It's Kind Of A Funny Story (2007) - Plot & Excerpts
EDIT: I've just watched the movie! Or what my eyes managed to let in, anyway. I think I stopped after the first half hour or less. I mean, I disliked the second part and surprise surprise, the movie eats up the first essential part and starts with the second one. I must admit the movie fucked the book very well. And I thought the book was boring? The movie is much worse! And much more boring, ugh.I'm not going to rate this book for now, possibly forever. Because this might be the most confusing, boring yet beautiful book I'd ever get to read. Craig is a hardworking 15-year-old that wants to join Executive Pre-Professional High School, the thing is, the school needs some serious hard work and that's something Craig doesn't mind. Up until he actually goes to school. The work's too hard for him and he sees everybody doing extra work while he can't even finish the essential stuff. He starts feeling down, puking, stops eating and everything doesn't feel right.But Craig's a good guy. And a very confused one, he suddenly decides to off himself, but then he has a change of heart and calls the Suicide Hotline, and checks himself in a hospital. We then follow up to his story and how he healed. Or started healing.I won't rate this because I want to give it two stars, but I want to high rate it, but it doesn't deserve three stars, either. I think I'm in no place to rate this because..because it's just great. But it's great when you stop reading it. Craig is a very good person, the way he was confused was honest, straightforward. A perfect portrayal to a teenager who gets under a lot of stress. The way he thinks, just beautiful. And I'm speaking as a person who can't relate to him, but knows that many people do. For all I know, I've always been like Aaron, not with the shallowness or the assholism, but with the I-don't-study-but-I-get-high-marks, but that didn't stop me from understanding Craig very much and liking him. It felt so accurate. And the best thing about it is that he's honestly confused, he loves himself and he gives himself another try, another shot. It was plain amazing. But that's it. The first half. The first half was good, boring yes, but good. The thing about this book is that you have to stop. Stop and think Because the story won't seem half as great if you didn't do so. Here I was, liking it a bit but finding it very boring, until I took a break and actually thought about it and God knows I..liked it. And thinking about it got me sad, because I can't believe someone who helped people like this killed himself, it's so painful to think about and I pray and will pray everyday for God to forgive Ned Vizzini, such a pure person. May his soul rest in peace. The other half, however, was just awful. I'm talking generally, of course there were many good parts and quotes, but overall it just felt too boring for me. Not mentioning how unnecessary the transsexual sex addict existence was. We only meet her and yes Craig, it's a her not He/She/It, anyway, we only meet her at the very beginning of his stay at the hospital, then she goes. I don't know why she existed in the first place. And unlike the first part, I couldn't stop and think about it. The characters unfortunately felt flat and one dimensional, especially Noelle, the one Craig has hormones for. I hated the insta-love, and Noelle annoyed me beyond belief (Craig too) but I understood very well where they came from. Alas, I reached a part (last 44 pages) where it was such a struggle to finish this book. I, without exaggeration, had a voice in my head yelling EEEEEEND! EE-EEEND PLEASE JUST EEEEEND! and I felt angry that I felt this way because it is a..umm..uh..a good book. It is but it's just...I....It didn't help that the writing style was terrible very annoying sometimes. I'm quite sad at how many times the book annoyed me. And I wish it was just less boring. I mean, it was supposed to be funny, apparently. I didn't laugh and maybe that's why I find it too boring. But it's still uh,..good. Kind of. The first half. And realistic. Very realistic.
Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.comNed Vizzini has a distinct advantage over other authors who write about teen depression, attempted suicide, and the ins and outs of psychiatry--as a teen he was clinically depressed and even spent time in a psychiatric hospital. That experience has allowed Mr. Vizzini to bring to life the kinds of situations that were once largely absent in teen fiction; that of the fact that not all teens are happy, spontaneous, happy-go-lucky youths. For Craig Gilner, gaining acceptance into the elite Executive Pre-Professional High School in Manhattan is not the end of his problems, but only the beginning. All the studying, the cramming, the all-nighters he pulled to get high marks in his old high school and ace his entrance exam now seem mediocre, at best, at his new school. Craig realizes quite early on that he's not brilliant, he's not at the top of his class--he is, in fact, average. For a guy who worked as hard as Craig did, with such obsessive determination, this is a blow not just to his ego, but to his very soul. Craig soon finds himself unable to eat, unable to sleep, unable to find joy in just about everything. As he realizes he's clinically depressed, he tells his shrink--excuse me, psychiatrist--that his only joy in life comes from peeing. Yes, peeing. You go in, you get it done, you accomplish what you set out to do, and you're finished. It's pretty sad that going to the bathroom seems to be the highlight of his day (he even manages to stretch each trip out to about five minutes), but it's also the truth. Dr. Minerva, for $120/hour, is attempting to help Craig figure out exactly why he's depressed and how to overcome it. But Craig no longer thrives on a life of complexity; for him, life is a nightmare. And as his depression leads to thoughts of suicide, he's not even surprised to find that there's an 800 number he can call. And after taking the plunge and calling 1-800-SUICIDE Craig hikes over to the local emergency room at the hospital, where he meets Dr. Mahmoud (who is not a terrorist). From there, Craig is checked into a psychiatric hospital, and he meets a motley crew of patients who, amazingly enough, become better friends to him than the ones he had before he went in ever were. For Craig, being in the hospital might just save not only his life, but his sanity and his will to keep on keeping on. IT'S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY is a great read. Filled with issues that plague a large number of teens today, the author has managed to take sensitive topics and deal with them in a humorous way that never seems disrespectful. A very enjoyable, thought-provoking read.
What do You think about It's Kind Of A Funny Story (2007)?
I’m just going to put this out there, in case you have the preconceived notion - like I did - that this book is supposed to be a hilarious, slap-knee comedy about being a depressed teenager on the brink of suicide: this book really isn’t that funny, and I seriously wish it hadn’t been so desperate to be. To an extent, this book is enjoyable, even credible. Within the first 100 pages of this book, the MC-underdog Greg Heffley Craig Gilner won my heart with his realistic voice, and the portrayal of his suffering, which evoked much empathy. I honestly felt pretty confident that I was bound to adding IKOAFS to my favourites list. In fact, for a while, I thought that literature had a new Holden Caufield to marvel over. Craig’s therapist: “What happened when you woke up?" Craig: "I was having a dream. I don’t know what it was, but when I woke up, I had this awful realization that I was awake. It hit me like a brick in the groin." CT: "Like a brick in the groin, I see."C: "I didn't want to wake up. I was having a much better time asleep. And that's really sad. It was almost like a reverse nightmare, like when you wake up from a nightmare you're so relieved. I woke up into a nightmare." CT: "And what is that nightmare, Craig?"C: "Life." CT: "Life is a nightmare."C: "Yes.”You see what I mean? What sucks is that once Craig booked himself into the hospital for rehab, most of his authentic qualities flew right out the window. What began as a mostly-serious/moderately-playful book changed too quickly to revolve around a boy who forgot all about his very life-altering problems because people made him eat every meal, empathized with him, and because a pretty girl paid attention. The book felt forcefully light; instead of focusing on the depression that is taking over Craig’s life, the final 75% of the book centers on the relationships Craig has and makes, and seems to leave the biggest, heaviest, most important part of the story behind to give way to not-so-funny one-liners and bad, bad jokes. I appreciate that Vizzini recognizes that depression is often a hard subject to take, and that entertainment is a great tool to lighten the mood, but I was extremely put-off by the flippant way he treated such a serious topic, and also how he alienated his MC ‘s voice, making everything within the first quarter of the book seem like some big scam. It should also be said that the last 50 pages of the book are basically one huge lecture given by preachy doctors and even Craig himself, and that the resolution (view spoiler)[or lack thereof (hide spoiler)]
—Alyssa
A lot of people have summarised this already, so I won't bother. I started off really liking the book because Craig is a character that I found easy to relate to, as I have depression and some similar thoughts to his. At some point, however, it fell kind of flat, especially when Noelle was introduced. At that point it became all about sex and how much he wanted it, and sex was treated like the key to overcome his depression...all wrong. At that point, the characterisation seemed to flop a bit, the writing became dull and it was a pain to finish the book. I was bothered how, at the end, he's pretty much all better. That's not how it works, especially since some of the threads of Craig's thoughts (ie. realising that he liked being in a structured community where food was handed to him) were dumped by the wayside and not dealt with because he was too busy thinking about genitals. I would be able to excuse that kind of ending for the sake of the plot if it weren't for that, because it felt really inconsistent, it felt like an easy fix. In the end, it gives the impression that mental illness for teens can be just dealt with, it's an ephemeral event easily solved by being more relaxed with your life when, in reality, it's a lot more complex.In the end, I am glad that this book makes depression a more easily approachable subject for teens, I am just disgruntled with the execution and the way the theme is treated.
—Ephemera
I actually hadn't heard of the book first, I saw the movie featured on Reelz Channel,Leonard Martin's show 'Hidden Gem' I think.. When I bought my own copy of the movie on a whim, I came across the book as well. The book does take awhile to get started, we learn of the events leading to Craig checking himself into the hospital and get to know him. I grew to love Craig as the story went on, though I could have done without the mentions of his bathroom habits... Yeah, TMI there buddy.Even though it took awhile for the story to get going, it didn't feel slow at all. It was interesting to see what went on inside Craig's head and how he saw things.Aaron, mostly felt indifferent to him and I didn't care for Nia at all, even in the film. My favorite out of the Six North residents were Noelle and Bobby:(latter gif is a scene only in the movie)Each has their own story how they ended up there and their own way of dealing with the world. Couple stories really pulled on my heartstrings. Craig gets close sort of with the residents, and they help inspire him and help him to heal in their own way. It's a not a light and fluffy novel nor a dark/depressing one, it's sort of in-between. A fast read and hard to put down, this'll have you laughing at some spots and wanting to hug everyone in the wing.My overall opinion:
—TL
