Nichts. Was im Leben wichtig ist

Geschrieben von Janne Teller

Erzählt von Laura Maire

Auf das Leben folgt der Tod. Auf die Bedeutung das Vergessen. Auf den Anfang das Ende. Als Pierre Anthon das erkennt, steigt er auf einem Pflaumenbaum und verbringt dort seine Tage. Gerda, Elise, Jan-Johan und all die anderen Kinder in der Stadt finden Pierre Anthon Verhalten nicht nur provozierend, es macht ihnen auch Angst schließlich liegt die Zukunft verheißungsvoll vor ihnen. In einer verlassenen Sägemühle beginnen sie Dinge zusammenzutragen, die ihnen etwas bedeuten. Doch die Aktion, die beweisen soll, dass sich Pierre Anthon irrt, läuft bald aus dem Ruder...Alle Rechte der deutschen Ausgabe: © Carl Hanser Verlag München 2010

• Sprache: Deutsch
• Herausgeber: Hörbuch Hamburg Audio
• Erscheinungsdatum: 21. März 2014
• ISBN: 9783844901542

Janne Teller

Janne Teller was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has written several award-winning novels that have been translated into a number of languages. Nothing is the winner of the prestigious Best Children’s Book Award from the Danish Cultural Ministry and is also a Printz Award Honor Book in the United States. Janne lives in New York City and Denmark.

Rezensionen für Nichts. Was im Leben wichtig ist

[howifeelaboutbooks · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

I had seen this book described as "disturbing" and knew I had to check it out. It's about a group of seventh graders who are trying to find meaning in life after being taunted by a classmate. They pick important things for each other to give up and add to the heap of meaning, which over time becomes more and more bizarre. It is poetically written (especially for being translated out of its native language) and is very sparse, both in prose as well as formatting (there is a lot of white space, and it's very short). I wouldn't call it "disturbing" myself; I guessed a major part of what would happen at the end and therefore wasn't shocked by that, and perhaps I read more disturbing things in general. Overall it was a great book, and one I would definitely re-read.

[kayceel_4 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

I had a lot of trouble with this one. It's very well-written, and a quick read, if you were to sit down and read it through. But I wasn't able to. I kept having to put it down, walk away, and try to find something to distract myself from the disturbing subject matter.The trouble starts mildly -- thirteen-year-old Pierre Anthon stands up in class and announces, 'Nothing matters. I have known that for a long time. So nothing is worth doing. I just realized that.' His classmates are at first stunned, then intrigued, and then finally determined to prove to Pierre that there are things in life that do matter. As Pierre sits in his family's plum tree yelling at them as they walk to and from school, his classmates come up with a plan to collect things that matter, intending to bring Pierre to see the collection once it is finished. But what to include in a pile of meaning?This is where I started getting uneasy. As no one willingly gives up what he/she holds most dear, the students begin choosing items of importance for each other. And as one student is bullied into giving up his/her most precious item, resentment builds, pushing that student to find an even more precious item for the next. What begins with old broken toys, then a set of books, then a favorite pair of shoes escalates into very ugly territory.This reminded me of Lord of the Flies, as it carries the same sense of peer pressure, bullying and preying on weakness. The ugliness that humans are capable of in stressful situations (and things get VERY stressful for these thirteen-year-olds) is so much more terrible when witnessed in the young.While I personally found so much troubling about the actions of these kids, I wonder that I bring a whole lot of adult baggage into my reading. Considering that, I do think this would be a good read for 10th grade and up, especially if in a school setting -- the class discussions generated by Nothing could be epic.Recommended.

[mjspear_1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

A parable of a young teen who decides "nothing" matters so climbs a tree and sits. His increasingly-concerned classmates try various ways to nudge him out of his inertia. It is a bleak parable that, in this reader's opinion, suffered in its translation from the Danish.

[plexchan-1 · Bewertung: 2 von 5 Sternen]

3Q 3PI had a really hard time forcing myself to read this at the beginning, and then when the pile of meaning started it felt like the story was finally moving along. I thought it was going to be more like Baron in the Trees (Calvino) when the book began, but as the story went on I realized it was much more like Golding's Lord of the Flies and that led me to accurately predicting the ending. I didn't really like any of the characters, children or adults, and the cover was misleading - I thought there would be some emotional support or love or something in the book; I found none. The groupthink portrayed in the book often frustrated me. It was curious to note the comments about how only one set of parents in the book was still together, while all the others were divorced, and how the only person outside the group really described at all was a deceased family member. I'm not sure if this was to make the group more isolated (like the boys in Lord of the Flies, with their one character who was also deceased from the beginning), or more to illustrate the death of the concept of family in the village.

[she5ra77 · Bewertung: 1 von 5 Sternen]

Honestly, I think this book was horrific. At the end I'm not sure what it is I was supposed to take away from it aside from a deep sense of disgust and further insight into what horrendous things groups of people can do no matter what their age. At first I was just irritated by the book because I thought the premise was stupid, the pace was slow, and it felt like it was pretty much about "nothing," as the title implied. As the story progressed, however, my boredom and "this book is about nothing" attitude shifted to one of disgust and I felt greatly disturbed. Honestly, I don't think I would recommend this book to anyone. Go read something else.I read this book during lunch breaks at work and I returned to work with dark, negative and disturbing thoughts, to the point that my supervisor had to ask me if I was okay. Honestly, what was the point of this book aside from being like, "See how sick and twisted humans can be?" Honestly! I felt like it was a complete waste of my time. A quote from the book that I thought might generate a discussion: "'If something's worth getting upset about, then there must be something worth getting happy about. And if something's worth getting happy about, then there must be something that matters. But there isn't!' He raised his voice a notch and roared, 'In a few years you'll all be dead and forgotten and diddly-squat, nothing, so you might just as well start getting used to it!''

[kimneher · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

5Q, 3P. A truly disturbing novel that at times I wish I hadn't read. That said, it is extraordinarily well written, and draws readers into an existentialist debate that is raging in the minds of a 7th grade class in a rural Danish town. The trouble begins with Pierre Anthon, a student who has discovered that since nothing means anything, nothing is worth doing. In their attempt to prove him wrong, the members of his class begin assembling a "heap of meaning" in an abandoned building at the edge of town. As the heap grows, so too grows the horror in what the children ask each other to "give up" to the pile - death, innocence, and ability are all sacrificed...but at what cost?

[jfeucht-1 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

5Q, 3P - While I must admit that this book is very well written, it is not really to my taste. The narrative from the thoughts of Agnes is engaging, and I appreciated the interjections that were sprinkled throughout. Sometimes they mirrored Agnes' thoughts, such as "Blue. Bluer. Bluest." Sometimes, they mirrored what she told herself, but did not reflect her true feelings. They were just a nice little exclamation point to the dialog.

[cdelli-1 · Bewertung: 1 von 5 Sternen]

I wish I hadn't read this book. Can I leave it at that? Can I say that I foresaw the whole dog thing and knew in my gut that I should have stopped reading but instead went on? This book made me angry. The translation was odd and the context was somewhat lacking. I kept having to go back and reread to see if I missed something. I didn't like that there were no adults in this story, that it was constantly just the kids talking to each other, trying to make sense of things, lying and sneaking and trying to out do each other. The whole thing just made me sick and while I can understand that some people would like this book and appreciate the struggle and underlying dilemma, this book was not for me and is one that I wished I had only read about.

[tvickrey-1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

I'm still not sure how I feel about this book. While it was written well, it just left me feeling unsettled. Seventh grader Pierre announces one day to his classmates that life with without meaning, and then walks out. Weird right? Well it get's weirder, he confirms that every act is just inching everyone closer to death. This is pretty heavy thinking for a seventh grader. I just never think someone so young is going to find themselves in the midst of an existential crisis. Maybe it was lost in translation for me?

[derbyn-1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

3Q, 3PMy tastes in general seem to gravitate towards the dark and disturbing, so I was hoping to really like this book. All in all, I didn't. The characters all felt really flat and one-dimensional to me. I didn't connect with the narrator at all; it might have been third person for all the influence she had over me. I think for this to have been effective for me there would have had to have been a character present who grew more and more horrified as the sacrifices grew in significance, rather than less and less as the characters in the story were. The entire story felt like it took place in a vacuum, from the growing lack of sympathy from all the children to the complete detachment of the parents (several people have mentioned it already, but why was Pierre Anthon allowed to stay up in this tree the whole time? Where are the adults?). I suppose a sympathetic narrator would have thrown off the group dynamics but as it is I feel like this is a world that could not exist. What works about Lord of the Flies is the isolation of the group on this island. The children of Nothing don't benefit from the same.

[hepzebahroland · Bewertung: 2 von 5 Sternen]

VOYA 3Q, 2P This book takes a dark view of human nature. This is Lord of the Flies meets Waiting for Godot. It can certainly be read as a metaphor for the flawed nature of religion as well. Wouldn't read it again.

[ivymason · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

4Q 3PTold from the perspective of Agnes, a young school girl, this story kicks off when one of her classmates declares that nothing matters and nothing is worth doing. After his declaration, he leaves class, climbs a plum tree and stays there (occasionally chucking plumbs at his former classmates). Agnes and the other children are not only amazed, but appalled by this announcement and try to convince him that he is wrong. They start collecting their favorite treasures and leaving them at the base of the tree. It starts small with discarded or broken items, moves on to favorite items or pets, and then goes even further to the realm of the truly disturbing. I really and truly enjoyed this book. It was dark and disturbing and often made my skin crawl, but it also took a deeper look at the fragility of our 'humanity' and how easy it is to revert to utter savagery. The story itself (or at least the English translation) is told in very simple, direct language but exudes a sort of creepy, animalistic feel. Similar in tone and feel to The Lord of the Flies, this is an excellent read for anyone with a hankering for some dark and depraved philosophical debate.

[peetajack · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

3Q 3P. I found this novel to be twisted, unruly and a metaphor for the addictive nature of the mob mentality. When Pierre Anthon places himself up in a tree and declares that there is no meaning to life his friends ban together to prove him wrong. But their sacrifices begin to spiral out of control, creating an erratic and intense story plot. It resonated with the classic "Lord of the Flies" but this contemporary version didn't stand up to the original story, so I only gave it a 3 for quality. Where it had the opportunity to delve into the emotional and psychological aspect of the human mind it felt short and trivial. Not that I wouldn't recommend the book, but if I were to recommend it I would definitely ask a young adult to pair it with "Lord of the Flies" to really analyze what the story is saying.

[meggyweg · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

A most peculiar and frightening allegorical tale, like a modern-day Danish Lord of the Flies. I was fascinated by it and was unable to put it down as I watched things slowly but surely spiral out of control. The ending, when it came, seemed inevitable. Yet I wonder if actual teenagers, at whom the book was directed, would find it as interesting as I, an adult, did.

[crazybatcow · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

For the first 1/3 of the book (and it's a very short book) I wanted to put it down because the focus felt more on the YOUNG in young adult than the ADULT. The characters are 13-14 (according the the author's notes) but, for the most part, they act/think much younger than that. In fact, I think I'd be surprised if a 10 year old in North America was as naive as these kids.But, then again, it's not set in North America so part of the 'young' might just be a cultural difference. About a third of the way in, however, something happens/switches and causes it to swing into a more mature story - one that is quite disturbing. And caused me to finish the rest of the book without stopping, and bumped its rating up a star too.Overall, I ended up liking this disturbing little book, even though I didn't hold out much hope at the start. The book is about a moral, but isn't moralizing... if you know what I mean.

[jenniferthomp75 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

An absolutely brilliant novel.Teller's stark prose only enhances the cold, wintry setting of the book. When 7th grader Pierre stands up one day in class and announces life has no meaning and climbs a tree, his classmates take him up on the challenge and start collecting meaningful items to put into a pile.One by one, the items that are collected become more brutal and intense.Chilling and dark, this book will stay with you for years to come. An instant classic. Definitely should be considered for the Printz.

[lilibrarian · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

After one boy decides that life means nothing and leaves school to sit in a tree, the other kids in his class decide to prove him wrong by creating a pile of things with meaning to them personally. As they pressure each other to give up more important and personal things, it becomes bloody and threatening until it can't be hidden anymore.

[59square · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

Kearsten says: I had a lot of trouble with this one. It's very well-written, and a quick read, if you were to sit down and read it through. But I wasn't able to. I kept having to put it down, walk away, and try to find something to distract myself from the disturbing subject matter.The trouble starts mildly -- thirteen-year-old Pierre Anthon stands up in class and announces, 'Nothing matters. I have known that for a long time. So nothing is worth doing. I just realized that.' His classmates are at first stunned, then intrigued, and then finally determined to prove to Pierre that there are things in life that do matter. As Pierre sits in his family's plum tree yelling at them as they walk to and from school, his classmates come up with a plan to collect things that matter, intending to bring Pierre to see the collection once it is finished. But what to include in a pile of meaning?This is where I started getting uneasy. As no one willingly gives up what he/she holds most dear, the students begin choosing items of importance for each other. And as one student is bullied into giving up his/her most precious item, resentment builds, pushing that student to find an even more precious item for the next. What begins with old broken toys, then a set of books, then a favorite pair of shoes escalates into very ugly territory.This reminded me of Lord of the Flies, as it carries the same sense of peer pressure, bullying and preying on weakness. The ugliness that humans are capable of in stressful situations (and things get VERY stressful for these thirteen-year-olds) is so much more terrible when witnessed in the young.While I personally found so much troubling about the actions of these kids, I wonder that I bring a whole lot of adult baggage into my reading. Considering that, I do think this would be a good read for 10th grade and up, especially if in a school setting -- the class discussions generated by Nothing could be epic.Recommended.

[catheolson · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

This is supposed to be a book for 12 and up but it's pretty heavy and disturbing. It's by a Danish author and translated into English. A 13-year-old boy decides life has no meaning so what is the point of school, work, dating, or anything. A group of his classmates want to prove him wrong so they start the "heap of meaning" in which each of them must add their most meaningful possession. Each kid chooses something for someone else to add and the choices get more horrible as the book goes on. I could see this book opening quite a discussion with teens.

[jwarren42 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

The desperation with which the characters fall back and further back to find meaning in the face of a kind of nihilistic scrutiny is compelling. Ultimately, the meaning of the search and defense of meaning occurs in the reader, not on the page. Pierre Anthon is mocking us from that tree just as he mocks his classmates. We're left wondering what would we put on the pile in the futile attempt to prove meaning exists. Normally I would say highly recommended, but this is potent stuff. Approach with caution.

[sbballard · Bewertung: 1 von 5 Sternen]

I really wanted to like this book. I had seen it on the shelves at the public library and pulled it out because the cover and description interested me. However, as the simple dispute over the meaning of life between these school kids becomes a matter of rape, maiming, grave robbery and murder, I found it very difficult to read. I could not understand why these kids were making these terrible decisions and why no adult or mature person was ever consulted or stepped in to stop it (or the kids themselves for that matter). It felt very Lord of the Flies to me. I would not have finished it if it weren't required for the class.

[aryno-1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

I didn't care for this book, but that might be because I don't general care for nihilism in general. Like Lord of the Flies, but modern and about depressed nihilistic teens.

[alicen3 · Bewertung: 2 von 5 Sternen]

The premise of this that faced with the idea that life is meaningless a group of thirteen year old's begin to construct a "heap" of meaning. While this is an interesting concept that is important to be addressed in YA literature there are some fundamental flaws to the novel's construction. However, I will begin with what is most interesting about the novel. In raising the question of what is meaning and what matters the teens are entering into territory that adults have yet to address in their forties. Acknowledging this fact itself speaks to a necessary aspect of growing up that is interesting and unique. As for the flaws, when I was reading this novel I couldn't help but wonder.. where on earth are the adults? How is it that this can be happening for months on end and no adult is aware or intercedes? Much like when I watch some movies geared at tweens I cannot help but wonder where one might find an adult in the scenario. The suspension of disbelief in order to accept this work is profound and ultimately I found myself unable. I simply couldn't accept the work. Not on a a philosophical basis, but simply because I wanted at some point for some adult to glean on. When the adults finally did I was somewhat disgusted by the fame that "meaning" promoted as it had such a high cost.

[c.davidson · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

5Q 4PLikened by many reviewers to "Lord of the Flies," this book is about a band of Danish kids seeking to create a pile of "meaning" in order to disprove their nihilist classmate's beliefs about the meaning of life. Not trusting each other to truly give up what is most meaningful to them, they start choosing for others what they should give up. The sacrifices escalate, and things take a dark turn.This book was quietly intense. Several times during the reading I felt a little sick because I could see where things were heading and I didn't like it at all. It definitely made me think about a lot of things, mostly about how morality is culturally determined, and how these characters' participation in their own peer culture was so complete that they were willing to violate the morals of the larger Danish culture.

[sushiroll-1 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

4Q, 2PHow do we know if life has meaning? Pierre Anthon does and says so as he stands up in class and states that nothing has meaning and leaves. This statement throws his classmates in such distress that they go to extremes to create meaning to prove that it exists.The book is bleak, violent, and very existentialism. It is a difficult read especially because of the the age of the children and their acts. I enjoyed the book but I find it hard to believe that these children can commit such acts and get away with it without the suspicion of the town or parents.

[thea3ploetz · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

In "Nothing," Janne Teller integrates a compelling plot with the existential questions about how to find and define meaning. In what starts as a quest to convince a classmate and themselves that life is meaningful after all, a group of middle schoolers in Denmark make sacrifices of increasingly disturbing proportions. Readers and characters alike will wonder when and why the sacrifices will finally stop, and what will be lost by the time they do. Teller's insights into motivations of her characters and the simple yet profound writing make this novel and excellent read.3P, 4Q

[rarewren · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

It is the first day of seventh grade in a suburban Danish town, when Pierre Anthon declares that nothing matters and goes to live in a tree, the ideal spot from which to lob plums and existential taunts at his classmates. Fed up, they set out to prove him wrong by amassing a whole "heap of meaning." As they take turns sacrificing meaningful things to the pile, it is not long before their cruelty and urge for revenge lead to unthinkable acts. One of the group, Agnes, chronicles the gruesome proceedings with chilling emotional detachment and spells out their amoral logic with stunningly lyrical prose. Shocking, challenging, and beautiful, this is philosophical horror at its best.My VOYA ratings: 5Q ("Hard to imagine it being better written") and 2P ("For the YA reader with a special interest in the subject"). The author sure lives up to her surname, and the English translator deserves recognition too. The language is quite lyrical ("We cried...because the music crept inside us and became greater and wanted out again without being able to" [221]), and the humor is as subtle as the horror is shocking. ("Pierre Anthon laughed. 'He who laughs last, laughs longest!' And then he laughed so loud it sounded like a whole bunch of incisive arguments and conviction." [180]). The concise narration reveals just enough about the characters (many of them stuck with typecast nicknames) to give the story an allegorical feel. (Allegory? Parable? My knowledge of these literary terms is rusty, so please weigh in. I also don't really know what I'm talking about when I say "philosophical horror.") While there's something in Nothing to offend nearly everybody, older teens who dig horror or dark satire may be rewarded for braving it.Definitely a love-it-or-hate-it book, and I loved it. Nothing made me:*wish I could read Danish*want to comprehend Kierkegaard*reflect on other memorable reading experiences, including A Clockwork Orange (for the way the media ends up playing a role), The Baron in the Trees (by Italo Calvino, for the young protagonist who takes to the trees in protest), and Animal Farm ("It's like Animal Farm but with innocent-looking schoolkids instead of farm animals," I said to a coworker. "So basically Lord of the Flies," was his response.)*feel pretty ridiculous about never having read Lord of the Flies, and*work really hard to resist the temptation to slip a "much ado about Nothing" pun into my review.

[octokitten · Bewertung: 2 von 5 Sternen]

Nothing is the haunting, disturbing story of an increasingly macabre search for the meaning of life enacted by a group of 7th graders convinced by their nihilistic classmate that nothing really matters. The fear that Pierre Anthon's assertion that there is no reason for anything may be right leads the children to explore meaning by identifying, and eventually giving up the things that matter most to them. Their frantic need to prove to Anthon that there is some kind of meaning and purpose to life quickly becomes dark as the children decide collectively that the more difficult something is to give up, whether it's shoes or a finger, the more meaning it has. I found Nothing darkly unsettling to the point where I wish I'd never read it. The gruesome brutality of the children as they slowly lose their independence and humanity to group-think is simultaneously terrifying and uncomfortable, but it also felt incredibly unlikely. For the media to celebrate those horrid children as artists and revolutionaries after their pile is discovered by the public felt contrived and intentionally ridiculous, as if to sensationalize the already blatantly obvious message about the dark side of humanity. I suppose I have to give Nothing credit for evoking a wide range of emotion, but overall I hated the book and its message, which I suppose in itself is a testament to how effective it was in its portrayal of the questions that existentialism pose and the potential darkness that resides in everyone.

[sullywriter_1 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

Existentialism for readers not yet ready for Camus or Sartre.

[callmecayce · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

I didn't enjoying reading this book, but then I'm not sure I was supposed to. That being said, I liked the book. It's a bit of philosophy wrapped up in a YA novel and I think it works really well (it certainly got me thinking for a bit after I finished it). It's the story of a boy who discovers that life has no meaning and what happens to his classmates (they're the equivalent of 8th graders in the US) try to prove him wrong. For such a short/small book, it packs a lot into it. The novel's narrated by Agnes, one of the boy's classmates and we see the story through her eyes, but from a slight distance and with a bit of reflection. The novel is very well written and while the content is existential in nature, it's definitely readable/understandable.