for the book ask - 14 and 15 please?
Dear @mental-architect-blog, thank you for the ask and pardon that it took me so long!
14. do you ever mark/dog ear books you own?
No, absolutely not. I like to put sticky notes in my books to mark special passages and sometimes, in a school or university context, I will make notes in the margins of a book, but I rather dislike that. As to dog-ears, no, definitely not. xD
15. recommend and review a book.
I hade to think for some time to decide on a book, but let me introduce you all to Intet (Nothing) by Janne Teller – apparently a controversial book, as I just found out.
The book is set in a fictive Danish village and evolves around a class of 7th graders. One of the classmates decides that he is no longer interested in school because nothing has any meaning so why do anything at all. He taunts his classmates with his logical arguments and makes them question their believes. They decide to build a heap of meaning to show the boy that he is wrong.
The rules are simple: one of the classmates starts and “sacrifices” something, they then gets to demand a sacrifice from another classmate and so one. The first sacrifices are harmless, a book, a pair of earrings, a pair of shoes, and so on. But the situation soon gets out of control, the children start demanding darker and more intimate things, each sacrifice must be more painful than the one before. Soon after the last sacrifice is made, the media and the police become aware of the children’s doing and get involved. A museum buys the heap of meaning and the situation seems to return to normal – but the children are changed, some of them had to sacrifice unspeakable things. One dismissive comment from the boy whose arguments started it all, lead to a murder and eventually the burning of the heap of meaning.
My summary does not do the book any justice. I therefor would recommend that you check Intet out for yourself. It is a short read and really makes you think and ponder some questions of existential dread.
