Nichts

Apr 18, 2010 karen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to karen by: ariel

Shelves: creepy-children, favorites, why-yes-i-ya

the beginning part of this book reminded me of my very favorite part in john gardner's grendel, where two characters are ass-kickingly fighting,but also having a philosophical debate at the same time. this starts out like that, only with less howling. this is teen fiction, so the weapons being pelted are plums, and everyone gets to keep their arms (for now), but that doesn't mean this is sweet valley high: there will be blood and sacrifice and deep dark nihilism in these 13-year-olds before we a...more

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Feb 20, 2013 jo mo rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, dramarama, partly-read, ugly-story, read-in-german, school-life, abuse, reviews, 1-star, icky, horror

just this week -- i was riding the bus on my way to school. and as i was sitting there and pondering about life (aren't i the intellectual?), i noticed this guy who was sitting in the row in front of me, who was doing something with his hands. he couldn't seem to stop his nervous gestures. so i looked. (of course i looked.)

dude was scratching on practically every exposed skin surface on his body. he generously liberated his ears from earwax. picked his nose as if there was no tomorrow. rubbed hi...more

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Nov 25, 2011 Allison rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Most of the time I was dying for this twisted book to end, and the other parts were when I was eerily fascinated by the utter creepiness that was going on in the last half of the book...

Anyways, the review:

Nothing is about a group of 7th grade kids, trying to prove that there is meaning in life. One of their ex-classmates has challenged this view, and they're desperate to prove him wrong. As the story goes on, each in turn forces another to give up "something" that means a lot to them. As this...more

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May 08, 2010 Greg rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-for-kids, life-is-shit, fiction, favorites, girls-girls-girls

On the first day of seventh grade one kid realizes that nothing matters. He stands up, leaves and starts spending his days sitting in a plum tree and jeering at his former classmates about the meaningless of everything.

His classmates are not happy with him.

Displeased. Angry. Furious.

The plot sounds kind of like Calvino's Baron in the Trees, another tale about a boy in a tree that annoys people just by his being in the tree. The kid in Nothing doesn't live in the tree though, he just spends hi...more

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Dec 03, 2011 Christina (Reading Thru The Night) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, what-the-what, philosophical

You know what this book is being compared to? A twenty-first century version of Lord of the Flies. I know you're curious right? Is it?

*shrug*

I have to be honest here: I read Lord of the Flies twenty years ago. I remember the conch shell and a whole bunch of boys who slowly turn on each other...but that's about it. (Er also, wasn't there a character named Piggy or did I just imagine it?) ANYWAYS, I was a pretty freaked out fourteen year old, mind you. It at least left an impression.

Aaannnd...Noth...more You know what this book is being compared to? A twenty-first century version of Lord of the Flies. I know you're curious right? Is it?

*shrug*

I have to be honest here: I read Lord of the Flies twenty years ago. I remember the conch shell and a whole bunch of boys who slowly turn on each other...but that's about it. (Er also, wasn't there a character named Piggy or did I just imagine it?) ANYWAYS, I was a pretty freaked out fourteen year old, mind you. It at least left an impression.

Aaannnd...Nothing left equally a strong impression. But whereas I can peg the similarity in the children eventually turn on each other and there's a heavily played out GROUPTHINK going on, Nothing was by far more wretched than the Flies ever could be.

S'okay, we have this young boy who's about fourteen years old and on the first day of school he suddenly stands up and states that nothing matters. Naaaasssing (imagine a heavy German accent, peeps). Of course his fellow classmates get a wee bit wigged out about this exclamatory remark, thus deciding it is up to them to SHOW said flipped out classmate that things really DO matter.

Now how do you go about that, you might be wondering? Easily enough, each student will contribute to the something-matters-pile. An accumulation of personal mattersomes.

It starts off childlike enough. You over there! Take off your brand new and favorite shoes! Throw them in the pile! And you! Yes you! I want your musical instrument. But then it gets feverish. My favorite instrument? Oh no you didn't! I want your pet munchkin. And YOOOOOUUU! You must cut off your hair!

Do ya see where this is going? It gets ohsomuchworse! *shudder* To include, but by far NOT THE WORST....a severed dog's head.

And whilst this is going on, the mate that espoused life has no meaning so might as well just enjoy it, is doing just that. Up in a tree. Not realizing how crazed his ex-buds have gotten.

EXISTENTIALISM people! Do you hear me?! Oh how I lurve thee. Seriously. The Big E and I were buds way back in my early 20's. Must everything have meaning? Is nothing sacred anymore? What is the point? Who cares we'll all end up dead and forgotten. Yes, yes, I'm simplifying. But you get it right?!

Nothing had me biting my nails. Bwhahahaha I even love using the title over and over again. *elbows ribs* get it? get it?

This is definitely NOT a book to get if you want to be in a cheery mood. But it is a fantastic gem of 200 odd pages. (less)

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Feb 21, 2011 Lawral rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, 2011

Disturbing does not even begin to cover it.

Nothing is a tiny book. It's shorter than most and more narrow. The story takes up slightly more than 200 pages, and those pages contain a lot of white space. Still, it is probably the most disturbing book I've ever read. And almost not even in a good way. Don't get me wrong, Nothing is a wonderfully written book. Not a single word is superfluous and yet the story feels expansive. We see the whole thing from Agnes' point of view, and yet the feelings of...more

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Jan 02, 2013 Nanna Elisabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: school-books

I'm not quite sure, how I feel about this book. In some way, it didn't make sense at all, but anyhow, I couldn't put it down. The way this book focused on the meaning of life, was something very special. What is important, and what isn't? And maybe Pierre Anthon is right, maybe life just is nothing at all. We all die someday, but on the other hand, that doesn't mean we aren't supposed to live. Because if we don't have a life, then death would be nothing - so why don't we just make everything wor...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Christina Wilder rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: unusual-and-daring, heartbreaking, horror

This book is pure nihilism, which means that it is profoundly fucked up. You're either going to love it or hate it, and it will most certainly offend you, but I do think it's worth a read.

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Jan 04, 2013 Elyse rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

ZERO STARS..... (less than ZERO)!

Shame on this author! This book is creepy-creepy-creepy!

Disturbing and irritating.

NOTE: I would NEVER suggest this book for ANYONE of ANY age to read. ---
I read a few reviews who wrote SPOIL ALERT before writing more of what they had to say. However, 'nothing' they could say would spoil this book anymore than its ALREADY SPOILED. I could tell you every little ugly-nasty-yucky detail about this book ---in 5 minutes if you are really THAT curious ---(ask me if yo...more

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May 17, 2012 Alex Bennett added it · review of another edition

Please check out Electrifying Reviews for more reviews like this, plus giveaways, interviews, and more!

I first heard about Nothing from a former teacher last year. When she told me what it was about, I was actually really interested, but acted like I didn’t care because I was with my friends and didn’t really want them to see me talking to a teacher about books. But the title of the book never left my mind, and when I saw it in real life for the first time, I picked it up and started as soon as...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Sesana rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, young-adult

When picking up Nothing, a reader needs to be prepared to suspend their disbelief an extraordinary amount for what is meant to be a realistic, contemporary story. A young (13-14) boy decides that nothing means anything, so he decides to spend his days in a tree yelling what are, in translation, irritating slogans about how nothing means anything. His parents and teachers? Apparently content to let him stay throughout the winter. His classmates? Actually deeply bothered by him, instead of finding...more

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Sep 29, 2011 Christie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What begins as a premise with so much potential ends as a book full of nothing, or worse, an appalling disregard for the humanity of teenagers and a deeply cynical and pathological view of life. One 7th grader decides nothing is worth it and climbs a tree. The best the others can muster is to pelt rocks his way. Really?!? Why doesn't one climb the tree and join him? Where are his parents? Why is it that all kids are equally threatened by this act, which I feel would only pose a minor threat to a...more

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Dec 05, 2010 Viktoria rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, young-adult

Ein Schüler entscheidet sich, nicht mehr in die Schule zu gehen, da er erkannt hat, dass nichts im Leben eine Bedeutung hat. Seine Mitschüler kommen mit seinen Aussagen nicht klar und wollen ihm beweisen, dass sehr viel Bedeutung hat. So muss jeder aus der Klasse etwas abgeben (jeder darf einmal bestimmen, was einer abgeben muss), was für ihn eine besondere Bedeutung hat. Angefangen bei Sandalen, über einen Hamster bis hin zu sehr heftigen Forderungen der Schüler.
Janne Teller zeigt, wie aus eine...more

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Apr 23, 2013 Pinkie Pie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nothing was not an easy read. While the story focuses on a group of 7th grade children, it definitely read like an adult novel. Nothing was provocative, shocking; it was hard to stomach, and had to be read over a few separate sittings.

I loved Agnes's voice. She was straight and to the point, and neither a leader nor a follower. Since the book wasn't really about the characters, none of them were fully fleshed out, and they sometimes ran into each other. Every time I got mixed up, or forgot about...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Diana Welsch rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. As a lifelong depressive, this is definitely the kind of book for me.

It takes place in Denmark, where a middle-school boy named Pierre has an existential crisis, announces to his class that he has always known that nothing matters but just realized that nothing is worth doing, and stalks out of the classroom. Now he spends his days sitting in a plum tree and hurling plums at his former classmates as they walk to school.

The other students are scared, because they understand that he is right. They...more As a lifelong depressive, this is definitely the kind of book for me.

It takes place in Denmark, where a middle-school boy named Pierre has an existential crisis, announces to his class that he has always known that nothing matters but just realized that nothing is worth doing, and stalks out of the classroom. Now he spends his days sitting in a plum tree and hurling plums at his former classmates as they walk to school.

The other students are scared, because they understand that he is right. They decide to try to prove their classmate, and themselves, wrong by collecting the things that mean the most to them and piling them in an abandoned sawmill, and when they are finished they will show it to their classmate and inspire him to believe in life.

The problem is, when the students have to choose something for themselves to sacrifice, they end up choosing things that they don't mind getting rid of. So they choose for each other. It starts out predictably: a new pair of shoes, a favorite pair of earrings, a fishing pole. But as the kids get increasingly enraged at what they are being told to give up that they demand bigger and bigger sacrifices from their friends. Exhumed siblings. Virginities. Body parts. Yeah. This book is dark.

When the adults finally notice what is going on, the jig is up. They're in big trouble with their parents. But they also get attention and even acclaim from the media and arts organizations for their project. What they aren't expecting is that their heap of meaning and the attention it's getting doesn't even begin to impress their classmate Pierre. He gives zero shits.

The final showdown/bloodbath over the pile and what it means ends with the students, or at least the narrator, realizing that maybe Pierre isn't 100% right about the worthlessness of life, but the smidgen of meaning you can find just makes life even worse.

This book was basically perfect and I wish I had it when I was a child/teen. However, I would only recommend it to other depressives. This is the sort of book that makes happy people frown, either at life or at how crappy they feel the story is because they disagree with it. Not me though. I found it affirming in its desolation.(less)

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Jan 05, 2013 Víctor rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Un gran libro. Si creía que Sophie's World era un buen libro de filosofía para adolescentes, este rompe con todas mis preconcepciones. Nothing de Janne Teller, es un libro para estudiar, debatir y meditar. Contiene más filosofía que el ortodoxo repaso funcional que hace a la filosofía occidental Gaarder, quién también es compatriota de Taller.

Hace unas semanas mi padre me dijo que leyera este libro. Normalmente mi padre no me recomienda libros de esta temática, sino cosas de corte más mundano,...more Un gran libro. Si creía que Sophie's World era un buen libro de filosofía para adolescentes, este rompe con todas mis preconcepciones. Nothing de Janne Teller, es un libro para estudiar, debatir y meditar. Contiene más filosofía que el ortodoxo repaso funcional que hace a la filosofía occidental Gaarder, quién también es compatriota de Taller.

Hace unas semanas mi padre me dijo que leyera este libro. Normalmente mi padre no me recomienda libros de esta temática, sino cosas de corte más mundano, aún así revisé el contenido y su etiqueta publicitaria me compró: "un libro para adolescentes que fue censurado en Escandinavia". ¡Escandinavia, la parte del mundo más tolerante, había censurado un libro para adolescentes! Leerlo me era inevitable.

Según tengo entendido, Wittgenstein conjuraba al suicidio nombrándolo como el eje sobre el cual gira todo sistema ético. Pues ahora yo, con toda modestia, conjuro al nihilismo y lo nombro el eje sobre el cual todo sistema filosófico debe girar.

Desde hace tiempo miro el problema de la entropía con curiosidad. Las últimas apreciaciones cosmológicas juzgan más coherente el final de universo con una expansión eterna, donde no haya más que vacío, la entropía será absoluta y la materia estará dispersada uniformemente, para ser inútil del todo. Por tanto a esta escala universal, lo humano carece de importancia; el nihilismo sería la única perspectiva con sentido. Tal como lo resume Pierre Anthon en la novela: "Nada importa. Hace mucho que lo sé. Así que no merece la pena hacer nada. Eso acabo de descubrirlo."

Sin embargo, nuestra experiencia diaria rechaza esta noción. ¿Cómo la vida puede no importar, si somos testigos y partícipes de hechos maravillosos en cada momento? Ahí está el punto de fuga: la fuerza de los instantes rescatan la importancia de nuestra existencia.

Pero los instantes son transitorios, son de naturaleza pasajera. ¿Cómo podemos otorgar de significado a nuestra existencia, a nosotros mismos, con algo que ya dejó de ser? El significado debe ser perdurable, constante, nos tiene que sobrevivir (¡nuestra vida es tan sólo un instante por igual!). Como consecuencia, evitando la desesperación, proponemos sistemas, planteamos filosofías, en una palabra: creamos significado y nos aferramos a él, con la misma irracionalidad con la que nos reproducimos, porque el significado, al igual que nuestra descendencia, nos sobrevivirá.

De esta manera la humanidad ha formulado religiones, ha construido sistemas sociales (familias, comunidades, tribus, naciones), ha organizado su existencia en base a mecanismos económicos. Pero el peligro de toda relación, desde la perspectiva psicológica, es la codependencia (excesiva, y a menudo inapropiada, preocupación por las dificultades de alguien más). Así es como surgen los fanatismos.

Relegamos nuestra existencia a un significado (que es artificial y mundano) y lo defendemos con un furor, en muchos casos mortal, renegando de nuestra necesidad por los instantes. La religión es uno de ellos, y el que más miedo me da. Los sistemas económicos es otro, que también me aterroriza. Los nacionalismos. Los bienes materiales. Las relaciones interpersonales. Todos y cada uno fueron expuestos en este gran libro de Teller.

Relajémonos, ya que nada importa. Pero a la vez seamos responsables con nuestra existencia y preocupémonos por crear significado, único y especial, como nuestra propia vida.
(less)

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Jan 03, 2013 Carrie The Wade rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-and-j-lit

This is the first book geared towards young adults I've read in about ten years, and it blew my expectations away.
Leave it to the Danes to construct a short novel that deals with existential issues and gets pretty dark in the process.
Nothing is told in simple prose that languishes appropriate moments, but never lingers too onerously. My only issue was the translation could have been better, and was perhaps a bit too literal (the students frequently "hoot" at things, etc). But I think with a be...more

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Nov 26, 2012 Angelique rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nothing is dark and twisted, but at the same time insightful. It reminds me of The Lord of the Flies, but a more updated version. The children in this book form their own government when they are together. The story starts with a seventh grader; Pierre Anthon who left school when he realized that there is no meaning to life. He decides to train for nothing by sitting in a plum tree everyday and watching his classmates walk to school while throwing plums and reminding them that nothing matters. I...more

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Nov 16, 2012 Hannah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literary, young-adult

There was a Pierre Anthon in my eighth grade class. That wasn't his name, but it might as well be for this story's purposes. Probably everyone had a Pierre Anthon in their middle school class at some point or another.

This Pierre Anthon was not well liked by others. He did not share the same beliefs that everyone else generally agreed upon. And he voiced his opinions matter-of-factly. Maybe even with a bit of condescension, because he knew what he knew.

Whenever he spoke up about the things he kne...more There was a Pierre Anthon in my eighth grade class. That wasn't his name, but it might as well be for this story's purposes. Probably everyone had a Pierre Anthon in their middle school class at some point or another.

This Pierre Anthon was not well liked by others. He did not share the same beliefs that everyone else generally agreed upon. And he voiced his opinions matter-of-factly. Maybe even with a bit of condescension, because he knew what he knew.

Whenever he spoke up about the things he knew, he was met with a backlash that was twice as proud and condescending as he had been. Everyone defended their beliefs wildly and frenetically, as if their lives depended on winning that argument against Pierre Anthon. As if losing the argument scared them out of their minds.

The funny thing was, the harder they argued, the more material they gave Pierre Anthon to use against them. They fought rationality with irrationality, which only served to make Pierre Anthon more certain of himself. And though they felt they'd won the argument, usually it was simply over because Pierre Anthon had given up on trying to have a sensible conversation with them.

Everyone despised him.

I was no exception. I was scared and repulsed by him at the same time. The Columbine shootings were still in the headlines, and I had pegged this kid as Most Likely To Bring A Gun To School And Martyr Us All For Our Beliefs.

When in reality, we martyred Pierre Anthon every day. It is only much later that I can see how harmless he was, how stupid and unkind we were, how capable of destruction and torment toward one another, just because we felt threatened by someone else's ideas. If given the chance to escalate, our "heap of meaning" may well have spelled slaughter. In our desperation to convince Pierre Anthon of some infallible truth, to forge meaning where he claimed there was none, we imploded on ourselves. The struggle became less about Pierre Anthon, more a struggle to convince ourselves, to reassure each other that what we knew was right. Because if you stopped to listen, actually listen to what Pierre Anthon was saying, it became harder and harder to say anything back. Because as much as you wanted to deny it, you thought that maybe, possibly, there was a chance he could be right about everything.

And if he was right about everything, then nothing mattered anymore.

So most of the time, we just avoided speaking to him. We avoided thinking about it. Sometimes I still think about it, though. I hold what's left of the meaning in the palm of my hand, and I wonder if it ever meant anything at all.

Then I look away quickly. Because you don't mess with the meaning.

Isn't that right, Pierre Anthon?(less)

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Sep 27, 2012 Wendy Haws rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Modern-day Lord of the Flies. The story is set in a small town in Denmark. It starts one day when 13-year-old Pierre Anthon stands up in the middle of the classroom and says, "Nothing matters" and leaves school to sit in a tree and taunt the other children on their way to school. Pierre's classmates tire of his taunting and decide to show him that things DO mean something and set out to build a "pile of meaning" to show him. They start with simple things, like someone’s favorite shoes or someone...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Rafa Jurado rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

El viernes y sabado leíste NADA. Un libro que adquiriste pensando que se trataría de un ensayo y resultó ser un excelente cuento. Aún así, lo leíste en dos horas repartidas entre los dos días. Te preguntas qué fue lo que te dejó el haberlo leído. De inmediato sientes un deseo enorme por intentar discernir el tema, analizar la estructura de la obra, asomarte a la psicología de los personajes.

De acuerdo a la filosofia de un adolescente llamado Ashton, nada de este mundo tiene importancia y lo mas...more

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Sep 03, 2012 PaperbackAnchors (Sabrina) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

FAVORITE BOOK .
I love this book in every way. Not only is it written beautifully, the storyline is completely genius. From beginning to end you feel this building tension and you really feel for the characters in a way that isn't so 'in your face' sad or depressing. The book was haunting to me and I loved that about it because it wasn't what happened that was haunting, it was the message. And that message lead me to think of the events that happened to the book that made me feel such a strong co...more

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Aug 04, 2012 Leanna Sveen rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Okay, so I picked up this book in Barnes and Noble because upon reading the summary of it I was intrigued. The main obstacle the characters in this book are trying to overcome is finding the meaning to life. Pierre Anthon, a 7th grade kid from the story starts telling all his classmates that he's realized that life has no meaning. Love, happiness, sorrow, hate, mean nothing because life ends and in a few years no one is left that knows you. The other kids in his class are disturbed to hear this...more Okay, so I picked up this book in Barnes and Noble because upon reading the summary of it I was intrigued. The main obstacle the characters in this book are trying to overcome is finding the meaning to life. Pierre Anthon, a 7th grade kid from the story starts telling all his classmates that he's realized that life has no meaning. Love, happiness, sorrow, hate, mean nothing because life ends and in a few years no one is left that knows you. The other kids in his class are disturbed to hear this because they don't want to believe it's true, yet they don't know how to prove it's not. So that's exactly what they set out to do. From here on out, the story spirals downward, in my opinion.
(SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!) The kids decide that in order to prove that life has meaning, they will each give up something of great importance and create a pile of meaning. Okay, so first thing about this: Doesn't that just go along with exactly what Pierre Anthon was saying about living and caring about things ultimately not mattering because it won't mean a thing in the end? So how is a pile of items, no matter what they are, going to prove that they amount to anything? But I kept reading, thinking it would get better because after all, this is coming from the perspective of 7th grade characters.
In turn each kid was demanded to give up something important by the others, and as the book went on the demands got more and more creepy. One girl had to dig up her baby brother's coffin, another girl was ordered to chop off a dog's head, another had to give up her virginity to one of the boys, and a boy had to loose his finger. In the end none of the kids really had found the meaning, and they blamed Pierre Anthon for all of their losses so they beat him to death. The main character (What was her name? It was barely mentioned.) realizes that there is a meaning to it all but she can't quite put her finger on what it is. The end. WTF? So maybe I just seriously misunderstood this book, but I got nothing out of it. Just like the title.
What I'm most confused about is why did the kids choose things they had to give up to prove that life has a meaning? I hate to say what a book should be about but I've been thinking it the whole time I was reading. Shouldn't it have been about what they have to gain from life? And why did none of the kids stop what was going on when the demands became so terrible? They each just let it happen, consumed with making the pile "meaningful". This aspect of it was the creepiest to me. This book is a dark, creepy in a bad way, glass-is-half-empty, but maybe there is meaning behind the glass, type story. But if you like that kind of thing, then I'd recommend it to you.(less)

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Jul 25, 2012 Marissa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: impactful-books

This, to me, was a very impactful book. It isn't something I normally read (much less buy), but the reviews and the length of the book (it's quite short) intrigued me. I can see where it might have missed the mark with some people, but I really think that this is the kind of book that English teachers will be assigning to their students and picking apart (maybe as a replacement to Lord of the Flies?). It is a very dark book, but the last few pages also gave me a kind of twisted hope, unlike in L...more

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Jul 21, 2012 Muselmu rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: jugendbücher

"Nichts bedeutet irgendetwas, das weiß ich seit Langem. Deshalb lohnt es sich nicht, irgendetwas zu tun."

Als Pierre Anthon dies für sich erkennt, verlässt er die Schule, seine Klassenkameraden bleiben verwirrt zurück. Von nun an sitzt er in seinem Garten in einem Baum, ruft den Schülern hinterher, wenn sie vorbeilaufen, immer mit einer Botschaft: Nichts im Leben ist von Bedeutung!
Die Schüler beschließen, dass das so nicht weitergehen kann. Pierre Anthon muss wieder zur Vernunft gebracht werden....more "Nichts bedeutet irgendetwas, das weiß ich seit Langem. Deshalb lohnt es sich nicht, irgendetwas zu tun."

Als Pierre Anthon dies für sich erkennt, verlässt er die Schule, seine Klassenkameraden bleiben verwirrt zurück. Von nun an sitzt er in seinem Garten in einem Baum, ruft den Schülern hinterher, wenn sie vorbeilaufen, immer mit einer Botschaft: Nichts im Leben ist von Bedeutung!
Die Schüler beschließen, dass das so nicht weitergehen kann. Pierre Anthon muss wieder zur Vernunft gebracht werden. Um das zu erreichen beginnen sie, Dinge, die ihnen etwas bedeuten, zu opfern und auf einem großen Haufen zu sammeln, um Pierre Anthon davon zu überzeugen, dass doch etwas Bedeutung hat. Doch was als harmloses Spiel beginnt, eskaliert schon bald

Interessant. Schwierig. Unbefriedigend. Überzogen. Notwendig. Wahr. Verstörend.
Es gibt so viele Adjektive, die mir zu diesem Buch gerade im Kopf herumgeistern, dass es gar nicht so einfach ist zu sagen, wie ich das Buch eigentlich fand.
Die Autorin hat einen sehr interessanten Schreibstil wie ich finde. Interessant, aber nicht unbedingt schön. Die Sprache ist sehr einfach, wirkt teilweise aber fast schon etwas holpernd, was dem ganzen eine ganz eigene Sprachmelodie gibt.
Die Personen und Orte werden kaum beschrieben, aber man kann auch nicht sagen, dass sich Janne Teller bei den Beschreibungen auf das Wesentliche konzentriert. Die Charaktere werden oft nur auf ein oder zwei Merkmale festgelegt. Das mag im ersten Augenblick zwar unbefriedigend wirken, passt aber zu dem Buch. es werden nur die Eigenschaften aufgezeigt, die eine direkte Bedeutung für die Geschichte hat - und was wäre besser für ein Buch mit dem Titel "Nichts was im Leben wichtig ist"?

Das Buch erzählt eine ganz klassische Geschichte über Gruppenzwang und Mitläufertum. Was harmlos beginnt wird durch die Gruppendynamik immer weiter angestachelt, verfällt zunehmend ins Brutale und Gefühlskalte.
Ich finde es schwierig, in dem Buch einen "richtigen" Roman mit einer Handlung zu sehen. Für mich hatte das Buch eher den Charakter eines Gedankenexperiments. Was wäre wenn? Und wie vermutlich beabsichtigt, beginnt man ganz automatisch sich zu fragen, wie man selbst reagiert hätte, was man geopfert hätte und zu was man allem bereit gewesen wäre. Natürlich ist es einfach, diese Fragen dann mit einem entrüsteten Kommentar zu beantworten. Doch gleichzeitig weiß man, dass man das nicht mit Sicherheit sagen kann, denn wer weiß schon, wie er in solch einer Situation handeln würde. Selbst Agnes, die Ich-Erzählerin in dem Buch wirkt erschreckend normal. _Wir hätte aufhören sollen, bevor es so weit gekommen war. Jetzt war es irgendwie zu spät, auch wenn ich tat, was ich konnte._

Auch die anderen Figuren sind betont stereotypisch und blass gehalten. Jeder kann sich in irgendeiner Art und Weise in diese Charaktere hineinversetzen - und das gibt dem Buch auch diese unangenehme Spannung, die es inne hat.
Die ganze Sache gerät nicht dadurch ins Rollen, dass Pierre Anthon sich in den Gedanken dieser Bedeutungslosigkeit stürzt. Es beginnt damit, dass auch die anderen Schüler zu zweifeln beginnen. Am Sinn ihres ganzen Daseins. Denn was wäre, wenn Pierre Anthon Recht hätte? Wenn alles, was das Leben dieser Schüler ausmacht, völlig bedeutungslos wäre? Und Janne Teller spricht damit ein Problem an, was jeden Menschen in jeder Kultur und in jedem Jahrhundert beschäftig. Die Frage nach dem Sinn in allem.

Trotz dem Protest, den die Schüler gegen ihren Kameraden an den Tag legen - oder vielleicht gerade deswegen - neigte ich des Öfteren dazu, Pierre Anthon zuzustimmen, auch wenn seine Weltanschauung schon etwas sehr extrem ist. Denn wenn Bedeutung sich dadurch auszeichnet, was im Verlaufe des Buches geschieht, wäre es dann nicht viel befriedigender, viel Schöner, viel sinnvoller sich ebenfalls in dieses Nichts zu stürzen?

Ein sehr interessantes Buch, das nicht unbedingt gefallen will und doch wichtig und notwendig erscheint.(less)

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Jul 07, 2012 Morten rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. En god og samtidig skrækkelig historie. Jeg læste den i 9. klasse, og ingen bog har haft så stor indflydelse på min folkeskoleklasse, som denne.

Den handler om en dreng, der hedder Pierre Anthon, som en dag bestemmer sig for at han ikke længere vil gå i skole. Han har fundet ud af at der ikke er noget ved noget eller nogen. Man lever kun for at dø og arbejder kun for at kunne holde fri.
Hans klassekammerater vil prøve at overbevise Pierre Anthon om, at der er noget af betydning, men det er ikke le...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Aaron rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am not sure what led me to read this book. I must have come across it and been intrigued by the review. Since it is a really intriguing story, that is not surprising. The book was first published in Danish in 2000. The author has created a tale that looks at the meaning of life from the perspective of teens. It is not an upbeat view.

Everything starts in the fiction town of Taering, Denmark when Pierre Anthon, a seventh grader (the equivalent of an American 8th grader) walks out of class and de...more I am not sure what led me to read this book. I must have come across it and been intrigued by the review. Since it is a really intriguing story, that is not surprising. The book was first published in Danish in 2000. The author has created a tale that looks at the meaning of life from the perspective of teens. It is not an upbeat view.

Everything starts in the fiction town of Taering, Denmark when Pierre Anthon, a seventh grader (the equivalent of an American 8th grader) walks out of class and decides to climb the plum tree outside. Everyone follows him out, confused, to find that he has opted to stay there in protest because everyone works to strive for success in school and work and in simply doing right, but for no real reason. What is the true happiness in what they are doing? Is it really important?

His protests, which include him throwing fruit at them and their returning the favor with stones, gets his classmates thinking about what is really important. They decide to do a little research by starting to collect what each of them and those they know in Taering find important. At first, the things they collect are a bit benign, such as toys and books, but things begin to get more personal and macabre as they start to really pull in what is really important. Things start to really go downhill when they encourage one student to give his diary to the collection ... then things take a turn for the worst when they try to collect the body of a dead brother to one of the students.

As you can see, the students fThe Lord of the Flies when I was looking around to see where I came across the title. That proved to be a great analogy as all of the young characters seem to give up their humanity in their attempts to highlight what is truly important ... at any and all costs.

The book was well received in Europe at its original publication, winning many awards and accolades. The book won an Betchelder Award, which highlights foreign language titles that have been translated into English. The recongnition comes from the American Library Association through the Association for Library Services to Children.

The book is quite deep and philosophical, and I found myself not being able to stop thinking about it even though I had finished it. It was a really good book, but definitely not for everyone. In some ways, it was like an old Twilight Zone episode.(less)

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Apr 11, 2012 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library, ya, translated

Although I do pay a little attention to YA news, I heard about Nothing from an Italian bookstore newsletter, promoting the brand-new Italian translation. The pitch made the book sound so scandalous I just had to check it out (and I wondered, would something like that even get published in the US?). Turns out that not only had it been published in the US, my public library a block away had a copy, checked in and on the shelf.

Schoolgirl Agnes narrates the story of her 7th grade class, from the fir...more Although I do pay a little attention to YA news, I heard about Nothing from an Italian bookstore newsletter, promoting the brand-new Italian translation. The pitch made the book sound so scandalous I just had to check it out (and I wondered, would something like that even get published in the US?). Turns out that not only had it been published in the US, my public library a block away had a copy, checked in and on the shelf.

Schoolgirl Agnes narrates the story of her 7th grade class, from the first day of school in the fall through to the spring. One of their classmates, Pierre Anthon, drops out to sit in a plum tree all day and taunt them with his discovery that nothing matters, nothing has meaning. The rest of them get so annoyed that they decide to challenge him by producing evidence of things in their lives with meaning—and the lengths they go to collect this evidence provide the horror and the scandal. And, yeah, it quickly and smoothly gets really creepy and disturbing. Kids that age shouldn't be able to even think of such cruelty, let alone enact it. Would I really want my nieces to read this book?

(I should note here that I've never read Lord of the Flies, but my understanding is that the kids there are in an extreme situation, without adults. Here, they're just normal Danish small-town kids; they live at home, they go to school and church—and every once in a while they meet secretly in an abandoned sawmill to advance their gruesome project.)

It's a really quick read—all sorts of typographic tricks help disguise the shortness of the text, which I suspect is under 30,000 words. But it's also quick because it pulls you in with a one-track narrative where you're always wondering how the kids are going to top what they've just done.

The language is simple and direct, appropriate to the 12 year old narrator. On only a few occasions is it slightly clumsy, belying its Danish origins, but mostly translator Martin Aitken succeeds. He's particularly good with one of Agnes' stylistic refrains: Anytime she needs perspective on an observation, she pauses the narrative and inserts a paragraph of three short, even one-word, sentences: Adjective. Comparative. Superlative. This must be a piece of Danish grammar taught in 7th grade and Agnes is half-consciously practicing it—but some adjectives don't have regular comparatives or superlatives, and even if they do they don't necessarily translate directly into English. What we see is a young girl testing the bounds of exaggeration in language, just as she and her classmates are testing the bounds of appropriate action in life.

Turns out it's easy to go too far.(less)

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Mar 26, 2012 Seth Beiler rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

"Nothing matters."

In an incredibly simplistic prose style (fitting, as the narrator is a 13[?] year old girl), Janne Teller paints a harrowing picture of what happens when developing adolescents are forced to grapple with the idea of nihilism.

In reading summaries of the book, I had assumed it would be centered upon the character of Pierre Anthon, who in deciding that existence is meaningless and "nothing is worth doing," climbs a plumb tree every day to bray discouragements at his classmates. Th...more

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Feb 21, 2012 Lyle rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: depressing, ya-lit

This is an award winning book aimed at a YA audience. It utilizes your typical shock-and-awe-because-I-am-too-lazy-to-tell-a-coherent-story writing technique common to many post-modern authors of note. The idea is to take an idea or theme and hammer it into the ground with brutal violence and offensive imagery, sacrificing authorial integrity and perspective along the way. Yippi skippi. Listen, I'm totally cool with existential ideas being explored in novels (some of my favorite novels do just t...more

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