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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
I read this for class in Panera… I hate middle schoolers
The other day, some motorist drove over and killed a skunk around my neighbourhood. Now, depending on which way the wind blows, you could smell the funk of the splatted skunk permeating the air. You won't be able to drive by without getting a whiff until you're sick to your stomach. So then I got to thinking: why were skunks created anyway? No really, what is their purpose? Seems to me that other than being a nuisance - what with their super funky defence mechanism - there really wasn't anything advantageous to having them. If they don't exist, would there be a cataclysmic change in the food chain? I'm sure there's a scientific explanation for their existence but right now... I got nothing.
This book questions the point of everything, of existing, of living, of being. It also tells a dark story of a herd mentality feeding a fear until all that's left is savagery.
The Gist: One day, seventh-grader Pierre Anthon lost the will to go on living. No. He doesn't kill himself. He stopped his world from revolving. He climbed the plum tree and stayed there, watching life passed him by. All the while screaming the futility of doing anything at all. His schoolmates then decided that they needed to get him off the tree because they soon realized the truth of his wisdom. First, they threw rocks at him, injuring him until he had no choice but to get down, actually, he fell down. But the next day, he was back in the tree.
By some stroke of youthful brilliance, the kids figured that Pierre Anthon needed to be reminded of all the things that are important. One by one, the kids at school brought out things the things they hold dear until a heap accumulated. But they couldn't get him off the tree nor would he reward them with silence. So then the kids did the unthinkable.
The Review: Pierre Anthon is the epitome of my life on days when I feel like waking up serves no purpose to the world. He voiced out every single defeatist thoughts that ever came across my head. And by golly, this boy was much more insightful than the rest of us, albeit, a little disturbed.
About Everything:
“It’s all a waste of time. Everything begins only to end. The moment you were born you begin to die. That’s how it is with everything.”
About Life:
“The Earth is four billion, six hundred million years old, and you’re going to reach one hundred at the most! It’s not even worth the bother.”
“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!”
About Falling in Love:
“First you fall in love, then you start dating, then you fall out of love, and then you split up again…”
“…And that’s the way it goes, time and time again, right until you grow so tired of all the repetition you just decided to make like the one who happens to be closest by is the one and only. What a waste of effort!”
Ladies and Gentlemen, he’s thirteen years old…and the most profound pessimist I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting – sort of.
And yet if you really think about it or allow him to get into your head, you can’t help but heed the truth of his words. After all, we’ve been there. We’ve asked every single existentialist questions about life, about our purpose and the purpose of living, period.
This is essentially what happened in the book; what prompted the kids to try and get him off the plum tree. Wanting to prove him wrong, they started to collect the things that mattered to them. But it didn't take long till they decided they weren't good enough. They then decided that another person gets to pick which things they hold dear, which then prompted the weird (a dead snake in a jar swimming in formaldehyde) and the morbid (exhumed dead body).
This book is a combination of all the things that are wrong when you put a group of scared kids together. It's like Michael Grant's the kids of Fayz and Lord of the Flies. It was cruel and dark and inconceivable.
This book questions the point of everything, of existing, of living, of being. It also tells a dark story of a herd mentality feeding a fear until all that's left is savagery.
The Gist: One day, seventh-grader Pierre Anthon lost the will to go on living. No. He doesn't kill himself. He stopped his world from revolving. He climbed the plum tree and stayed there, watching life passed him by. All the while screaming the futility of doing anything at all. His schoolmates then decided that they needed to get him off the tree because they soon realized the truth of his wisdom. First, they threw rocks at him, injuring him until he had no choice but to get down, actually, he fell down. But the next day, he was back in the tree.
By some stroke of youthful brilliance, the kids figured that Pierre Anthon needed to be reminded of all the things that are important. One by one, the kids at school brought out things the things they hold dear until a heap accumulated. But they couldn't get him off the tree nor would he reward them with silence. So then the kids did the unthinkable.
The Review: Pierre Anthon is the epitome of my life on days when I feel like waking up serves no purpose to the world. He voiced out every single defeatist thoughts that ever came across my head. And by golly, this boy was much more insightful than the rest of us, albeit, a little disturbed.
About Everything:
“It’s all a waste of time. Everything begins only to end. The moment you were born you begin to die. That’s how it is with everything.”
About Life:
“The Earth is four billion, six hundred million years old, and you’re going to reach one hundred at the most! It’s not even worth the bother.”
“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!”
About Falling in Love:
“First you fall in love, then you start dating, then you fall out of love, and then you split up again…”
“…And that’s the way it goes, time and time again, right until you grow so tired of all the repetition you just decided to make like the one who happens to be closest by is the one and only. What a waste of effort!”
Ladies and Gentlemen, he’s thirteen years old…and the most profound pessimist I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting – sort of.
And yet if you really think about it or allow him to get into your head, you can’t help but heed the truth of his words. After all, we’ve been there. We’ve asked every single existentialist questions about life, about our purpose and the purpose of living, period.
This is essentially what happened in the book; what prompted the kids to try and get him off the plum tree. Wanting to prove him wrong, they started to collect the things that mattered to them. But it didn't take long till they decided they weren't good enough. They then decided that another person gets to pick which things they hold dear, which then prompted the weird (a dead snake in a jar swimming in formaldehyde) and the morbid (exhumed dead body).
This book is a combination of all the things that are wrong when you put a group of scared kids together. It's like Michael Grant's the kids of Fayz and Lord of the Flies. It was cruel and dark and inconceivable.
If Nothing had been written before YA became an official genre, I think we'd call it literary fiction and it'd be read by adults who would think, "Man, life is strange. Kids are crazy," and analyze the junk out of it. It's pretty much [b:Lord of the Flies|7624|Lord of the Flies (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century)|William Golding|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165637417s/7624.jpg|2766512] in a rural Danish setting, right?
But this book is marketed towards teens, so, I could be wrong, but I don't know if it's going to do as well as it maybe should. I mean, my experience reading the book was not at all enjoyable. It's the kind of thing that's assigned in school (like, uh, Lord of the Flies) and you get through it because you have to, and when you're older you realize that it was actually pretty deep and had a lot to say about civilization and its discontents, etc. But as you're slogging through it, you're like "WHYYYYYY do I have to read this creepy existential book about strange foreign kids whose mild-mannered appearance belies their (SPOILER ALERT) homicidal rage?"
So, as a book for teens to read and enjoy generally, I say nah brah. As a book for philosophical/literary types to consume and dissect, I say heck yeah. And just for fun, here are more adjectives that describe this book: disturbing, upsetting, depressing, nihilistic, violent, bloody, gross, provocative, translated.
But this book is marketed towards teens, so, I could be wrong, but I don't know if it's going to do as well as it maybe should. I mean, my experience reading the book was not at all enjoyable. It's the kind of thing that's assigned in school (like, uh, Lord of the Flies) and you get through it because you have to, and when you're older you realize that it was actually pretty deep and had a lot to say about civilization and its discontents, etc. But as you're slogging through it, you're like "WHYYYYYY do I have to read this creepy existential book about strange foreign kids whose mild-mannered appearance belies their (SPOILER ALERT) homicidal rage?"
So, as a book for teens to read and enjoy generally, I say nah brah. As a book for philosophical/literary types to consume and dissect, I say heck yeah. And just for fun, here are more adjectives that describe this book: disturbing, upsetting, depressing, nihilistic, violent, bloody, gross, provocative, translated.
"Lloramos porque habíamos perdido algo y alcanzado otra cosa. Y porque hacía daño el perder tanto como el ganar y todavía no podíamos poner en palabras lo que habíamos ganado."
No se por donde empezar... por lo normal se que decirles cuando comienzo una reseña y esque me es tan difícil platicarles algo de este libro 1.Porque te deja dándole muchas vueltas al asunto, 2.No quiero spoilear nada de la historia y 3.Probablemente les acabe diciendo lo mismo de la sinopsis (no me culpen si lo hago, al fin y al cabo ya les advertí).
Pierre Anthon el primer día el séptimo grado decide que ya no quiere ir más a la escuela, porque Nada tiene sentido, lo que va a hacer es subirse al ciruelo y observar la nada. Y no les voy a mentir he tenido ese mismo pensamiento por mucho tiempo, por un momento pensé que era una irremediable amargada y pesimista, porque es verdad la vida no tiene sentido (esperen, esperen... no tengo pensamientos suicidas XD). Naces con la finalidad de morir, si nos ponemos a escala del universo somos nada, vas a la escuela para de mayor ser "algo" en la vida y bien sabes que si no llegas a ser famoso/reconocido/importante no eres nada.
Y ahora mismo seguro estas pensando... claro que hay cosas que valen la pena, más de algo tiene sentido y es lo que los compañeros de Pierre le dicen y con palabras no pueden convencerlo, el les dice que el mundo tiene tantos miles de años y ellos nisiquiera llegarán a los 100, pero ellos sus compañeritos se ponen a pensar y pensar, quizás si le lanzarán piedras el cambiaría de opinión. Bien, lo hacen, pero Pierre sigue con su idea bien plantada en la cabeza y no piensa hacer otra cosa que estar ahí en su ciruelo.
Así que los otros chicos siguen pensando hasta que se les ocurre que podrían reunir una cosa de cada uno de ellos, algo que consideren lo más importante, algo que quieran con el alma. Hasta eso todo bien, puede que lleven algún juguete o unas sandalias hermosas haciendo con ello un montón de significado para mostrárselo a Pierre. Y así cada uno va aportando un objeto, esto se pone algo macabro cuando los chicos llegan al punto de sacar un cadáver de su tumba, y ahí es cuando la cosa se pone fuerte.
¿Y que crees? ya no te contaré más sobre la historia.
Este libro fue censurado y prohibido en muchos países por lo negro en que se transforma, y no los culpo, a simple vista es un libro malo (no me refiero a que sea mala lectura, malo de feo muy malo... okay ni yo me entendí) pero si te pones a hecharle cabeza tiene un buen mensaje dentro de esas lineas oscuras, para mí la historia me transmite que todo lo que amas tiene un significado, si otra persona opina lo contrario que más da... a ti es a quien te importa.
El significado puede ser para cada uno diferente y muy personal, no es un libro para todos, he ahí porque mucha gente lo ha odiado no se deben tomar superficialmente los hechos y es una historia ficticia, por favor no se aferren.
Libro muy corto y fácil de leer, para una tarde que quieran cuestionarse y filosofar sobre el sentido de la vida.
No se por donde empezar... por lo normal se que decirles cuando comienzo una reseña y esque me es tan difícil platicarles algo de este libro 1.Porque te deja dándole muchas vueltas al asunto, 2.No quiero spoilear nada de la historia y 3.Probablemente les acabe diciendo lo mismo de la sinopsis (no me culpen si lo hago, al fin y al cabo ya les advertí).
Pierre Anthon el primer día el séptimo grado decide que ya no quiere ir más a la escuela, porque Nada tiene sentido, lo que va a hacer es subirse al ciruelo y observar la nada. Y no les voy a mentir he tenido ese mismo pensamiento por mucho tiempo, por un momento pensé que era una irremediable amargada y pesimista, porque es verdad la vida no tiene sentido (esperen, esperen... no tengo pensamientos suicidas XD). Naces con la finalidad de morir, si nos ponemos a escala del universo somos nada, vas a la escuela para de mayor ser "algo" en la vida y bien sabes que si no llegas a ser famoso/reconocido/importante no eres nada.
Y ahora mismo seguro estas pensando... claro que hay cosas que valen la pena, más de algo tiene sentido y es lo que los compañeros de Pierre le dicen y con palabras no pueden convencerlo, el les dice que el mundo tiene tantos miles de años y ellos nisiquiera llegarán a los 100, pero ellos sus compañeritos se ponen a pensar y pensar, quizás si le lanzarán piedras el cambiaría de opinión. Bien, lo hacen, pero Pierre sigue con su idea bien plantada en la cabeza y no piensa hacer otra cosa que estar ahí en su ciruelo.
Así que los otros chicos siguen pensando hasta que se les ocurre que podrían reunir una cosa de cada uno de ellos, algo que consideren lo más importante, algo que quieran con el alma. Hasta eso todo bien, puede que lleven algún juguete o unas sandalias hermosas haciendo con ello un montón de significado para mostrárselo a Pierre. Y así cada uno va aportando un objeto, esto se pone algo macabro cuando los chicos llegan al punto de sacar un cadáver de su tumba, y ahí es cuando la cosa se pone fuerte.
¿Y que crees? ya no te contaré más sobre la historia.
Este libro fue censurado y prohibido en muchos países por lo negro en que se transforma, y no los culpo, a simple vista es un libro malo (no me refiero a que sea mala lectura, malo de feo muy malo... okay ni yo me entendí) pero si te pones a hecharle cabeza tiene un buen mensaje dentro de esas lineas oscuras, para mí la historia me transmite que todo lo que amas tiene un significado, si otra persona opina lo contrario que más da... a ti es a quien te importa.
El significado puede ser para cada uno diferente y muy personal, no es un libro para todos, he ahí porque mucha gente lo ha odiado no se deben tomar superficialmente los hechos y es una historia ficticia, por favor no se aferren.
Libro muy corto y fácil de leer, para una tarde que quieran cuestionarse y filosofar sobre el sentido de la vida.
fast-paced
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
tense
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes