Monday, July 14th, 2008 |
It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini captures an inside look on a neurotic and chemically-imbalanced 15-year-old teenage boy rendered incapable of coping with life’s responsibilities. When Craig is accepted into a school for advanced students, he crumbles under the growing pressure and expectations brought with school work, his circle of friends, and the pressures of adolescence. It is only after being hospitalized in a mental ward that he is able discover who he is and find an anchor that grounds his sanity. During his stay, a set of colorful characters accompany him in his journey to find stability in the chaos of his day to day existence. While Craig finds comfort among the insane, he must learn to survive in the real world where rules still apply.
Vizzini, who first began writing for the New York Press at 15 and had his first novel published at 19, has a likeable writing style that everyone can grow on. His casual language makes his work easy to read and the pressure experienced by today’s youth is vividly portrayed on every page. His writing brings to attention a sort of craziness that everyone possesses deep down, but hidden in contrast to the lively characters in his book who wear their mental illness on their sleeve. Despite the heavy theme of depression, you are giggling at the irony and truthfulness of the main character’s whole experience and entertained by Vizzini’s amusing humor. It’s Kind of a Funny Story is the perfect short read and its audience is limitless. Buy, read, repeat. Go ahead, go a little crazy.
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Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 |
Bang Crunch Stories by Neil Smith, a modern collection of nine separate tales, is an intense work that personifies the dark side of human nature. By traveling through accounts of interesting and complex characters, Smith is able to explore emotions, amped to the extreme, that are common to every individual. The book’s imaginative plots range from the story of a girl with a body that ages at a rapid speed, to that of a woman who speaks to the ashes of her dead husband, to that of a teenage jock who discovers a new meaning in his relationship with his nerdy best friend.
With unique perspective, Smith’s writings are able to capture the reader from page one. Each story reaches a new depth of the soul that has perhaps not been visited in a long time, revealing the imperfection that every person discovers in their lifetime. Direct, in-your-face, and detailed, Smith’s vintage assortment serves as the perfect bedtime story for adults.
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