A really crazy story

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A really crazy story (original title: It's Kind of a Funny Story ) is a 2006 novel by the American writer Ned Vizzini . The book is entirely written from the first person perspective of the protagonist, 15 year old Craig Gilner. This can be in a psychiatric hospital ward after being due to his depression had decided suicide to commit. Ned Vizzini wrote the book within a month after spending five days in a mental hospital himself in 2004.

The American edition was named Best Book for Young Adults in 2007 . In 2008 the book was awarded the Youth Literature Prize.

content

The book is divided into ten parts, each with several chapters.

  1. That's how it looks
  2. How I got there
  3. B-boom
  4. hospital
  5. Six North, Saturday
  6. Six North, Sunday
  7. Six North, Monday
  8. Six North, Tuesday
  9. Six North, Wednesday
  10. Six North, Thursday

In the first two parts, 15-year-old Craig Gilner describes his life. He lives with his parents and younger sister in Manhattan , New York. He learns almost continuously in order to pass the aptitude test of the prestigious Executive Pre-Professional High School and thus be accepted there. In his view, this is essential for him to have a successful and happy life after school. However, after he has passed the test with full marks and has been accepted at school, things go downhill. He is overwhelmed by the pressure of homework and other school duties, has eating and sleeping disorders , smokes marijuana , gets depressed and has thoughts of suicide.

After he independently stopped his medication, which should help against his depression, in the third part, because he thinks he would be better, he concretizes his suicidal thoughts and decides to throw himself off the Brooklyn Bridge . Shortly before he leaves the apartment, he spontaneously calls a suicide hotline ; he is advised to go to the nearby emergency room, which Craig does with the beginning of Part Four. This describes his recording there. He also tells his mother about his suicidal thoughts for the first time.

Parts 5 through 10 describe Craig's stay at Six North, an adult mental health clinic. There he meets people who are partly friendly, partly strange-looking or completely withdrawn; with some of them he makes friends. During his stay, he has a lot of time to think about his life, school and his previous friends. After his best friend Aaron makes fun of the fact that Craig is in the "madhouse", he reconsiders his previous friendships. Even with Nia, Aaron's girlfriend, with whom he was secretly in love for a long time, he doesn't want to have anything more to do with after a visit from her to the clinic.

He befriends Noelle, a girl of the same age who has cut her face with half a pair of scissors and is released from Six North on the same day as him. She eventually becomes his first boyfriend. He also discovered his inclination and aptitude for art; With her and Noelle's help and the support of his parents, his recovery is proceeding rapidly. He decides to drop out of Executive Pre-Professional High School and go to art school instead, after which he leaves the hospital again. Finally he asks himself why he just wanted to kill himself, he says that from now on he wants to “live” and “act”, something like “run, eat, drink”, but above all “live”.

Characters

  • Craig Gilner: Main character and narrator, 15 years old, attends Executive Pre-Professional High School, suffers from depression.
  • Aaron Pardis: Craig's best friend, also 15, goes to the same school as Craig.
  • Nia: You and Aaron are a couple.
  • Dr. Minerva: Craig's psychiatrist.
  • Noelle: Patient in the mental hospital, befriends Craig.
  • Muqtada: Craig's roommate in the clinic, comes from Egypt, rarely leaves the room.
  • Armelio: Another patient in the clinic, known there as President Armelio , constantly wants to play cards with everyone.

Edition and issues

English editions

  • Ned Vizzini: It's Kind of a Funny Story. Miramax Books / Hyperion Books For Children, New York 2006, ISBN 978-0-7868-5196-6 . (Hardback edition)

German editions

Audio book

filming

The film version started on October 8, 2010, under the English original title of the book, in American cinemas. The script was written by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck , with Keir Gilchrist , Zach Galifianakis , Emma Roberts and Viola Davis in the lead roles . In Germany, the film was not shown in the cinema, but was released directly on DVD.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ned Vizzini: A really crazy story , 2008, p. 383: "Ned wrote this book from December 10, 2004 to January 6, 2005."
  2. ↑ Ned Vizzini: A Really Crazy Story , 2008, p. 383: "Ned Vizzini spent five days in the adult psychiatry at the Methodist Hospital, Park Slope, Brooklyn, 11/29/04-03/12/04."
  3. ↑ 2007 Best Book for Young Adults , American Library Association, Young Adult Library Services Association. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
  4. ↑ randomhouse.de ( Memento of the original from December 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Publisher side of the German paperback edition  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.randomhouse.de