How A Book Transformed My Life

My favorite book is called It’s Kind Of A Funny Story.

Read the title of the book again. You think it’s a comedic book, right?

Just like you, I was blindsided by its title and colorful cover. Little did I know that it’s 444 pages were going to remodel my life.

In this novel, Ned Vizzini presents the teenager narrator Craig Gilner, who suffers from depression. The reader follows Gilner as he checks into a mental institution after he considers throwing himself off the Brooklyn Bridge. During his recovery, Craig meets people that help him turn his life around and he helps them recuperate as well. This showed me that even if you feel like you are going through hell, you can always ask for help.

I always wondered, if I had never read the book, would I have allowed myself to visit a psychiatrist when I got diagnosed with depression? Perhaps I wouldn’t have and that simple thought makes me love this book even more.

In the book, Craig uses metaphors to show the balance between the negative and positive things happening inside his brain. He refers to the obligations and stress that cause him anxiety as tentacles. For instance, the homework he has to complete in the mental institution are tentacles. On the other hand, anchors are the sources of strength and encouragement in his life such as his passion for art. These two symbols played a strong role in the novel’s message. They also demonstrated that negative experiences will happen, but there will always be something or someone that will help you despite the darkness.

My favorite part of the book is on the outside—the unpredictable cover, which is a map shaped like a head. The first time I saw it, I couldn’t understand what it meant. When I finished the book, I felt like I was a part of the story.

If I try to explain the cover’s meaning, I fear I will ruin the novel for anyone who has not read it yet, but this quote gives a glimpse of it’s meaning: “A working brain is probably a lot like a map, where anybody can get from one place to another on the freeways. It’s the nonworking brains that get blocked, that have dead ends, that are under construction like mine.”

If I would have never read this book, I wouldn’t know how to go forward with my mental health. This book was like my therapist. I learned life lessons as I read each page and that for me is the most beautiful gift a book can give you.

Books are the best resource of education and entertainment, so always make time for reading. You never know when you’re going to bump into the book that will alter your life.