Customer Reviews

Veronika Decides To Die - A Novel Of Redemption

5 star:		(89)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

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!

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.

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!

I just finished this book. I am almost at a loss for words.

This poignant novel tells the story of a young woman named Veronika who seems to have everything: beauty, a loving family, a good job, etc. However she feels empty inside, wondering what the purpose of life may be if things will just go downhill from then on. Thus she decides to end her life, cleanly and quietly.

Yet she does not succeed. She awakens sometime later in a mental hospital, Villete, and is told she only has days to live, as her attempt left unreparable damage on her heart.

She attempts to find ways to end her life more quickly while trapped in Villete, but ends up finding LIFE instead. With a death sentence creeping up on her, she battles inwardly between her previous wish to die, and her current fascination and discovery of life.

We all know how we are "supposed" to live, the rules and regulations that we abide by each and every day without even realizing it. Is this living? Paulo Coelho addresses this question brilliantly. Veronika's lesson is one that should be heeded by all. Unforunately it seems that those who truly live their own lives will instead be deemed "insane" or "crazy" by the law-abiding people surround them. What is life? Who can define another's choices, characteristics, and temperments? If a CEO decides not to wear a tie to work anymore, because he says it is stupid to nearly choke on a piece of fabric for ten hours everyday, who is to decide if he is crazy or not?

These questions and more like them will invade your thoughts after reading "Veronika Decides to Die". I strongly urge young and old, male and female, directed and hopeless, to read this book. I think we can all use a little insight into life.

Having been recommended this book by a good friend of mine, who knew me as a lost young person in this world, I read the book not only to feel excited but also had a renewed outlook on life. There were many points in the book that still stick in my mind ever so clearly as if I had read it yesterday. But Paulo Coelho wrote that book in a way that made me say, 'yeah, how did he hit the nail so precisely?' Reading some passages gave me shivers because Paulo was so right.

Many times, we tend to hold back on questioning or spilling our brains out for the sake of pleasing others because they would thing that we are crazy for asking such question. However, I have learnt a valuable lesson through this book - that is to be mad (mad in a good way)once in awhile. To do things once in awhile that we might not otherwise do and may never repeat but something that makes people say, 'He/She is MAD!'. Through this book also, I have come to realize that being myself and portraying the real me in a world filled with people who are extremely afraid to show their real feelings and expressions, is OK. I can be myself and be different and not feel as though it is a grave sin to be ME. - "Is Wanting to be different a serious illness?.....It is if you force yourself to be same as everyone else: it causes neuroses, pschoses and paranoia. It's a distortion of nature, it goes against God's laws, for in all the world's woods and forests, He did not create a single leaf the same as another." p. 153

Paulo Coelho wrote it so well that I have come to conclude: You only live once. Therefore, enjoy life to the fullest!

Ok I'll start with the pros, then I'll lash out the cons at the end.....first of all, I do think the plot of "Veronika Decides to Die" is intriguing and original (a young woman suffers a failed suicide attempt and lands in a mental hospital, suspended somewhere between life and death, believing her days to be limited due to irreversible heart failure and acting upon this belief. During her stay at the hospital, her closeness to death renews in her an appreciation of the life she had attempted to take away. Through her exchanges with her inmates, she learns about love, madness, dreams, freedom and the need to break free from self-imposed inhibitions and social "norms." Here, some interesting questions are raised in the novel...what IS the "norm"? why does society fear that which is different/erratic/new? why is being "different" considered a kind of madness? and who is madder....those who live as they please or those who destroy their dreams and limit their potential in order to conform?

The intended message is inspiring and beautiful .. one must discover the true value of life, the richness with with it can be lived, the meaning of living it. We should not be apathetic and resigned to the dull norms, instead we should savor every mad moment, every whim, every impulse we feel...so long as we do not cause destruction to those around us....sing in the rain, climb a mountain, paint, dance, laugh with the joy of life and living, unleash the individual within you and cry, scream, go out and follow your dream. It is an inspiring approach to our existence and the book answers to a modern-day malaise inflicting thousands of people world wide: boredom/apathy/depression. All of us meet face-to-face with sadness and emptiness at some point in our lives, and at such times we should take heed of some of Coelho's inspiring words in the novel: "the 2 hardest tests on the spiritual road are the patience to wait for the right moment, and the courage not to be dissapointed with what you encounter along the way" ..... there's another assertion by Veronika that I enjoyed reading: "to smell the earth is to feel alive" and "the meaninglessness of life was no one's fault but mine". A beautiful message, much needed in this age of prozac and therapy...

HOWEVER, I am a very objective and critical reader, and my interest in the book's main idea does not change what I've always believed to be true about Paulo Coelho: he IS an overrated writer and a bit of a pseudo-philosopher as well....yes, he is interesting, but if you read his works, for example "Veronika", you realise that the entire book revolves around one very elementary idea that he fluffs up with pretty parables and cute little symbols and metaphors JUST to give the illusion of profundity....and while he's at it, he makes it a point to mention his own admission to a mental hospital in order to appeal to the reader's sympathy and to re-confirm that he writes what he writes out of personal experience and depth of feeling.... it is so obviously fake....unfortunately, though, this is what sells his books: he appeals to an exoteric, moderately intelligent audience whilst allowing them to believe that they have just read a work of great depth and perception ... and many also think that his "simple" vocabulary is a sign of his unpretentious, down-to-earth persona ....I think its just a sign of bad writing.

Yes, the book's message is great, yes, life should be lived happily and yes, one should sit back and assess the meaning of their existence and what they can do with their lives, but for god's sake if you're looking for depth, go out and read Hesse, Roth, Dostoevsky......ignore the Coelho fad and start giving credit where real credit is due! And in case you're still wondering, the 4 stars are for the IDEA/PLOT and not for the WRITING/DEPTH.

When Veronika decides to commit suicide it is not from profound depression but from boredom and emptiness. When she wakes up from her overdose she finds herself in an old fashioned literary "asylum" where the treatments are--to say the least--unorthodox. There she learns that she has damaged her heart and will in fact die in little more than a week. And from there, the parable unfolds.

Faced with the real possibility of death, Veronika begins to appreciate life. The author develops his theme artfully. Follow your vision, he says, live in the moment, make the most of your fleeting time. Do not waste your life trying to meet the expectations of others, but do what you have always dreamed of doing.

Unfortunately the author is just a bit heavy-handed in making these points. The story of Veronika's commitment to a mental hospital is a very personal issue with author Coelho--indeed he himself makes a brief appearance in the story to underline this point. I wish he had been more subtle and let the readers draw their own conclusions. Still, the book is readable, lucid and charming. I recommend it. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber

The premise of this novel seemed intriguing. It promised to deal not so much with the events that would lead to Veronika's suicide, but rather the consequences. And not the effect on her friends and family (as most novels about the after effects of suicide are), but rather the effect her suicide would have on HER.  Not only that, by turning the death BY a person into a slow, agonising death OF a person, Paul Coelho has created an utterly involving and original idea. Indeed would it not be the ruminating and waiting that will haunt you to the end? Meaning, if you knew that you were to die in five days time, would it not a given that you would wonder and regret? Questions like "Have I lived my life to the fullest, have I done all I'd ever wanted to achieve, what more could I have contributed to the world, etc?" These questions pertain to life: what has been achieved and what could have been accomplished had one been given the chance to live? And so, because of this, "Veronika Decides to Die" is not a story of death, but one of life.

And there was the mistake, mostly on my part I guess. This was a story of inspiration. I expected one of death; one which dealt with suicide and the anguish, regret and horror.

Suicide is a very complicated issue, and seemed not to play a big part in Veronika's story. It (along with her impending, seemingly inevitable death) acted merely as a catalyst towards her expected desire to live and experience that which she had not before. Paul Coelho could have really pushed this issue, and come up with something very real and very dark. Instead, we are left with something very surreal.

The story also feels disjointed, with the author introducing four or five (if you include himself) characters to the story. We are given backgrounds to each character and told then how Veronika's desire for life in the face of death, changes each of them. By doing this, however, the reader is left feeling dissatisfied, having just been introduced to these characters, but learning little else about them.

Of course, Paul Coelho is too good a story teller to write a false sounding tale and taking that into account, I must admit it was extremely well written and the issues that WERE dealt with were thoroughly argued and acted out with enough irony to leave the reader smiling. The issue of madness, for example, was dealt with superbly and in light of that, perhaps the surreal feel of the story was appropriate.

Therefore, this was a story about life, not death, and about the madness of living life to the fullest. The insanity behind doing what you want, when you want, feeling however you wish to feel and loving with no other desire than to love. As opposed to conforming to what society deems as "normal" behaviour.

At the end of this novel the reader is given the gift of a second chance at life, but only if the reader dares to defy conformity and live according to their heart's passion, assuming of course that the heart has a recognizable passion. That's the catch. If you are satisfied with your own mediocrity then I don't recommend reading this because you might just find yourself identifying with Veronika, who never dared to take any real chances or go against the flow, one day after another being that of mundane existence. You may in fact find yourself quite jealous of Veronika's remarkable foresight when she analyzed the reasons for not finishing her life, and then for having the calm courage to end her life of monotonous conformity.

This book challenges you to examine the value of your own life, and the cost of sacrificing whatever it is that is unusual about you for the sake of acceptance by others. If you aren't afraid of holding up a mirror to yourself then read away, and enjoy the spiritual jewels the authors lays at your feet.

The Book

Veronika Decides to Die

The Author

Paulo Coelho

Theme

If you have ever wondered why a keyboard is laid in QWERT order or what is the purpose of a Tie, or what it means by being normal or why some people become mad; then this book has its answers. Here Paulo Coelho is talking to himself; one finds some whisperings that we have all known and felt sometime or the other in our lives.

The Skeleton

The book begins with Veronika, a twenty-four year old Slovenian's decision to die. She finds no reason to live. Everyday was the same for her, nothing seemed to change. The suicide turns out to be a failure and she is admitted in an asylum in Vilette.

Here she is introduced to a new world, a world where she is free to do whatever she wanted, for the simple reason that she was mad. She discovers that a shadow of her life existed in the lives of Eduard, Zedka, and Mari who were the inmates. The author spins a magical web exploring the lives within the protective walls of Vilette where in the patients are allowed to rediscover their `madness' without criticism or harm. Their discovery turns out to be the message of the book.

Impression

Excellent.

Authors View

Q. What is the main idea in your new book?

Ans. That we have been educated to accept what society imposes on us. We never ask why we must do this or stop doing that. Those who accept such an imposition and do what the majority recommends are considered normal people. On the other hand, those who try to escape a pre-manufactured life and start fighting for their dreams are generally considered fools. In "Veronika Decides to Die", I tell the story of people that, for one reason or the other do not follow the path of normality and feel obliged to find a new way.

Quotes from the Book

" Madness is the inability to communicate your ideas. It is as if you are in a foreign country, able to see and understand everything that's going on around you, but incapable of explaining what you need to know or of being helped, because you don't understand the language they speak there. We have all felt that. And all of us, one way or another are mad."

" But what is Reality?

Its what the majority deems it to be. Its not necessarily the best or the most logical. But it's the one that has become adapted to the desires of the society as a whole."

" We are allowed to make a lot of mistakes in our lives, except the mistake that destroys us."

" We lived together like fish in an aquarium, contented because someone threw us food when we needed it, and we could whenever we wanted to, see the world outside the glass."