is not at all depressing. I liked its spirit.
Delving into spoiler territory—in other words scat if you have not read yet—I particularly enjoyed the end. I read a review someone wrote that said they thought Craig was unreasonably happy one he got out of the hospital, but I don't think his happiness was unreasonable at all. He knows, and makes a point of saying, that he is by no means cured, but he is better, and suicide to him is now a possibility, not a probability. I thought that was great.
I really liked the movie as well. It was just as crazy as the book. I can't believe I haven't seen it before. Actually I normally don't see movies until years after they're released because I refuse to pay twelve dollars to see them in the movie theater and then I forget about it.
★★★★★ - 5/5
*Gosh, that is one word I will need to add to my "words I can't spell" list. The + rap + ist.
