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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
Es increíble como trata a la realidad desde una parábola sobre el valor y la fuerza de seducción. Pierre me enseñó a valorar la nada. Pero aún así, mis expectativas eran altas, y me decepcionó un poco.
dark
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
about nihilism and why nihilism is bullshit
about the worth of everything
about the worth of everything
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Sexual assault
Minor: Child death
This book has:
1. middle schooler in his emo phase
2. some of the most incredibly sociopathic insane children who will cry over material objects but aren't even emotional at the concept of their friends getting severely hurt
3. a really good concept for a YA book about finding meaning in our own lives
4. really bad execution
I don't know if any of the beauty of the original story were lost in the translation, but I didn't like this book AT ALL.
1. middle schooler in his emo phase
2. some of the most incredibly sociopathic insane children who will cry over material objects but aren't even emotional at the concept of their friends getting severely hurt
3. a really good concept for a YA book about finding meaning in our own lives
4. really bad execution
I don't know if any of the beauty of the original story were lost in the translation, but I didn't like this book AT ALL.
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Read this for the 2010 Mock Printz, spoilers are included.
Hated this book. HATED IT! I think this might mean to be a fable or allegory or something like that, but I found it very unlikable. First off, a seventh grader climbs into a tree because he decides nothing has meaning. He throws plums at his classmates and shouts his new-found beliefs. I can see this happening for an hour or two, or even a day, but that kid stays up there yelling for months. Does he climb down at night? Where does he go to the bathroom?
His classmates, instead of ignoring him, decide to prove him wrong. So they start collecting things with meaning. First they ask the townspeople to give up something meaningful and collect quite a pile. Then they begin to give up their own meaningful things in turn. What starts out as sacrificing really cute sandals grows by degree until the Muslim child gives up his prayer mat and is severely beaten by his parents, a pious child steals a large statue of Jesus from the church, a girl gives up her virginity, the children dig up a dead baby brother from a church yard and, just when you think it can't get any worse, they kill a dog. At that point, I had to skip ahead five pages so I could bypass the dog killing.
Their pile of meaning is found out, pronounced art, bought by the MoMa for 3.5 million dollars, the children turn on each other, end up beating the plum-throwing, life-has-no-meaning child to death and burning down the sawmill that houses the pile of meaning. The whole thing is a nihilistic mess and I can only be glad that it was a short book and I have now finished reading it.
Hated this book. HATED IT! I think this might mean to be a fable or allegory or something like that, but I found it very unlikable. First off, a seventh grader climbs into a tree because he decides nothing has meaning. He throws plums at his classmates and shouts his new-found beliefs. I can see this happening for an hour or two, or even a day, but that kid stays up there yelling for months. Does he climb down at night? Where does he go to the bathroom?
His classmates, instead of ignoring him, decide to prove him wrong. So they start collecting things with meaning. First they ask the townspeople to give up something meaningful and collect quite a pile. Then they begin to give up their own meaningful things in turn. What starts out as sacrificing really cute sandals grows by degree until the Muslim child gives up his prayer mat and is severely beaten by his parents, a pious child steals a large statue of Jesus from the church, a girl gives up her virginity, the children dig up a dead baby brother from a church yard and, just when you think it can't get any worse, they kill a dog. At that point, I had to skip ahead five pages so I could bypass the dog killing.
Their pile of meaning is found out, pronounced art, bought by the MoMa for 3.5 million dollars, the children turn on each other, end up beating the plum-throwing, life-has-no-meaning child to death and burning down the sawmill that houses the pile of meaning. The whole thing is a nihilistic mess and I can only be glad that it was a short book and I have now finished reading it.
I wasn't feeling it in the beginning, but it got me hooked. Definitely gives you some things to think about. It's an incredibly unique read and I'd recommend it!
Pierre Anthon har sett lyset - eller snarere mørket: Ingenting betyr noe. Han setter seg opp i et plommetre og skriker til klassekameratene som er på vei til skolen at "alt er likegyldig". Noen ganger kaster han plommer også. Klassekameratene setter ikke pris på dette, og bestemmer seg for å vise Pierre Anthon at livet HAR mening. De samler sammen en masse ting som har betydning. Problemet er at de får velge for hverandre. Den som har måttet gi fra seg noe hen ikke har lyst til å gi fra seg, husker godt hvem som kom med det idiotiske forslaget, og hevner seg ved å øke innsatsen - for den andre. Det blir verre og verre, blant annet må en jente spa opp likkisten til lillebroren. Vil haugen med ting av betydning virkelig påvirke Pierre Anthon? Svært original, satirisk og tankevekkende bok.
I enjoyed this rather short book over a couple of hours this evening. Though a story of a group of thirteen year olds, it is narrated by one of the protagonists, Agnes, at the age of 21. This is a more common device among British and European writers of YA books and I always find it a bit troubling.
These children seemed much younger than 13 or 14, yet the voice was that of a 21 year old. So neither the dialog and actions of the children or the voice of the narrator seemed right. Since this book was written in Danish, I was reading a translation, so I don't know how much of that comes from the translator's (an academic) choices.
My main problem with this book concerned the denouement, which even rudimentary forensic techniques would render implausible. I realize this is something of a parable, but up to that point the author had done a very good job of keeping me capable of suspending my disbelief. To have that fall apart in the last few pages was a big disappointment.
These children seemed much younger than 13 or 14, yet the voice was that of a 21 year old. So neither the dialog and actions of the children or the voice of the narrator seemed right. Since this book was written in Danish, I was reading a translation, so I don't know how much of that comes from the translator's (an academic) choices.
My main problem with this book concerned the denouement, which even rudimentary forensic techniques would render implausible. I realize this is something of a parable, but up to that point the author had done a very good job of keeping me capable of suspending my disbelief. To have that fall apart in the last few pages was a big disappointment.