Crazy…It’s Worth the Effort to Get There: A Review by Darla Beasley

In days of yore, when I was still working in Monographic Cataloging, I had the pleasure of cataloging Benjamin Lebert’s first novel, Crazy. Although I was interested in reading the book at the time, it somehow slipped under my radar after it hit the Processing truck, and I lost track of it. Funny how things work around here. Crazy, you might say, because I recently ran across this book again, while looking for a completely different title, for completely different reasons.

Well, with karma like that, you know I had to finally read it.  Crazy is Lebert’s debut novel and you couldn’t ask for a more memorable entrance into publishing. Translated from the German by Carol Brown Janeway, Crazy is the story of Benajmin Lebert’s experiences at the Castle Neuseelen (New Souls) Boarding School.  Already hampered by partial paralysis on one side of his body, Lebert or “Benni” as he is referred to in the book, has not been a schoolyard success. He is also hampered by the failing marriage of his parents and helped by his lesbian sister. But as far as academia goes, Neuseelen is his last shot at being able to graduate, but can he get there without going crazy?  The answer is yes. And no.

The cast of characters that accompany Benni on his journey include Janosch (his roommate and philosophical ringleader), the two Felixes (one known as Fat Felix or “Glob”, the other as Skinny Felix), Florian a.k.a. Girl, and Troy, who is silent for the most part, but actually has some of the most memorable lines in the book.  At age 18, Lebert has penned a coming-of-age tale with such deftness, that he puts most older authors who attempt this topic to shame. I’ll leave you with an excerpted conversation between Benni and his roommate, Janosch.

            “So what are you reading?” Janosch asks.

            “The Old Man And The Sea.”

            “The Old Man And The Sea?” Janosch folds his hands. “It’s supposed to be pretty good.  Maybe you can read a bit of it to me—for fun. We’ve still got a ways to go, and besides, I’d like to have encountered real literature.”

            “Is it literature?”

            “I think so.”

            “So what’s literature?”

            “Literature is where you read a book and feel you could put a little mark under every line because it’s true.

            “Because it’s true? I don’t get it.”

            “When every sentence is simply right. When it reveals something about the world. And life. When every phrase gives you the feeling that you would have behaved or thought exactly the same way the character in the book does. That’s when it’s literature.”                   

I strongly encourage you to go Crazy. You’ll be glad you did.

Grade: A

Call Number: Brow PT 2672 .E28 C76313