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A review by neenor
It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
5.0
I'm still quite surprised that I hadn't heard of this novel until a few months ago, because it seemed pretty much like my ideal kind of book. And it most definitely was. I found it utterly amazing that he managed to write the whole book in roughly two weeks - it takes most authors months, even years, to finish a book! And how he managed to write so quickly whilst keeping it at an excellent quality is pretty impressive (and that's still putting it lightly!)
Anyway; the novel is basically about your typical teenage boy developing depression, and going into a downwards spiral until he wants to kill himself. But instead, he checked himself into a mental hospital, and a bit of it is about his time there and how it affects him. And I really did love it. I think there was something about the fact that there wasn't any overly-fancy language; it was straight to the point, and that really helped to keep the reader engaged, because you didn't have to grab a dictionary at every other word: it was explained.
I also loved how Vizzini had developed the characters. Sure, you don't understand all of them and their illnesses, but they're still loveable, and by the end I felt quite attached to a few of them and weirdly protective. There are loads of people out there exactly the same as the people in this novel, but usually it is hard to convey the reality of it all with a few words. But Vizzini did that, and I found myself relating to a lot of them and their situations, as well as sympathising with them.
But it wasn't all doom and gloom. One of the more surprising aspects of it was how funny it was - how at the end, I didn't feel depressed myself, but was actually smiling and felt good. It's a book about depression that is not that depressing, yet still gets across the serious issues. And that is a talent if I ever saw one. If you like books like Girl Interrupted, or The Bell Jar, this is definitely the novel for you, and I know that once you pick it up, you will be hooked!
Anyway; the novel is basically about your typical teenage boy developing depression, and going into a downwards spiral until he wants to kill himself. But instead, he checked himself into a mental hospital, and a bit of it is about his time there and how it affects him. And I really did love it. I think there was something about the fact that there wasn't any overly-fancy language; it was straight to the point, and that really helped to keep the reader engaged, because you didn't have to grab a dictionary at every other word: it was explained.
I also loved how Vizzini had developed the characters. Sure, you don't understand all of them and their illnesses, but they're still loveable, and by the end I felt quite attached to a few of them and weirdly protective. There are loads of people out there exactly the same as the people in this novel, but usually it is hard to convey the reality of it all with a few words. But Vizzini did that, and I found myself relating to a lot of them and their situations, as well as sympathising with them.
But it wasn't all doom and gloom. One of the more surprising aspects of it was how funny it was - how at the end, I didn't feel depressed myself, but was actually smiling and felt good. It's a book about depression that is not that depressing, yet still gets across the serious issues. And that is a talent if I ever saw one. If you like books like Girl Interrupted, or The Bell Jar, this is definitely the novel for you, and I know that once you pick it up, you will be hooked!