Nothing

By Janne Teller and Martin Aitken

When Pierre-Anthon realizes there is no meaning to life, the seventh-grader leaves his classroom, climbs a tree, and stays there. His classmates cannot make him come down, not even by pelting him with rocks. So to prove to Pierre-Anthon that life has meaning, the children decide to give up things of importance. The pile starts with the superficial—a fishing rod, a new pair of shoes. But as the sacrifices become more extreme, the students grow increasingly desperate to get Pierre-Anthon down, to justify their belief in meaning. Sure to prompt intense thought and discussion, Nothing—already a treasured work overseas—is not to be missed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Release date: Feb 9, 2010
• ISBN: 9781416998792

Janne Teller

Novelista danesa de ascendencia austrogermana, ha pasado diferentes etapas de su vida alrededor del mundo. Ha trabajado en la resolución de conflictos humanitarios en lugares tan diversos como Tanzania, Mozambique y Bangladés. En 1995 dejó su trabajo en Naciones Unidas para dedicarse plenamente a la literatura. La obra de Janne Teller, que también incluye ensayos y relatos, ha recibido diversas becas y premios, entre ellos el Premio Drassow por toda una carrera literaria dedicada a la paz. Sus libros filosóficos han causado siempre una gran controversia y provocado encendidos debates en Dinamarca que se han extendido al resto del mundo. Seix Barral ha publicado Nada (2011), Ven (2012), Guerra (2016), Todo (2023) y Justicia (2025).

Book preview

I

Nothing matters.

I have known that for a long time.

So nothing is worth doing.

I just realized that.

II

Pierre Anthon left school the day he realized that nothing was worth doing, because nothing meant anything anyway.

The rest of us stayed on.

And although the teachers had a job on their hands tidying up after Pierre Anthon in the classroom as well as in our heads, part of Pierre Anthon remained stuck inside of us. Maybe that was why it all turned out the way it did.

It was the second week of August. The sun was heavy, making us slow and irritable, the tarmac caught on the soles of our sneakers, and apples and pears were just ripe enough to lie snugly in the hand, the perfect missiles. We looked neither left nor right. It was the first day of school after summer vacation. The classroom smelled of detergent and weeks of emptiness, the windows reflected clear and bright, and the blackboard was yet to be blanketed with chalk dust. The desks stood two by two in rows as straight as hospital corridors, as they did only on this one day of the year. Class 7A.

We found our seats without caring to shake any familiarity into the orderliness.

There’s a time for everything. Better things, jumbled things. But not today!

Mr. Eskildsen bid us welcome with the same joke he made every year.

Take joy in this day, children, he said. There would be no such thing as vacation were it not for such a thing as school.

We laughed. Not because it was funny, but because him saying it was.

It was then that Pierre Anthon stood up.

Nothing matters, he announced. I’ve known that for a long time. So nothing’s worth doing. I just realized that. Calm and collected, he bent down and put everything he had just taken out back into his bag. He nodded good-bye with a disinterested look and left the classroom without closing the door behind him.

The door smiled. It was the first time I’d seen it do that. Pierre Anthon left the door ajar like a grinning abyss that would swallow me up into the outside with him if only I let myself go. Smiling at whom? At me, at us. I looked around the class. The uncomfortable silence told me the others had felt it too.

We were supposed to amount to something.

Something was the same as someone, and even if nobody ever said so out loud, it was hardly left unspoken, either. It was just in the air, or in the time, or in the fence surrounding the school, or in our pillows, or in the soft toys that after having served us so loyally had now been unjustly discarded and left to gather dust in attics or basements. I hadn’t known. Pierre Anthon’s smiling door told me. I still didn’t know with my mind, but all the same I knew.

All of a sudden I was scared. Scared of Pierre Anthon.

Scared, more scared, most scared.

————

We lived in Tæring, an outpost to a fair-size provincial town. Not swank, but almost. We’d often be reminded of the fact. Nobody ever said so out loud, yet it was hardly left unspoken, either. Neat, yellow-washed brick homes and red bungalows with gardens running all the way round, new gray-brown rows with gardens out front, and then the apartment houses, home to those we never played with. There were some old timber-framed cottages, too, and farms that were no longer farms, the land developed into town, and a few rather more imposing whitewashed residences for those who were more almost-swank than the rest of us.

Tæring School was situated on the corner of two streets. All of us except Elise lived down the one called Tæringvej. Sometimes Elise would go the long way around just to walk to school with the rest of us. At least until Pierre Anthon left.

Pierre Anthon lived with his father and the rest of the commune in an old farmhouse at Tæringvej number 25. Pierre Anthon’s father and the commune were all hippies who were still stuck in ’68. That was what our parents said, and even though we didn’t really know what it meant, we said it too. In the front yard by the street there was a plum tree. It was a tall tree, old and crooked, leaning out over the hedge to tempt us with its dusty red Victoria plums, which none of us could reach. Other years we’d jump to get at the plums. We stopped doing that. Pierre Anthon left school to sit in the plum tree and pelt us with unripe plums. Some of them hit home. Not because Pierre Anthon was aiming at us, because that wasn’t worth it, he proclaimed. It was just chance that made it so.

He yelled at us too.

It’s all a waste of time, he yelled one day. Everything begins only to end. The moment you were born you began to die. That’s how it is with everything.

The Earth is four billion, six hundred million years old, and you’re going to reach one hundred at the most! he yelled another day. It’s not even worth the bother.

And he went on, It’s all a big masquerade, all make-believe and making out you’re the best at it.

Nothing had ever indicated that Pierre Anthon was the smartest among us, but suddenly we all knew he was. He was onto something. Even if none of us cared to admit it. Not to our parents, not to our teachers, not to one another. Not even to ourselves. We didn’t want to live in the world Pierre Anthon was telling us about. We were going to amount to something, be someone.

The smiling door wasn’t going to lure us.

No, sir. No way!

That was why we came up with the idea. We is perhaps an exaggeration, because it was Pierre Anthon who got us going.

It was one morning when Sofie had been hit in the head by two hard plums one after another, and she was so mad at Pierre Anthon for just sitting there in his tree, disheartening all of us.

All you ever do is sit there gawking. Is that any better? she yelled.

I’m not gawking, Pierre Anthon replied calmly. I’m contemplating the sky and getting used to doing nothing.

The heck you are! Sofie yelled angrily, and hurled a stick up at Pierre Anthon in the plum tree. It landed in the hedge, way beneath him.

Pierre Anthon laughed and hollered so loud they could have heard him all the way up at the school.

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!

That was when we understood we had to get Pierre Anthon out of that plum tree.

III

A plum tree has many branches.

So many endless branches.

All too many endless branches.

Tæring School was large and square and gray as concrete. It was in two stories and in essence an ugly building, but few of us ever had time to think about that, and certainly not now that we were spending all our time not thinking about what Pierre Anthon was saying.

Yet this particular Tuesday morning, eight days into the new school year, it was as though the ugliness of the school struck us like a whole fistful of Pierre Anthon’s bitter plums.

I walked with Jon-Johan and Sofie through the gate into the schoolyard, and just behind us came Ursula-Marie and Gerda, and we all fell quite silent as we turned the corner and saw the school building. I can’t explain how, but it was like it was something Pierre Anthon was making us see. As if the nothing he kept yelling about up in the plum tree had overtaken us on the way and gotten here first.

The school was so gray and ugly and angular that I almost couldn’t catch my breath, and all of a sudden it was as if the school were life itself, and it wasn’t how life was supposed to look but did anyway. I felt a violent urge to run over to Tæringvej 25 and climb up to Pierre Anthon in his plum tree and stare into the sky until I became a part of the outside and nothing and never had to think about anything again. But I was supposed to amount to something, be someone, so I stayed where I was and just looked the other way and dug my nails into the palm of my hand until it hurt good and strong.

Smiling door — Open! Close!

I wasn’t the only one

Reviews for Nothing

[howifeelaboutbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[rin.wilson · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

VOYA: I could tell without looking as I read the first chapter that this book was a translation, and in my opinion, a clunky one, thus the (2Q). I think those interested in philosophy and the meaning of life might be interested in the premise of this book, but then end seems to imply that thinking about your purpose is too dangerous a thing to touch. I'm not sure who to market this book to (3P). "Meaning...none of you has taught us any. So now we've found it ourselves." (154)My Review: Pierre Anthon gets up on the first day of school and announces that life has no meaning, so he isn't wasting his time pretending there is. He climbs up a plum tree and refuses to come down, pelting his fellow classmates with sarcasm and plums. His classmates are disturbed when they realize they have no idea what their lives DO mean, and so decide that they must prove Pierre Anthon wrong. I found the premise of this book intriguing, a chance for teens to delve deep into philosophical questions about what life is for. I was disappointed.They decide each must give up what means most to them, which begins with immature and ridiculous suggestions that made the characters seem more like four year olds than fourteen year olds. (Give up your earrings or comics, then he'll come down...) Soon they figure out that everyone is trying to hold back, so they take turns choosing what someone else must give up. This turns into an escalating free-for-all in which each character deals with their loss by making live more hellish for the next person. The sacrifices go from pets and memorabilia to digging up corpses, raping each other, killing animals, and sawing off body parts. All of which is, of course, for nothing.

[angiegb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Nada es un libro en donde puedes acercarte a las partes más oscuras, vale la pena reflexionar con este libro. No es el típico libro con final feliz.

[Rosy Antuñano · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lectura muy incómoda pero los mensajes ocultos y muy filosóficos, hacen que valga la pena.

[sean191 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The inside fly describes this book as A Lord of the Flies for the 21st century. However, I've come across this a lot with Scandinavian writers (Bachman being an exception) - when they write dark stuff, it's VERY dark. The book is thought-provoking for sure, but it's more like Lord of the Flies with Chuck Palahniuk at the helm. It's worth the read, but scarring. It's marketed as a YA book, but I don't think I'd be comfortable with young teens reading it. It stays with you and messes with some serious concepts we build our lives around.

[mboszko · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Whelp. That was … very Danish. Fuckin’ yikes. But also quite good!

[reubenwoods · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What an absolutely wild book.

[andybook · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The infinite search for meaning, for the importance of things; that's what this story is about.
I don't know if on any other occasion a book that guides you solely towards pure reflection has struck me as brilliantly and entertained me until the last page.
It was definitely the type of reading that I enjoy: extremely gray characters with brutal development, macabre, disturbing, and despite all this, it seeks to leave an important lesson.

Several things were expected of course (for me) but that did not take away from the surprise factor of the reactions of the other characters, how things escalated to worse, and the moral twisted as the pile grew. I feel that the author narrated it wonderfully; I imagined that I was also part of that questionable search for meaning.

"(...) I realized that all my life I had carried a Pierre Anthon inside me." (Translated from Spanish)

[mipedtor · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Surprising reading. A short novel that is not indifferent and has multiple interpretations, some quite distressing.

With a simple premise, it hides a profound philosophical background about existentialism and nihilism. But don't be mistaken, "No-res" was conceived as a novel for teenagers and its development, through a tremendously morbid and violent path, makes it perfect for discussion in a book club as it was in our case.

The theme the novel tackles is complex: the importance for human beings to give meaning to things and to their own existence. Yet, the approach with which the author does this at the beginning may seem childish, something for kids, until you realize that you are as trapped as its protagonists and each page reveals a reflective incoherence that gives us a slap in the face.

The important figure in the novel is not Agnes, the narrator protagonist, but her classmate Pierre Anthon. He is the trigger, the reason for everything, the meaning of the novel which in turn questions itself. Nothing matters. Nothing makes sense.

A novel that has been banned in some countries in northern Europe, including Germany, must necessarily be revulsive and reverent. And indeed, it is. It confronts us with our own existential question, the importance and fragility of the meaning of things. It even represents the weakness and emptiness that may lie behind the essential pillars of a society: homeland, body, family, music, religion...

Highly recommended. It reads quickly and will give you something to think about. (Translated from Spanish)

[JesusJaredML · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a book that will definitely leave you thinking, reflecting, and I like that each person who reads it finds their own meaning in it.

For reading and rereading. (Translated from Spanish)

[Scar727 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When I got this book, it was from a reading blog; I thought it would be an easy read for teenagers. I was completely wrong. It was a book that I read very quickly, with some existential questions that I have struggled to answer. I still can't decide what I would put in "the pile of meaning." Without a doubt, this book lingered in my mind for several days. (Translated from Spanish)

[pequeña.lectora · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A very violet book, especially aimed at adolescents. Repetitive and boring. Nothing more. (Translated from Spanish)

[Guadaluperezlds · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

He always said that nothing mattered, that we would all die and no one would ever remember us, so in the end, nothing mattered. But this book told me the opposite, it showed me that there is meaning.
We are ephemeral, changing, equal and unequal, we possess more than we think, we are more than we believe. We all have a meaning. No one is nothing.
Our identity, our homeland, our religion, our pleasures, our hobbies, our tastes, our friends, our pets, our family, our fingers, our existence has a meaning, intangible but perceptible. Our.
Sometimes we think that nothing matters, nothing makes sense, everything begins and ends, everything lives and dies. Flowers open their petals and then wither. But the flower is beautiful and will give rise to more flowers and that is its meaning, immense and infinite, in a cycle, in an endless carousel.
A book piece of meaning and of nothing.
A book that afflicts you and heals you.
A book that loses you and finds you.
A book that changes you and makes you the same.
A special book.
NOTHING is a whirlwind of impossibilities narrated as if they were possible. It is a subjective pull to the depths of our fears about the meaning of our lives. It is the smiling door of our consciousness in the mouths of thirteen-year-old children, in Pierre Anthon of fourteen. It is an old, twisted plum tree with too many branches, far from the world that whispers nothing and flees from meaning.

Honestly, I am delighted, it is a wonderful book. It is too good. It is what I was looking for. (Translated from Spanish)

[Abriil09 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A story that leaves a lot to think about how we are living our lives. (Translated from Spanish)

[GuadaR · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Without words. (Translated from Spanish)

[Tezzaa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It has a very good rhythm and is a good story. And now I understand why it was so controversial and banned in so many places. I mistakenly thought this book would change my perspective on life and help me find meaning in what sometimes, as Pierre Anthon says, life is worth nothing and makes no sense. It did make me reflect and especially I do NOT recommend that a teenager read it; it is a book for adults who already have the ability to recognize the good, the bad, and understand the difference between what is moral and what is ethical. I believe it would do a teenager more harm than good. My personal opinion, I am not a psychologist. (Translated from Spanish)

[librarybrandy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Merry Christmas! It's a bleak commentary on the ephemeral nature of the significance of objects! 'Tis the season to be existential!

Really, not sure what I thought of this. It's very good, but totally depressing.

[Julsbennet · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book has an unexpected twist, Pierre-Anthon's life presents the doubt that nothing makes sense, each day passes the same, the week repeats itself, what sense is there that after spring comes autumn and the flowers fall and wither, at first I considered it a confusing book but then it left me thinking, it is undoubtedly a good book.
"We had found meaning and with it the meaning of EVERYTHING"
"Isn't meaning the most important thing above all else?" (Translated from Spanish)

[307 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This has been the first book I have read and bought on my own, and I really loved this story; I loved the plot twists. Although I must admit that I wasn't very fond of the ending, I feel it could have been done differently, but still, I highly recommend it✨
4.5/5 (Translated from Spanish)

[lectorologo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A book poor in descriptions, I would like to know what breed the dog Cinderella is and when she is fed (also applicable to the hamster Oscarito). Taering, a very strange place where no one suspects such obvious events. I doubt a literary critic would like this book, but you know what? I’m not a critic so to hell with it, I enjoyed it completely ?.

I employed a solution: to imagine the plot as a bizarre animated series (there are quite a few and I enjoy watching them like the morbid person I am heh), because the characters are created like children who know nothing about life in an environment without fantastic elements but with very implausible acts, the ultimate cliché of an entertaining cartoon.

This work for me was like the kind of balloon that you struggle to inflate your whole life, but once you manage it, you get used to it immediately. That’s right, I was quite bored at first, but after a couple of pages, I found myself screaming in my room. What an addictive book!! I didn’t even take the time to read the damn synopsis, its title and the white cover made me think something poetic and cheesy was coming, but what a surprise I got.

Pierre Anthon, the center of attention in the story, I see him as the conscience at certain moments of motivation, confronting you because what you do is pointless; from today, I will blame him for all my existential crises ?. Throughout the events, the characters began to lose meaning (metaphorically and literally), and this can be noticed by how bold they were with the requests they made to their peers. At that moment, you enter an extraordinary existential journey, showing what it is to lose scruples, fear, innocence, and also judgment.

The book is narrated from the perspective of a witnessing protagonist named Agnes, and I honestly found it excellent to appreciate such an adventure from the perception of someone who didn’t go through the worst but did witness it. The ending from the heart disappointed me, but literarily speaking, it is a very good ending; it fits perfectly with the premise, and right now I can’t stop thinking about what I read; it feels as if I lived it... (Translated from Spanish)

[AndyGuevat · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I don't know how to express myself about this book... If you ask me if it is interesting, I'll tell you yes, it is interesting. If you ask me if I recommend it, I'll tell you no, I do not recommend it. If you ask me if you should read it, I will tell you yes, you should read it.
It addresses very real existential philosophical topics, doubts that we all have or simply ignore, feelings of emptiness that sometimes come and we cannot make them go away. But it also tackles them in a very raw way to the point of making one feel uncomfortable about what is happening.
In summary, if you read it, do so at your own risk. (Translated from Spanish)

[marenpergamino · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

While I like the premise from which the book starts, I deeply hated where it led. In "NADA," a 12/13-year-old boy announces that he has discovered that nothing matters in life, and since nothing has meaning, there's no point in making an effort to do... nothing. Having said that, he climbs a plum tree from where he challenges and mocks the conformism of his peers, who decide to prove to him that there are indeed things that matter... Up to that point, everything is divine. I like the reflection, I like that it comes from a child, and I even like that he climbs the tree. It reminded me of the stylites who would ascend to high places to meditate closer to God.

And... the praise ends there because this woman ruined it with enthusiasm. Firstly, there is an excessive and unnecessary use of violence. I'm not one to want to smell flowers all day; I can tolerate violence if it serves the plot. But here, it merely appeals to the reader's morbid curiosity. The author claims to be surprised by the censorship she faced. If that is true, then I am Madonna. ? She knew what would happen, she sought controversy to attract attention. Teller writes this book based on a well-known preconception: "children are cruel." Yes, some are, but not all.

And here lies the second major hurdle: Teller has no remote idea how children act. She presumes, invents, and above all, underestimates them. They are children, not underdeveloped individuals. She gives them a collective thought: they all act the same, and none can break the circle.

Janne, my friend, I reiterate: they are children, not idiots. Why do you think that none of them has the ability to think for themselves? Only adults can develop a critical spirit? The fact is that I, unlike Teller, do have contact with children: I am the mother of two twins the same age as the protagonists. In real life, they would never have reached such an irrevocable point. One would have refused and turned to their parents. This is another issue ? Do wolves raise them in Denmark? Is it feasible that these children escape in the early morning to desecrate a tomb and their parents are completely unaware?

Well, my friend Janne, to write about children, it is good to know them and not underestimate them. I do not take for granted that my children, just because they are 12 years old, are incapable of having a personal opinion. In fact, I read your beautiful book aloud to them, and I want to inform you that they were INDIGNANT. Since you believe so much in violence, I would tell you that if you see a pair of twins with a horrible haircut, run for your life because they still remember what they did in your book and are not using precisely kind words. (Translated from Spanish)

[ArletC · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Impressive how this reading can resonate at the age of existentialism; I absorbed all the doubts and it definitely encouraged me to reflect on external and personal matters that I can mark as a change in my life. I was so fascinated by the book that when I researched it, I was surprised to find that it was initially intended as children's literature and ended up being banned in some countries. Highly recommended based on my own critique, analysis, and interest.

I must say that what intrigued me the most was the starkness of innocent cruelty; it is certainly not what one would expect. (Translated from Spanish)

[BrenDita0926 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book, although it is meant for teenagers, doesn't convince me much because personally, I find it a bit intense and I don't understand how a child could think that nothing in life makes sense. All of his friends start doing all kinds of crazy things, from the simplest, like sacrificing a soccer ball, to the more extreme, like losing their virginity, cutting off a finger, or robbing the grave of one of their younger brothers. All of this just to try to change the other child's mind about life having no meaning. Honestly, I don't think it's suitable for teenagers. (Translated from Spanish)

[Maca Maidana · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of the most interesting books I read this year. I had wanted to read it for a long time, since I was very young, and today I am grateful I waited to read it.
It starts off calm, but becomes increasingly intense. I really liked the critique of the media that appears in the final part.
It was one of the few books that I had to stop reading at one point because it was impressing me a lot. This wouldn’t have happened if I had read it at 13 or 14 years old.
It’s clear that it is not a children's or young adult book as the author claims. (Translated from Spanish)

[Pansocrates03 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

They say that in order to progress, one must step out of their comfort zone. That's what I was thinking while reading this book, because although I loved the meaning and the great depth of the story, those who read it should know that it is a rather strange, unrealistic, and disturbing novel. Up to a point, I feel identified with Pierre Antón because he has ideas similar to those I have had, but other than that, the story is not my favorite. I give it 4 stars because it deserves no less. (Translated from Spanish)

[GabG · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

At first, it didn't grab me, but as I progressed, it became increasingly shocking and disturbing. A book that makes you reflect on the subjectivity of meaning and the limits and decline of the human being. (Translated from Spanish)

[CamiloBedoya · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Nothing is a book that is supposed to be written for children and teenagers, but it is not a book for children; it is a fable for adults that does not necessarily have to "end well." The novel Nothing has been banned in numerous institutes in countries around the world, while in others, it is mandatory reading for students in their final years.

Nothing deals with a group of 14-year-old children, and on the first day of class, one of their classmates climbs up a plum tree and shouts at his friends every time they pass by, claiming that nothing makes sense, nothing matters. When his friends hear him, they start to think about what to do to show him that there are many things that do have meaning and do matter. They come together and begin to gather important things for them. They start with normal objects until the situation begins to twist a bit and becomes macabre and increasingly darker.

It is a very complicated story; it is something that not everyone reads every day. If we stop to think, we realize that each character represents a quality and one can observe how Pierre represents those negative thoughts that we all sometimes have, those thoughts that only bring out the negative in us.

I believe that Nothing is not a book to enjoy, because enjoying this book would be a bit macabre given everything that happens throughout the story. But it is a book to think about and to realize that things do have meanings. If you like reading books that leave you with a reflection and make you think for days, this is the right one. This book may not solve all the questions it raises, but it offers a reflection that is worth reading. (Translated from Spanish)

[SantiQuintero111 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Pierre Anthon, who is in seventh grade, realizes that nothing makes sense, and this way of thinking leads him to leave school and live in a branch of a plum tree for the rest of his days, while his classmates search for ways to bring him down from the tree and show him that life does have meaning. Gradually, his classmates work harder and harder to collect objects with significant meaning and arrange them in a pile, but little by little, the demands for meaning become higher. This is how Janne Teller's story captivates us and takes us back to those times when we were innocent without needing to be.

As the story progresses, we immerse ourselves in the environment of that small town called Taering, an ordinary and dull town where nothing ever happened, and we embody students who try to find meaning in things. It is important to highlight that they were seventh-grade students since the eyes of children and adults do not see the same things, and alongside the effort they each invest in making the pile of objects as meaningful as possible, it reflects the stubbornness that appears in people when they truly want to achieve something.

The story of this book captivated me a lot; it is admirable how images are created in our minds, recreating each scene according to our imagination, along with the writing style and coherence with which the story is constructed. There is no doubt that it is an unforgettable story that can leave a mark on anyone; it has all the requirements to become a classic and is completely worth rereading as many times as one wishes. (Translated from Spanish)

[TheQueenLulu · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's strange how I stumbled upon this book: a passionate plea from a famous twenty-something YouTuber (a phenomenon that surpasses me…). My curiosity led me to seek more information about this "youthful" novel (which I will clarify later), read various opinions, and to my surprise, I discovered it was a title of extraordinary impact that had made waves in the current literary world. The different judgments I happened to glance at were practically a dichotomy: the most numerous, like the one that caught my attention, praised and cheered the qualities of the story; and some minority opinions that downplayed its significance or denied assigning any merit to the text. My particular opinion participates in this divergence, although it isn't entirely moderate; I lean more towards the virtue and interest it evokes or, at the very least, the shortcomings do not undermine the benefit of reading it.
But what definitely led me to embark on this original story, besides its brevity, was the backstory of the publication. A Danish publisher approached the writer suggesting a youth work, which, being a novice in this field and after some hesitations, she ultimately accepted the challenge.
A challenge that would take her to a childhood full of mysteries for an adult life, mysteries that she wanted to solve one by one each day, a challenge was to write about that child with few passions for life with the clear idea of "Nothing," that this very feeling would resonate in the consciousness of those kids in class about the true meaning of nothing and everything at once. (Translated from Spanish)