 First edition (Danish) | |
| Author | Janne Teller |
|---|---|
| Original title | Intet |
| Publisher | Dansklærerforeningens |
Publication date | 2000 |
| ISBN | 1-416-98579-4 |
Nothing is a fiction novel by Danish author Janne Teller published in 2000. It was published on February 9, 2010, by Atheneum Books for Young Readers. [1]
Danish 8th grader Pierre Anthon tells his classmates about his existential dread. Upon doing so, he leaves school, returning to his home, where he lives with his dad. He takes residence in a plum tree.
Agnes, the narrator, decides to work with her classmates in an attempt to convince Pierre that life has a purpose, and to convince him to give up living in the plum tree in favor of returning to school. The classmates decide to create a "heap of meaning," which is a collection of one personal sacrifice from each participant. The participants choose items based on personal meaning. A classmate named Dennis begins the heap by giving up his Dungeons and Dragons books, and then challenges another classmate Sebastian to give up his fishing rod. Sebastian complies, and asks Laura to sacrifice her earrings, which she does.
The classmates begin to see the heap as a game, asking "Who can sacrifice the most meaningful item for the heap?" Agnes is forced to sacrifice her new sandals, and as a result she forces Gerda to sacrifice her pet hamster. The children begin to sacrifice darker and darker things, including their virginity, their fingers, and additional animals. Law Enforcement and the media get involved, and the heap begins to receive national coverage. The classmates sell the heap to a museum for $3.6 million.
Pierre is still not convinced, citing the sale of the heap as rendering it meaningless. Sofie begins to wreak havoc, causing the entire group of classmates to break out into violence. Agnes flees the unfolding violence and pleads with Pierre to give up his existential dread and come down from the tree, which he agrees to. He comes to see the bloody violence, and scolds the classmates as being idiotic. He is then murdered, and the novel ends with Agnes reflecting back upon the events.
The novel has received positive reviews, with a rating of 3.6 out of 5 on Goodreads. [1] The novel has received various awards, including a nomination for the Garden State Teen Book Award. [2]
The book has been adapted into an opera of the same name, which was performed at the Glyndebourne opera house in 2016. [3]
The Giver is a 1993 American young adult dystopian novel written by Lois Lowry, set in a society which at first appears to be utopian but is revealed to be dystopian as the story progresses. In the novel, the society has taken away pain and strife by converting to "Sameness", a plan that has also eradicated emotional depth from their lives. In an effort to preserve order, the society also lacks any color, climate, terrain, and a true sense of equality. The protagonist of the story, a 12-year-old boy named Jonas, is selected to inherit the position of Receiver of Memory, the person who stores all the past memories of the time before Sameness. Jonas struggles with concepts of the new emotions and things introduced to him, and whether they are inherently good, evil, or in between, and whether it is possible to have one without the other.
The Monk: A Romance is a Gothic novel by Matthew Gregory Lewis, published in 1796. A quickly written book from early in Lewis's career, it was published before he turned twenty. It is a prime example of the male Gothic that specialises in the aspect of horror. Its convoluted and scandalous plot has made it one of the most important Gothic novels of its time, often imitated and adapted for the stage and the screen.
Maskerade is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the eighteenth book in the Discworld series. The witches Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg visit the Ankh-Morpork Opera House to find Agnes Nitt, a girl from Lancre, and get caught up in a story similar to The Phantom of the Opera.
The Chocolate War is a young adult novel by American author Robert Cormier, published in 1974. It was adapted into a film in 1988. Although it received mixed reviews at the time of its publication, some reviewers have argued it is one of the best young adult novels of all time. Set at a fictional Catholic high school, the story depicts a secret student organization's manipulation of the student body, which descends into cruel and ugly mob mentality against a lone, non-conforming student. Because of the novel's language, the concept of a high school secret society using intimidation to enforce the cultural norms of the school and various characters' sexual ponderings, it has been embroiled in censorship controversies and appeared as third on the American Library Association's list of the Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books in 2000–2009. A sequel was published in 1985 called Beyond the Chocolate War.
Cold Sassy Tree is a 1984 historical novel by Olive Ann Burns. Set in the U.S. state of Georgia in the fictional town of Cold Sassy in 1906, it follows the life of a 14-year-old boy named Will Tweedy, and explores themes such as religion, death, and social taboos. An incomplete sequel to the novel, Leaving Cold Sassy, was published in 1992 after Burns' death.
Possessed is a 2000 American made-for-television horror film directed by Steven E. de Souza, written by de Souza and Michael Lazarou, and starring Timothy Dalton. The film is based on events appearing in the book Possessed by Thomas B. Allen, which was inspired by the exorcism case of Roland Doe.
The Outsider is a novel by American author Richard Wright, first published in 1953. The Outsider is Richard Wright's second installment in a story of epic proportions, a complex master narrative to show American racism in raw and ugly terms. It was the kind of racism that Wright knew and experienced, a racism from which most black people of his own time could not escape, and it remained the central element in his fiction. The Outsider appeared during the height of McCarthyism in the United States and the advent of the Cold War in Europe, two events that had a significant bearing on its initial reception.
Mom at Sixteen is a 2005 Lifetime Television film about a sixteen-year-old mother, dealing with problems at school and her decaying relationship with her mother, because of her seeing her boyfriend for the first time since before her son was born.
Dave Roman is an American writer and artist of webcomics and comics.
Kathryn Merteuil is a fictional character who appears in Cruel Intentions and Cruel Intentions 2, portrayed by actresses Sarah Michelle Gellar and Amy Adams, respectively. Based on the Marquise de Merteuil in Pierre Choderlos de Laclos's 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses, Kathryn serves as the primary antagonist of the series.
The Killer Inside Me is a 1952 novel by American writer Jim Thompson published by Fawcett Publications.
Lucy Gayheart is Willa Cather's eleventh novel. It was published in 1935. The novel revolves round the eponymous character, Lucy Gayheart, a young girl from the fictional town of Haverford, Nebraska, located near the Platte River.
Fight Club is a 1996 novel by Chuck Palahniuk. It follows the experiences of an unnamed protagonist struggling with insomnia. Inspired by his doctor's exasperated remark that insomnia is not suffering, the protagonist finds relief by impersonating a seriously ill person in several support groups. Then he meets a mysterious man named Tyler Durden and establishes an underground fighting club as radical psychotherapy.
Cherry Tree Lane is a 2010 British drama horror-thriller film, written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams.
Janne Teller is a Danish writer of Austrian–German descent, who lives in New York and Berlin.
The Magician's Land is a new adult fantasy novel by Lev Grossman, published in 2014 by Viking Adult, the sequel to The Magician King and the third book in Grossman's Magicians trilogy. It continues the story of outcast magician Quentin Coldwater, interweaving it with the story of several of his friends who are questing to save the magical realm of Fillory.
Nothing is a two act opera by the British composer David Bruce to a libretto by Glyn Maxwell, based on the award-winning novel of the same name by Janne Teller.
The Bear and the Nightingale is a historical fantasy novel written by Katherine Arden. It is Arden's debut novel, and the first novel in the Winternight trilogy. The Bear and the Nightingale is set in medieval Russia and incorporates elements of Russian folklore. The central character is a young girl, Vasya Petrovna, who is able to communicate with mythological creatures, at a time when Orthodox Christianity is attempting to stamp out all belief in such beings.
The Testaments is a 2019 novel by Margaret Atwood. It is the sequel to The Handmaid's Tale (1985). The novel is set 15 years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale. It is narrated by Aunt Lydia, a character from the previous novel; Agnes, a young woman living in Gilead; and Daisy, a young woman living in Canada.
Pandava Quintet is a five-part book series written by Roshani Chokshi. It is part of the "Rick Riordan Presents" publishing imprint. The first book of the series and the imprint was published on March 23, 2018, under the name Aru Shah and the End of Time. The next books include Aru Shah and the Song of Death, Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes, Aru Shah and the City of Gold, and Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality. The main character of the series is the young Aru Shah, who is disliked by her classmates, but fits in with the other Pandava sisters, like Mini and Brynne, once she meets an enchanted talking pigeon who she nicknames "Boo" after touching a cursed ancient artifact. The rest of the series has gotten praise for being similar to Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
 | This article about a philosophical novel of the 2010s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page. |
