It's Kind Of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

It's Kind Of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
Release Date: April 3, 2006
Pages: 444
Rating: 💜💜💜💜💜
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository


Craig's suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbours include a transsexual sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, isolated from the crushing pressures of school and friends, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety.



I loved this book.
I loved the film when I first watched it and then I found the book and loved it as well.
I just love this story.

A lot of people  didn't like Craig as a character, saying he was an entitled white guy, but that's what makes me love him. Throughout the book he says that there is no reason for him to be depressed, he just is depressed. And honestly I think that is so true for so many people who feel depressed but can't find a reason.

I also related with Craig so much in the anxiety department; struggling with keeping my grades up is something that has actually affected me for the last 5 years. However I haven't seen many characters who have this similar mental illness so I was super happy to have found Craig. I related to him on some many levels and I think that actually helped me to enjoy this book even more.

Surprisingly this book was pretty upbeat considering what topic it was dealing with. There were some scenes that showed off the "uglier" side of mental illness but it was mostly just Craig trying to figure out what was wrong with him. There were in-depth scenes describing what the hospital was like as well, describing the different activities that occur throughout the day. It added an extra sense of realism to the story because it felt like that is happens in a mental ward (I personally don't know if it was accurate). These events added some extra humour to the story which is why I think the story was so upbeat and light-hearted.

It was a very slow paced book, which I didn't mind, but I can see why some people wouldn't like the "slowness" of this book. There are times when it can become very wordy with long paragraphs and in-depth descriptions about what is going on in Craig's mind. To really enjoy this book you have to like character-based books instead of plot-based books because this is definitely character-based.

Surprisingly this book doesn't seemed too hyped. I'm not sure whether there used to be a lot of hype around this book, but I didn't even realise it was a book before I watched the film. Maybe I am in the minority of people who have read this book, but I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to read a book about the truth behind mental illness.