Reviewed By You: It's Kind Of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

Greetings, salutations, hello, any of the above. My name’s Rachel. This is a Book Review.

I know, I know, books! Wow, fun. Haha.

I’ll cut to the chase: I enjoy books and have a strong enough opinion about them to want to write them out as reviews. So, here it is.

Spoilers ahead for “It’s Kind of a Funny Story.”
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The book was called It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini, published in 2006. It is about mental health.

The preface of this book that a kid named Craig gets depressed after getting into a special school for smart kids and prodigies, and the pressure is getting to him. His best friend Arron is dating a girl that Craig wants to be dating, but he pretends like he’s okay. They start smoking pot and drinking alcohol, which is when things start to progress downhill.

He begins stress-induced throwing up; he ends up being stressed over everything in his life except for going to the bathroom, which is ‘calming’ as he puts it because he ‘Doesn’t have to think, he just does it’. He tells his (supportive) parents, who get him on medication and bring him to a therapist.

Craig takes it, thinks he’s better, stops taking it, and wants to die again.

The actual story begins a year later when he comes home, throws up, and decides to kill himself that night. He does push ups on a bed beside his mom and then realizes he doesn’t want to die, opens up a therapy book, and calls the suicide hotline which sends him to the hospital.

He checks himself in for wanting to die, they get his parents there, he gets checked into a mental hospital with other adults because “the youth part of the building is being renovated.” So Craig has to stay a mandatory 5 days, which he does.

Now, keep in mind, he’s been depressed for more than a year. Along with throwing up any sort of food he put down 95% of that time period and not being able to eat anything without puking, he was also unable to sleep at night about 95% of the time.

During his time in the hospital, these are the main events that occurred:
The first meal he eats he keeps down, he even takes seconds. How? Because “There’s too much pressure to eat outside but not in here.” He calls people from the outside, family and a few friends (without telling the friends where he is because he is embarrassed), and gets stressed and anxious at all the work he’s missing. His best friend accuses him of getting into a mental bin just to steal his girlfriend, and the two argue. Craig takes medicine to sleep that night.

Craig gives someone a shirt for a job interview, someone in the hospital who can go out with a pass. A girl who scarred her face with scissors, named Noelle, leaves him a note and they talk. Craig immediately thinks she likes him, compliments her and tries to kiss her which doesn’t work out, and the two leave. He learns he likes to do art, specifically ‘brain maps’ that he used to do as a kid but has picked up again now. He sleeps without medicine, and he’s eating without a problem.

The guy he lent the shirt to gets the job; they celebrate as well as a hospital can celebrate. They play a game of poker with buttons which ends with everyone screaming. Craig sleeps and eats like a beast.

He gets a call from his principal, gets anxious after saying hello because he thinks he’s going to be expelled because he’s in a mental hospital. Craig hangs up and refuses to answer again. He talks to the doctor who calls him into his office and Craig panics, but it turns out the principal was just telling Craig he has the support of staff and he’s offered the chance to redo the semester if he wants.

Arron’s girlfriend visits Craig. She’s let into the rooms and entire ward. She tells Craig that she and Arron broke up. She also confesses that she may be depressed as well. When no one is looking they make out for a bit before his roommate screams and they part. They both agree with each other that they have no romantic feelings, but just wanted to kiss each other for the fun of it. She leaves and Noelle sees that the two of them were kissing. Craig tells her they both don’t like each other, and the two of them carry on normal conversations for the rest of the night.

His last day there Craig makes brain maps for everyone in the ward. He gets numbers to call his friends he made in the ward. Craig decides to go to a regular school instead of the super elite school he’s going to now, so he’s less stressed and can enjoy it better.

They play a movie and, low and behold, Craig makes out with Noelle. They both say that like each other a lot, and the two of them make plans to see each other when Noelle gets out of the ward. He makes one last call, and makes up with Arron.

When he leaves the ward he says he isn’t cured but he’s different because he’s happy but there’s a slim chance he’ll burnout. He wants to date Noelle, take her on dates and make out with her. And the story ends.

Now, this book was very well written. Very well written. The different characters are likable, it captures depression and anxiety very well. Yet, despite this I still have a few things that I disagree with. One of which is the recovery time for Craig.

It’s simply not likely that someone who is “really depressed” can go from being depressed to feeling able to take on the world again and meet a love interest within 5 days.

He even says on one of his last days, “I’m in for depression. I had it really bad.” As if it was something he overcame, when really a week ago he was severely depressed, and now it's as if the story is telling me his life turned upside down after being in there for 5 days.

Depression, as with other mental issues, takes extremely long periods of time to get better. It needs good people and a good environment and the right medication.

I myself have, and still do, suffer from eating problems, and It isn’t that easy to eat the way you want to. Something either snaps over the months or it gets fixed after months of work, or a mixture of both where the cycle rinses and repeats over years.

And the eating habits that Craig developed over the year or so would be next to impossible for him to recover from in the snap of his fingers, just because of the change in scenery. I know, firsthand.

But, could others do it? I highly doubt it, but it may not be impossible.

Depression works the same. It could take years, many many many years for a person to get better. Some people never get better.

Now don’t get me wrong, I still do enjoy the book and I still do enjoy that it talks about mental health and getting better. I just do not believe that getting better within that five day period is realistic.

Possible? Perhaps.

But most people will not get better within that time frame; most will go to a mental ward and still not get better even after months.

Even if the author was only basing his book about his experiences in the ward (he states at the end of the book that he spend 5 days in a mental ward), I still feel the need to point it out: depression, eating habits and sleeping habits usually take time to heal. That’s just the facts.
Another issue I had with the book was its romantic plot, with Craig falling in love with Noellle by the end. Falling in love or even being attracted to that person within 5 days? Please, it’s not realistic as well.

But possible? Maybe.
Realistic? No.

This book is a real book. It’s not some kid’s fantasy about dungeons and dragons. It talks about pure, hard mental health at the root. It doesn’t make sense to throw in a bunch of non-realistic ideas or plot lines into a book that’s supposed to be something teenagers should relate to.

Once again, this is just my opinion. If you really enjoyed this book and disagree with me that’s fine! I’m just speaking my mind.

Overall, I’d give this book a 7 out of 10. Well written, the idea of it was good, but the little plot lines to it drag it down for me.

~Rachel. A. Ryan

Thank you Rachel! Mental illness is a serious topic, and if you feel like you or someone close to you is suffering and needs help, we encourage you to talk to someone you trust. This website contains a list of hotlines if you need immediate support.

If you would like to submit a book review, please send your original review along with the book title and author to mehegarty@pvnccdsb.on.ca. You may write anonymously if you wish. Happy reading!

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