Nothing

"Nothing matters. I have known that for a long time. So nothing is worth doing. I just realized that."

Nothing, by Janne Teller, is a Danish novel that’s told in a way that those Nords do best: creepy, stark, and haunting. The descriptions and dialogue are straight-to-the-point, and the author never deviates from this rule. Sometimes one sentence is more powerful than ten.

The novel centers around Gerda, an intelligent Danish teen, and her friends. These adolescents try to find meaning in their lives after another peer, Pierre Anthon, climbs into a tree, and proclaims (in a true nihilist fashion) that there is no meaning to life.  Of course, Gerda’s journey to find meaning isn’t whimsical or light-hearted; rather, it is dark and demonstrates the savage nature of the human psyche. Somewhere, on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Jack would approve of Gerda and co.'s actions.

I feel that this book is more appropriate for adults than for teenagers. The content might be hard to understand without a philosophical context. Brush up on  your Nietzsche before reading!

This book offers insight into an end of innocence that every adult feels in their life. Read it, and remember when you lost your childhood bliss too.

5/5

Information:

Hardcover, 227 pages

Published February 9th 2010 by Atheneum