We are excited to share with you our next book review because it was by one of our students. Come see us in the MC if you'd like to check out this book.
It's Kind of a Funny Story: A Lighter Look at Adolescent Major Depression
by BHS junior, Catt Harvey
by BHS junior, Catt Harvey
It's Kind of a Funny Story, by Ned Vizzini, published in 2006, was inspired by Vizzini's brief hospitalization for depression in November 2004. This novel goes out to show that depression is not all that society has dressed it, it can be shown in a lighter way. It effectively extinguishes some of the burning stigmas surrounding mental illness, such as depressed people having the inability to succeed or recover. It also shows the reality of major depression as felt by a teenager: the difficulties getting class work done, the effect friends may have, the shame or embarrassment felt surrounding the fact that they're just not normal, and worst of all, eating.
It effectively extinguishes some of the burning stigmas surrounding mental illness
Craig Gilner is a 15 year old that aced the test to get into an incredibly prestigious private school in Manhattan, Executive Pre-Professional High School, after studying intensely for the entire school year prior. As the work load becomes more intense, Craig's depression does as well. All of his "tentacles," the things that stress him and make everything worse, are getting to him: his best friend is a genius and a stoner, who also happens to be dating the girl Craig is in love with, his family is supportive, but sometimes too much, and his classes are almost impossible, not to mention his psychiatrist is as cliche as they come. He gets low enough that he has planned his suicide; he will leap off the Brooklyn Bridge while his family is asleep. As he readies himself to leave, he picks up a book that directs him to call a suicide hotline. He does so and the man on the other end tells him that he should go to the hospital, Craig follows this advice. He is admitted to a nearby hospital, in the adult ward while the adolescent is being renovated. Craig is quick to make friends friends during his stay, but also reignites a childhood passion, and makes a life changing decision involving his school and his old friends.
This book is written entirely in first person, from Craig's point of view. In using this view point, Vizzini solidifies the idea in the audience's mind that this is a book about adolescent depression, and gets a wider message across; depression doesn't make someone inherently lazy, negative or just generally bad. Craig talks like a teenager, thinks like a teenager, and is displayed as a teenager should be. He parties, deals with peer pressure, lies to his parents about his own activities, and is extremely curious about his own sexuality, which makes him a little awkward. Vizzini writes Craig's character very realistically. He has his ups and downs, at one point saying that he "made that test his bitch," when discussing the admission test for Executive Pre-Professional High School. Later, he calls like a nightmare when discussing how he feels with his psychiatrist. What this "up-and-down" language accomplishes is showing that Craig is a teenager, and the possibility of feeling good when you have major depression.
There are many recognizable themes in this novel; the most over-arching being self-acceptance and the reality of being placed in a mental hospital. A majority of this book is placed in a mental hospital and is, as Vizzini himself stated, 85% true. There is a certain diversity with the patients, one fears that gravity will turn off, another is the self proclaimed president of the floor and deals with psychosis, then there are plenty that are never seen because they don't leave their rooms. There are also patients that are social, that seem almost completely normal, excluding the fact that they are in a mental hospital. Vizzini begins simply with "it's so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself," but pieces from the final part are far different. Craig chooses that he's done with having regrets, bad friends, and his tentacles. Even so, he is aware that he still suffers with depression, "I'm not better you know. The weight hasn't left my head... I could fall back into it... head to the Brooklyn Bridge. All of that is still there." This awareness shows an amount of control and acceptance. He can cope, he knows his limits well now.
Craig's situation is relatable to some, but others may pity him. He's only a kid after all, but to the young adults that suffer with similar things reading it see themselves in this 15 year old boy, trying to make it through. Due to the fact that this novel is based on Vizzini's own life, it adds a certain authenticity. Craig has weaknesses, some found when speaking to some of the people from the hospital, like he's pretty bad with girls. He has his strengths, which shine when he draws his maps. The maps are his coping mechanism, and coping mechanisms are a universal concept. Everyone has their way of dealing with life when it gets to be too much, some read, some write, some do drugs. Any form of distraction may be a coping mechanism, even reading It's Kind of a Funny Story.
It's Kind of A Funny Story has been well received since it was written. The novel received recognition as the Best Book For Young Adults from the American Library Association only a year after being published. Critics gave some mixed reviews, but was met with applause from some major publications, like the New York Times. Then in late 2010, a film adaptation was released. Vizzini's hit book reportedly took only a month to write. For a book written in that small time frame, with that kind of recognition, it must be pretty damn good.
Thank you for sharing your insights about this book, Catt!
And readers, we would LOVE to hear from you about your reading. If you would like to share a book review, please contact us!
And readers, we would LOVE to hear from you about your reading. If you would like to share a book review, please contact us!