Daniella (Reading With Daniella)'s Reviews > It's Kind of a Funny Story

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Emotional, brutally honest, relatable, and entirely unforgettable. 

I’ve wanted to read this book since I was in grade nine, and I’m really glad that I finally picked it up. Craig quickly became one of the most relatable characters that I’ve ever read about and his story absolutely moved me.

I apologize in advance for the abundance of passages and quotes that I’m going to share, but they were so accurate and poignant. 

"I work, Monica, and I think about work, and I freak out about work, and I think about how much I think about work, and I freak out about how much I think about how much I think about work, and I think about how freaked out I get about how much I think about how much I think about work. Does that count as a hobby?"
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
As backwards and illogical as it may sound, my own anxiety is often a source of my anxiety - I spend so much time worrying and thinking about how much I stress myself out and overthink, which only causes more stress and anxiety. This creates a vicious cycle that is incredibly difficult to break, and Criag hit it right on the nose.

When I come home from school, I know I have all this work to do, but then my head starts the Cycling.”
“The Cycling.”
“Going over the same thoughts over and over.  When my thoughts race against each other in a circle.”
“Suicidal thoughts?”
“No, just thoughts of what I have to do. Homework. And it comes up to my brain and I look at it and think ‘I’m not going to be able to do that’ and then it cycles back down and the next one comes up.  And then things come up like ‘You should be doing more extracurricular activities’ because I should, I don’t do near enough, and that gets pushed down and it’s replaced with the big one: ‘What college are you going to, Craig?’ which is like the doomsday question because I’m not going to get into a good one. [...] And then the thoughts keep turning and I lie down on my bed and think them.  And I used to not be able to lie down anywhere; I used to always be up doing something, but once the Cycling starts I can waste hours, just lying and looking at the ceiling, and time goes slowly and really fast at the same time–and then it’s midnight and I have to go to sleep because no matter what I do, I have to be at school the next day. I can’t let them know what’s happening to me.”
“Do you have difficulty sleeping?”
“Sometimes not. When I do it’s bad, though. I lie there thinking about how everything I’ve done is a failure, death and failure, and there’s no hope for me except being homeless, because I’m never going to be able to hold a job because everyone else is so much smarter. [...] It’s all about living a sustainable life.  I don’t think I’m going to be able to have one.”
“A sustainable life.”
“That’s right, with a real job and a real house and everything.”
“And a family?”
“Of course! You have to have that.  What kind of success are you if you don’t have that?”
“Uh-huh.”
“So to have that I have to start shaping up now, but I can’t because of this crap that’s going on in my head.  And I know that these things I’m thinking don’t make sense and I think ‘Stop!'”
“But you can’t stop.”
“I can’t stop.””
The term “cycling” and Craig’s description of it was one of the strongest and most relatable to my own personal experiences. This passage genuinely took my breath away. I have never seen or heard anybody describe it in this way before, but this was perfect. I feel so understood.

"The problem is that I'm so lazy."
"How are you lazy, Craig?"
"I waste at least an hour every day lying in bed. Then I waste time pacing. I waste time thinking. I waste time being quiet and not saying anything because I'm afraid I'll stutter."

Again, this was a moment in which I felt so seen because what Craig is description is very accurate.

"But, you know, the problem is, you don't chill enough. Like even when you're here, you're always worries about school or something; you never just kick back and let things slide, you know what I mean?"
People are nearly always telling me that I need to “chill out” or “relax”, which often annoys the heck out of me. I KNOW that I overthink absolutely everything. I KNOW that my mind often has the tendency to jump to the worst possible conclusions. I KNOW that I stress out over the tiniest little things that the average person doesn’t even think twice about. But, unfortunately, I can’t change that. My natural reaction to worry and stress and overthink is an integral part of me, and as much as I hate it and wish that I could change it sometimes, I also know that I can’t. I just wish that other people would be more understanding of this and stop telling me to “relax” or “chill out” as if I have some sort of on/off switch for that. Believe me, if calming down were that easy, I would have already done it. 


"I was done; I was back to me.
But things come full circle baby, and two months later I was back in my bathroom, bowing to the toilet in the dark."

I appreciated the fact that this is a young adult book that actually recognized the link between school and anxiety and depression. I hate when characters in YA contemporary books go to school and then go home and do whatever they’d like with their time. They rarely talk about homework or studying, maybe just briefly mentioning the fact that they read a book or briefly study for a big exam, and yet they get excellent grades and manage to get into whichever post-secondary schools they want. For many of us in the real world, high school is a lot of work and a lot of pressure academically. The stress of school played a major role in my life during high school, and as I’ve gotten older and slightly better at managing it, it still has a tremendous impact on my everyday life as a university student. To finally, finally, finally see somebody else who was equally stressed about school as I was (and often still am) is so relieving. I’m frustrated to see most YA teens that hardly mention school outside of actually being there for classes because that is the total, complete opposite of what I and many others experience. 

I've come to learn that Ned Vizzini actually wrote this book after spending time in a psychiatrist hospital and he wrote the story based upon his own experiences; approximately 85% of the story is true. It is absolutely heartbreaking to discover that Ned Vizzini ended up committing suicide in 2013. 

I must admit that I didn't particularly care for any of the other characters in the novel, but Craig's personal development and growth took center stage and was enough to compensate for the lack of interest that I had in the minor characters.

There was also a nice sprinkling of humor throughout the book; the title doesn’t lie - it is kind of a funny story.
"Craig: I think that you would benefit from seeing someone."

"I know! Don't think I haven't tried. I'm not really good at talking to girls."

"Girls? No. I meant therapists. You should start seeing a therapist."

"So the suicide hotline is too busy right now?'
"Yes - it's Friday night. This is our busiest time."
"Great. I'm common even in suicide."

"I told them anyone why came in had to touch it, otherwise they were a pussy, which [...] I thought was great because it was a word with two meanings: the cat that girls liked and the thing you called people to make them do stuff. Just like chicken had two meanings: the bird that walked around and the white stuff you ate. Some people touched the hot pipe if you called them chicken as well."

I'm really looking forward to watching the movie adaptation of this, hopefully sometime soon! I've heard that a few changes to the storyline were made in the movie, but I'm curious to see how it compares.

I am so grateful that I finally read this book. Craig's story had such an impact on me and I know that I will never forget it.