Literary notes about crazy (AI summary)
The term “crazy” in literature is remarkably flexible, acting as a descriptor for everything from a character’s genuine descent into madness to a humorous or ironic embellishment of human temperament. Its usage ranges from a marker of eccentricity or unfathomable emotional turmoil—as when a character is overcome by grief or passion [1, 2]—to a subtle indictment of irrational behavior or societal absurdity [3, 4]. At times, “crazy” conveys an element of wild enthusiasm or frenetic energy, whether it is applied to a person intensely obsessed with something [5, 6] or to settings that seem to defy normal order [7, 8]. Even within satirical or comic contexts, the word underscores the tension between conventional rationality and unpredictable human impulses, enriching the narrative with both critical insight and playful exaggeration [9, 10, 11].
- She dropped on the floor beside her crazy son, hid her face on her knees, and sat crying bitterly.
— from My Ántonia by Willa Cather - The poor soul was still at the bedside, where Rebecca had left her, and stood almost crazy with grief.
— from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray - What is it, they ask, but barefaced crazy unreason, the negation of intelligibility and law?
— from The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by William James - What is at the root of all you Karamazovs is that you're all sensual, grasping and crazy!
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - "Why, you see, Jo is crazy about horses and so am I, but we've only got an old sidesaddle and no horse.
— from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - My sister's just crazy about you and I like you too.
— from Little Brother by Cory Doctorow - Stark calm on the lap of the Line—or the crazy-eyed hurricane blowing?
— from Kim by Rudyard Kipling - It is as if the whole world had gone crazy.”
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - Barney Bodkin broke his nose, Without feet we can't have toes; Crazy folks are always mad, Want of money makes us sad.
— from The Nursery Rhymes of England - "Crazy, that's what he is—crazy!" he sputtered as he arose from the sidewalk and hurried away.
— from Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life by Sherwood Anderson - "It's a farce—a crazy farce," he repeated, his eyes fixed on the long vista of the room reflected in the blotched glass between the windows.
— from The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton