“Nothing matters. From the moment you are born, you start to die. The earth is 4.6 billion years old. You’ll live to be a maximum of one hundred. Life isn’t worth the bother …”
So says Pierre Anthon when he decides that life has no meaning, leaves his class room to sit in a tree at his parents’ front garden, and refuses to come down. His friends scramble to prove that there is a meaning to life by piling up whatever in life they prize. But as the heap of meaning grows, they realize that they cannot give up what matters most. Soon they are fighting, as the sacrifices turn more and more extreme and the costs become unbearable.
After initially being banned, NOTHING has gradually become a prize-winning international bestseller, hailed by critics as a new classic, translated into more than 30 languages (new ones continuously being added), and sold in over 1.5 million copies worldwide. NOTHING has been staged at more than 100 theatres throughout the world, and in 2016 the book was made into a new original opera in a joint venture between Glyndebourne and London Royal Opera.
…….
“Indelible, elusive, and timeless, this uncompromising novel has all the marks of a classic.” – Booklist, USA
“What more do you wish from literature?” – Der Spiegel, Germany
“An extraordinary gift of art.” – Rolling Stones Magazine, Mexico
“This book is a hammer.” – ZDF, Germany
“A sensation.” – Volkskrant, the Netherlands
”Great art.” – Le Matricule des Anges, France
“No one can escape the blow.” – Publico, Spanien
“A gruesome, stinging contemporary saga.” – Svenska Dagbladet, Sweden
“As haunting as it’s brilliant.” – El Tiempo, Colombia
“A novel in Nobel Prize class.” – Lena Kjersén Edman, (author of What Shall We Read), Sweden
“Nothing is at the level of Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies, should be read by all, old as young.” – ARD Kultur, Germany
”This beautiful and frightening book stopped me in my tracks.” – David Almond, The Guardian, United Kingdom
“Gorgeously lyrical and dreadfully bleak … Rivals Lord of The Flies…” – Kirkus Review, USA
”Nothing is a fairy tale about the very essence of life.” – Politiken, Denmark
“…can only be compared to works such as The Lord of the Flies’ and The Catcher in the Rye.” – La Vanguardia, Spain
“Describes the search that everyone endeavours, but which has never before been told so riveting.” – Die Zeit, Germany
”It’s impossible not to be moved.” – Norwegian Radio (NRK), Kultur, Norway
“An amazing work, which boldly, capturing, as well as morbidly describes a group of youngsters’ attempt at proving to themselves and others, that life has a meaning.” – Information, Danmark
“This is a book that gets under your skin no matter what you end up thinking …” – Chicago Sun-Times, USA
“NOTHING is a book which marks the spirit forever.” – Lirado, France
”It’s absolutely justified that Nothing today has the status of a neo-classic coming-of age novel compared to the likes of Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm.” – Dansk, Denmark
Awards, ia: Michael L. Printz Honor, for literary excellence, USA 2011
Mildred Batchelder Award, USA 2011
Luchs, die Zeit, Germany 2010
Le Prix Libbylit, (Best young adult/children book French-speaking world 2008)
Prize of the Danish Cultural Ministry (Best children/YA book 2002)
Published in, ia: Denmark, England, USA, Germany, Italy, France, Spain (Spanish, Catalan, Basque), Portugal, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Faroe-Island, Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Estonia, Slovakia, Türkiye, Russia, China, Japan, South-Korea, Taiwan
