Veronika Decides to Die: A Novel of Redemption [Paperback]

Paulo Coelho (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 23, 2006

Twenty-four-year-old Veronika seems to have everything -- youth and beauty, boyfriends and a loving family, a fulfilling job. But something is missing in her life. So, one cold November morning, she takes a handful of sleeping pills expecting never to wake up. But she does -- at a mental hospital where she is told that she has only days to live.

Inspired by events in Coelho's own life, Veronika Decides to Die questions the meaning of madness and celebrates individuals who do not fit into patterns society considers to be normal. Bold and illuminating, it is a dazzling portrait of a young woman at the crossroads of despair and liberation, and a poetic, exuberant appreciation of each day as a renewed opportunity.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist) was a young man, his parents had him committed to mental hospitals three times because he wanted to be an artist--an unacceptable profession in Brazil at the time. During his numerous forced incarcerations he vowed to write some day about his experiences and the injustices of involuntary commitment. In this fable-like novel, Coelho makes good on his promise, with the creation of a fictional character named Veronika who decides to kill herself when faced with all that is wrong with the world and how powerless she feels to change anything. Although she survives her initial suicide attempt, she is committed to a mental hospital where she begins to wrestle with the meaning of mental illness and whether forced drugging should be inflicted on patients who don't fit into the narrow definition of "normal." The strength and tragedy of Veronika's fictional story was instrumental in passing new government regulations in Brazil that have made it more difficult to have a person involuntarily committed. Like any great storyteller, Coelho has used the realm of fiction to magically infiltrate and alter the realm of reality. --Gail Hudson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

The bestselling Brazilian author of The Alchemist delicately etches this morose but ultimately uplifting story of the suicidal Veronika, who creeps along the boundary between life and death, sanity and madness, happiness and despair. Veronika, 24, works in a library in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and rents a room in a convent; she is an attractive woman with friends and family, but feelings of powerlessness and apathy tempt her to find "freedom" in an overdose of sleeping pills. When Veronika awakens in the purgatory of Villete, the country's famous lunatic asylum, she is told her suicide attempt weakened her heart and she has only days to live. At this point, Coelho takes a role in the novel; he describes the circumstances under which he discovered Veronika's story and then recounts his own youthful incarceration in a Brazilian sanatorium, consigned there by parents who couldn't understand his "unusual behavior." As quickly as he drops in, however, he drops out again, relying on interior monologues to set scenes. In a sedative-induced haze, Veronika finds companionship in white-haired Mari, who suffers from panic attacks, and Eduard, an ambassador's son who has been diagnosed as schizophrenic, and she begins to question the definition of insanity. It is her supposed death sentence from the devious Dr. Igor, who is trying to shock her back into reality, that allows Veronika to reacquire the will to live and love. Employing his trademark blend of religious and philosophical overtones, Coelho focuses on his central question: why do people go on when life seems unfair and fate indifferent? The simple, often banal prose contrasts Veronika's bleak inner landscape with the beautiful contours of Slovenia, gradually culminating in an upbeat ending with the message that each day of life is a miracle. Coelho's latest will appeal to readers who enjoy animated homilies about the worth of human existence.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (May 23, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 5955000836
• ISBN-13: 978-0061124266
• ASIN: 0061124265
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (169 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,908 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Latin American

More About the Author

The Brazilian author PAULO COELHO was born in 1947 in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Before dedicating his life completely to literature, he worked as theatre director and actor, lyricist and journalist.

In 1986, PAULO COELHO did the pilgrimage to Saint James of Compostella, an experience later to be documented in his book The Pilgrimage.

In the following year, COELHO published The Alchemist. Slow initial sales convinced his first publisher to drop the novel, but it went on to become one of the best selling Brazilian books of all time.

Other titles include Brida (1990), The Valkyries (1992), By the river Piedra I sat Down and Wept (1994), the collection of his best columns published in the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S'o Paulo entitle Maktub (1994), the compilation of texts Phrases (1995), The Fifth Mountain (1996), Manual of a Warrior of Light (1997), Veronika decides to die (1998), The Devil and Miss Prym (2000), the compilation of traditional tales in Stories for parents, children and grandchildren (2001), Eleven Minutes (2003), The Zahir (2005)

During the months of March, April, May and June 2006, Paulo Coelho traveled to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his pilgrimage to Saint James of Compostella in 1986. He also held surprise book signings - announced one day in advance - in some cities along the way, to have a chance to meet his readers. In ninety days of pilgrimage the author traveled around the globe and took the famous Transiberrian train that took him to Vladivostok. During this experience Paulo Coelho launched his blog Walking the Path - The Pilgrimage in order to share with his readers his impressions.

Since this first blog Paulo Coelho has expanded his presence in the internet with his daily blogs in Wordpress (http://paulocoelhoblog.com), Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/paulocoelho) & Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Paulo-Coelho/11777366210). He is equally present in media sharing sites such as Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=paulabraconnot) and Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulo_coelho/sets) , offering on a regular basis not only texts but also videos and pictures to his readers.

From this intensive interest and use of the Internet sprang his bold new project: The Experimental Witch http://paulocoelhoblog.com/experimental-witch where he invites his readers to adapt to the screen his book The Witch of Portobello. You can still subscribe in this experiment!

Indeed Paulo Coelho is a firm believer of Internet as a new media and is the first Best-selling author to actively support online free distribution http://piratecoelho.wordpress.com of his work.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars !!! Excellent book !!!, May 20, 2002

By 

Stefan (Austria (Europe)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Veronika Decides to Die (Paperback)

I am not surprised that Veronika decides to die is an international bestseller. It is written by Paulo Coelho, who was born in Brazil.
This book has definitely inspired and/or changed the lives of many people out there. It is a book that will make you think, appreciate life.
It was my first experience of Paulo Coelho and it has made me to read more. He has a gift for writing books, which changes the way you think about life in general. That book is undoubtedly a phenomenon. I really enjoyed reading this satisfying book. I found the story quite gripping. It is a wonderful although bizarre declaration of love to all mad people in our world and to the life itself. The book really touched me very deeply. Paulo Coelho tells from elementary experiences and the readers recognize themselves: with their frailties and fears and also with their yearnings and dreams.

Short summary of Veronika decides to die:
Veronika has everything she could wish for. She is young and pretty, with plenty of attractive boyfriends. She has a steady job and a loving family. Yet Veronika is not happy and one winters morning she takes an overdose of sleeping pills, only to wake up some time later in a local mental hospital. There she is told that although she is alive, her heart is now irreparably damaged and she has only a few days to live. First Veronika feels a tiny bit happy about that message. Then she begins to think about her life.

This story follows her through these intense days as she starts to question all her ideas about life. Soon she comes to realize that every second of existence is a choice we all make between living and dying.
The way it alters her way of thinking and seeing the world. How she starts to question everything around her and also her own mortality. The way Veronika explores her life is inspirational.
It obviously shows us how often we dont know what we have until it is too late.
In addition to its messages, Veronika decides to die offers an interesting insight into how people deal with mental illness.

A review of this novel would not be complete without mentioning the doctor, the ambitious psychiatrist with his eyes on alternative techniques and methods. He is a central character in the plot of this book, although you dont actually see a great deal of him. At this point I dont want to write much more about that book. I dont want to ruin it for those people, who have not read this great book yet.

In conclusion may I say that it is a moving and uplifting song of life, one that reminds us that every moment in our lives is special and precious. Paulo Coelho is a wonderful storyteller with the power to inspire nations and change peoples lives.
I can highly recommend to read this and/or other books of Paulo Coelho.
An excellent novel! A must read for all!
It has changed my way of thinking. I am sure that it will change also your way of thinking!

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In Praise of Life, August 30, 2000

By 

Judith E. Pavluvcik (Dreaming of the beach in Hawaii, but living in the reality of the desert in Arizona!!) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Veronika Decides to Die (Hardcover)

I am great fan of Coelho's and absolutely love his books and the messages that they impart. This is the third book of his that I have read and I found his latest book to be no different! This is an excellent book - it will have you questioning your own life and the value that you do or don't place on it.

As some of the reviewers have said - this is a book about life and not about death and I could not agree more. After an unsuccessful attempt at suicide, Veronika awakens in a mental hospital with a grim death sentence hanging over her head of only having five days left to live. Her conformist way of life, her mediocrity, her stifled creativity, as well as her unwillingness to take risks or challenges, are all brought into the limelight for the reader to "feel". The reader experiences many emotions on Veronika's journey during the remaining five days of her life. We are treated to what her dream "would have been" if she followed her heart and allowed her emotions and passions to shine through.

Veronika's five-day metamorphosis is in effect her rebirth into life. She allows her buried feelings, passions and creativity to surface and to be acknowledged. Her brief stay also influences other patients in the hospital, as they too undergo their own rebirth into the joy of living.

The ending of this tale will come as a surprise to some readers, to others maybe not. Nonetheless, this book is excellent and will re-confirm to the reader just how precious, joyous and love-filled life is. This book also brings home many messages, the most important one being - life is what you make it - it is your choice and your choice alone - one can either live life to the fullest or be a walking zombie as Veronika was.

I thoroughly recommend this book as another inspiring and thought provoking book by Paulo Coelho. I very much look forward to his next book.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Coelho book!, January 21, 2006

By 

Katie "book worm" (PA , USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Veronika Decides to Die (Paperback)

I have read several of this authors' books, and yet it still amazes me how he is able to thread important insights into REALLY interesting story lines - making his books of fiction ones that we can all learn something from...

Don't be misled by the title "Veronika Decides to Die" - although this is definitely an important part of the story, a greater part has to do with choosing to live - making the deliberate choice to really LIVE each day, as opposed to just existing..

This book is also about the impact each of us have on everyone we meet - whether we realize it or not - and that this impact can be positive or negative, our choice.

Another REALLY important aspect was how we as a society determine what we consider "normal" & "abnormal", and how this impacts us personally, as well as how it impacts how we view others. It's truly amazing how quickly we humans change what we deem as "normal" & "okay" - and it is equally amazing how important it is to many of us to "fit in", to be a part of the majority, even if this means denying who we are & what feels right to us...

Overall, I would highly recommend it to those who enjoy "stories with a lesson" - you won't be disappointed!