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    Nothing
    Nothing
    Nothing
    Ebook146 pages1 hour

    Nothing

    By Janne Teller and Martin Aitken

    3.5/5

    ()

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    About this ebook

    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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAtheneum Books for Young Readers
    Release dateFeb 9, 2010
    ISBN9781416998792
    Nothing
    Author

    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.

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    Reviews for Nothing

    3.5/5

    340 ratings66 reviews

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    • 4/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 2/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      Nothing by Janne Teller is an award-winning young adult novel from Denmark. Translated into English, the macabre story follows a group of children dealing with a classmate's accusation that "nothing matters." The middle school children develop a "heap of meaning" to that addresses this question in a chilling way. I really liked this book, but can understand the concerns about appropriateness for a young adult audience. However I think philosophical discussions are critical for young people. This book would be great for an advanced level book club or literature circle where it could be carefully introduced and discussions guided.Comparisons to William Golding's Lord of the Flies are understandable and I can see why some people find the book disturbing. I found the novel both unusual and thought-provoking. I read it on my Kindle and couldn't believe how fast the story flew by. I was watching the percentages of the book which seemed to build the suspense even more than looking at how many pages remain in a traditional book.I find it interesting that many of the online reviews said that it was "too much" for our young adults, yet it's an award winning book in Europe. This is a great example of one of the ways American children have fallen behind other countries in emotional development. This book requires students to think critically and develop philosophical arguments. Our children live in an "adult world" and need opportunities to develop mature thinking. They need to learn about group-think, peer pressure, and personal responsibility. From my perspective, students need to be challenged rather than coddled. This book provides an horrific, but honest exploration. I also find it interesting that people think it's okay for teens to read about vampires, zombies, and horrors found in video games, but find it difficult to handle sex and violence when it comes close to home. Again, these are important issues to discuss with teens.I liked the length of the book. Written more like a short story than a traditional novel, the story focused on the plot rather than incidental young adult activities. This concise presentation increased the intensity. I also thought the phrasing was interesting. I wonder how much of this is the original author's work and how much is a result of the translation.
    • 2/5
      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.
    • 1/5
      This book's storyline was rather simple. The author expanded on a simple idea. Although the book was nonfiction, some of the story was very unrealistic; however, the point was to convey an idea. The descriptions were elaborate and bizarre. I am still somewhat puzzle as to the intent of the content; however, the mission of the book may have been to incite thought. Of course, there are not always hard straight forwards answers. The book was not enjoyable, but very thought provoking. In a sense, it was depressing and morbid. Did the story truly do anything other than entertain and pose questions? Is life worth living may have been the main question. At best, it is a good book to help one examine the meaning of life.
    • 4/5
      4Q, 3PIn this gripping story about Pierre Anthon and his bold statement of "nothing matters" so he goes up into a plum tree and refuses to come down even though his seventh grade classmates throw plums at him to come down. The risks his classmates take to prove to Pierre Anthon that indeed life does have meaning takes readers on one haunting ride. Soon a pile of things that matter are created and each time something is added it is more and more meaningful and harder for the students to give up. Some are even horrifying.A great book for any teen to find a connection to and relate to the story. The level of depth that can be found in this story gives readers a chance for rich discussion.
    • 4/5
      1 star for having the most mismatched cover to content relationship ever.I can't say that I ENJOYED the bleak landscape of this work. However, Nothing asks questions of a younger audience that need to be addressed, and evokes discussions about philosophical modes of thought of which the younger generation needs to be aware.I would absolutely give this to a thoughtful reader who is capable of reading beyond the violence and ask the important questions that this text begs.
    • 4/5
      Existentialism for readers not yet ready for Camus or Sartre.
    • 4/5
      A depressing novel about an existential crisis gone far out of control. What will people, even children, not do to avoid the abyss of meaninglessness? According to this book, nothing is sacred when matched against the awesome power of nothingness.
    • 4/5
      VOYA Ratings: 5Q, 4PHow do you respond to someone that tells you that life has no meaning? How do you convince someone of what is important in life when they stubbornly refuse to see any importance in life itself? These are the questions the classmates of Pierre Anthon ask themselves as they try to lure him down from the branches of a tree in which he has decided to take up residency after leaving school and professing that the is no point to anything. Quickly they strike upon an idea where the students must take it in turns to give up something important, something of great personal value that will demonstrate that life does indeed have meaning. However, their plan quickly grows dark and grisly in nature as each one is asked to give up something more and more personal to "the pile".A deeply philosophical work that asks some of the toughest and most fundamental questions of life as they are first encountered in youth. There is a morbid sense of impending dread that builds with each new sacrifice as offered up by the children and it is clear how shaken and disturbed they are as they begin to question whether Pierre Anthon may be right.
    • 4/5
      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 others and the crowd mentality of the group are clear. It's got a kind of terrible, terrifying beauty to it. As Agnes and her classmates try to collect things to counter Pierre Anthon's nothingness, things take a definite turn towards the sinister. If they're going to prove meaning, these things must really mean something to the person who has to give them up. And each time someone has to give something up, they get to choose what the next person has to lose. This accumulation of things starts out as mean and a bit vindictive, but it very quickly spirals out of control until it is not just things that are being accumulated. Friendships break up, kids get in trouble, alliances are formed, and people get both emotionally and physically hurt.Watching what these kids require of their friends and classmates, what they deam worthy sacrifices to the "heap of meaning," was like driving past a multiple car pile-up on the freeway. It's gruesome and terrible, but you can't help but look. I finished this book in a single day, holding my hand over my gaping mouth for the last 50 pages or so (and more than a few times before that as well). I was repulsed and hooked at the same time. This is an engrossing and haunting read.Book source: Philly Free Library
    • 3/5
      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?
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 1/5
      After discussing this book with my classmates, I can appreciate other opinions about the book. I personally wasn't a fan of this book. It was very disturbing and I couldn't get past some of the things I read.
    • 1/5
      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!''
    • 1/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      I am really not quite sure what to say about Nothing; I am so torn how I actually feel about it. I really struggled getting into the story throughout the first few chapters, but as the story progressed I was so sickened and horrified, yet intrigued and captivated that I couldn't put the book down. I read it in a little under two hours because I just had to know how it ended. this very dark book definitely deals with questions young adults struggle with, "What really matters?". In a world where more and more teens are committing suicide, I was a little concerned about how someone with depressing thoughts would feel while reading this book and/or relating to characters such as Sofie, whose innocence was taken from her in a way like none of the others. I would definitely recommend to others, but I can not say that I would personally be able to read this book again.
    • 3/5
      4Q 3P (My VOYA ratings). To say Nothing is dark is an understatement. In true Scandinavian literary form, we are taken to a stark, cold feeling place that ends up being part allegory, fable, and end's with a dash of Lord of the Flies. Seventh grader, Pierre-Anthon, decides there is no point to anything anymore and climbs up a tree deciding to stay there until someone can prove to him that there is reason for living. In there efforts to prove themselves, he watches his classmates destroy themselves. I give this book a 4 for quality, as I do think it is well written, but I didn't REALLY care about the characters. I give a 3 for popularity because I think it might be tough to get teens to read about nihilism.
    • 4/5
      I assigned this novel a VOYA quality rating of four because while it was well-written and compelling, I felt that something was lost in translation. In a novel with such heavy reliance on philosophical content, subtle nuances of the language would have to have been diminished when translated to English. The writing was obviously strong however and I enjoyed the buildup to the surprising climax of the novel. The VOYA popularity rating I assigned this novel was three. While many teens might relate to existential questions and a budding preoccupation with the nature of reality, I think the metaphorical and philosophical content may bore some younger readers. I also feel that some teen readers will find it difficult to follow the story for long enough to get hooked into the very exciting middle and conclusion of this fairly short novel. The audiobook was well done and I appreciated the voice of the narrator.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      4Q 2PWhen a young adult named Pierre Anthon declares that life has no meaning and anyone who says otherwise is wrong, a group of his fellow students set out to prove him wrong. To do this, they assemble a collection of all the things that have meaning to them. As the collection grows, however, they have to wonder just how far they'll go to convince Pierre (or themselves) that life really is about more than just nothing.This book is beautifully written and very engaging.The only reason it probably won't be too popular with young adults is that it's very dark and is an in-depth exploration of nihilism versus materialism--thus the story doesn't stand up well on its own. Probably more for the older teen audience than the younger teen audience.
    • 3/5
      Engrossing examination of the existentialist credo "nothing means anything" or gruesome tale of teenage sociopaths? Both. One day Pierre Anthon walks out of class declaring that life has no meaning. Situating himself in a nearby plum tree, he continues to denounce that anything has meaning, driving his classmates to go to desperate means to prove him wrong. Interesting, yet still somehow gratuitous.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      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.

    Book preview

    Nothing - Janne Teller

    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

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