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    Veronika Decides to Die
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    Veronika Decides to Die
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    Veronika Decides to Die
    Ebook229 pages3 hours

    Veronika Decides to Die

    By Paulo Coelho and Margaret Jull Costa

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    About this ebook

    A novel from internationally acclaimed author Paulo Coelho – a dramatic story of love, life and death that shows us all why every second of our existence is a choice we all make between living and dying.

    Veronika has everything she could wish for. She is young and pretty, has plenty of boyfriends, a steady job, a loving family. Yet she is not happy; something is lacking in her life, and one morning she decides to die. She takes an overdose of sleeping pills, only to wake up some time later in the local hospital. There she is told that her heart is damaged and she has only a few days to live.

    The story follows Veronika through these intense days as to her surprise she finds herself experiencing feelings she has never really felt before. Against all odds she finds herself falling in love and even wanting to live again…

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins UK
    Release dateApr 28, 2011
    ISBN9780007379958
    Author

    Paulo Coelho

    Paulo Coelho is the author of The Alchemist, he was born in 1947 in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Being the author of 30 books that have sold over 320 million copies in 170 countries, he has become one of the most widely read authors in the world today. Paulo Coelho is the recipient of over 115 awards and honours, including the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the Grinzane Cavour Book Award and the Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur, to name a few.

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    Reviews for Veronika Decides to Die

    4/5

    67 ratings51 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Very nice little book. A very different view of life.
    • 3/5
      As with all Coehlo, it's some great ideas wrapped up into a shiny little feel-good package that just makes me feel a little dirty for liking it. Does he seem awfully contrived to anyone else?
    • 3/5
      The title character of this book, Veronika, tries to commit suicide through an overdose of pills. The suicide attempt fails, but the pills have caused irreparable damage to her heart and she only has 1 week to live. This knowledge of her imminent death gives Veronika new insight and a different perspective on life. My copy of the book included some interesting information on Paulo Coelho's life. As a young man, he spent several weeks in a mental hospital. He uses this information to frame many of the events of the book and provide a very different viewpoint of how we view and treat the 'insane'. Although the premise of this book was interesting, I am not a huge fan of Coelho. Rather than subtly stating a theme in his books, he tends to shout it out repeatedly. For this novel, the central theme seemed to revolve around how strict rules in our society force people to behave abnormally, but once a person is labeled 'insane', they have the freedom to behave and live as they want.
    • 3/5
      Veronika Decides to Die tells a simple story: the title character, a young, beautiful woman, is dissatisfied with life and decides to kill herself. She survives her suicide attempt, but at the upscale mental hospital she is admitted to afterward, she is told her heart is damaged and she has only about a week to live. This revelation forces her, and the hospital's other patients as well, to re-evaluate what is important in life. This novel is not a realistic depiction of life in a mental hospital; rather, it is a fable about the human condition. The hospital is a microcosm of the wider world. I enjoyed the novel's straightforward prose, but my overall impression was that the story was not very substantial, and its spiritual insights were not very deep (art, music, and sexual pleasure = good; mindless conformity = bad). The same message could have been delivered, perhaps more effectively, in a short story.
    • 3/5
      This is a difficult book to rate. I enjoyed the philosophy and there were quite a few thought-provoking statements about conformity and insanity. One favorite: "That is why embittered people find heroes and madmen a perennial source of fascination, for they have no fear of life or death."

      As a novel, the plot was minimal and the very lean prose made it difficult to feel anything for the characters.
    • 3/5
      Over ambitious. Paulo attempts to do like with The Alchemist, creating a 'fable' and a 'story' out of modern times but doesn't quite get the same resonance, also tries to tackle things bigger than he is willing to give space to or even try to fully convey other than in his 'mystical' writing.
    • 5/5
      Coelho continues his magic in my life! He weaves a fine tapestry of what it means to be mentally ill here that is spot on, as an individual planning on working in that particular field of social work. One way that he does this is through his characterization of multiple people that could be considered crazy in modern society. These characters show us that maybe these people are not as crazy as we would like to make them out to be. There is a truth that underlies their thinking that we just may not grasp because it is different from the herd mentality.

      I loved what was done with this book specifically with the message about living each day. We must learn to live our days for self, but also like they are going to be our last. If you are looking for an inspirational read then this one will speak to your very heart.
    • 5/5
      Told from the heart

      Clearly the subject is dear to the author and he celebrates the differences in people that we both enjoy and fear. In this PC climate, the message of this book is so necessary - especially the vitriol thesis. There are so many functionally numb people today, that this book should be dedicated to them. Bravo Paulo! This is a masterpiece.
    • 3/5
      Are the lunatics running the asylum?This is the third Coelho novel that I've read,after The Alchemist and The Devil and Miss Prym,and for me it is the weakest.Now don't get me wrong I love the author's writing style which I find so easy going yet with a deceptive depth,rather I felt that this book lacked any real plot and was more of a parable or perhaps a part of some philosophical debate where the only true madness is to conform. Veronika has never done anything challenging or taken a real risk preferring to live a safe unimaginative life within self-regulated boundaries in both her professional and personal existance. Despite superficially having everything to live for is basically bored with life,so decides to commit suicide. When this fails she is sent to a mental hospital where she is told that she only has days to live thus making her re-evaluate not only her life but the meaning of life.Surrounded by other 'maniacs' she finally begins to see life as a gift and wants to live her final days to the full.Which for the reader means we end up with a debate as to the meanings of life and death,love and hate, madness and sanity.Despite really wanting to I struggled to feel any real empathy towards Veronika and her plight instead finding myself more interested in the other characters in the book lives. In particular I was intrigued by the character of Doctor Igor, the establishment's psychiatrist with his own somewhat warped outlook,who quite frankly seemed to be the only real lunatic in the place.I had pretty well guessed the ending before we got there but didn't feel that was too detrimental to it overall and as such still enjoyed the book, just not as much as the others.Now at only about 190 pages long it is a reasonably quick read so go on judge for yourself it may give you a different outlook on life. You never know.
    • 2/5
      I so disliked this book!,, July 27, 2015This review is from: Veronika Decides to Die: A Novel of Redemption (Paperback)Veronika is a young Slovenian woman, attempting suicide. She's not ill or depressed; only, she's realised her life is unremittingly the same every day, and she's going to get old and go downhill. Also, she's powerless to do anything about the bad things going on in the world. Of course, her attempt is unsuccessful and she finds herself in a psychiatric hospital...In the hospital we encounter various other characters, notably schizophrenic Edward, 'The Fraternity', a group who are cured but don't want to leave as they can behave how they want if they're deemed 'mad'. And Dr Igor, who is pursuing a theory on bitterness (or 'Vitriol'), which seems to infect most people...I so disliked this book: it's probably more of a *1.5. I realise that the whole plot and characters are meant to illustrate Coelho's thoughts rather than being believable real-life persons. But the thoughts and ideas are very facile, making me think this is aimed at a teen audience. Coelho includes an implausible sex scene to spice it all up.How the author became so famous is beyond me!
    • 4/5
      Story set in Romania of a young girl who decides to commit suicide. She is not successful and is hospitalized for mental illness.
    • 5/5
      For me this book was about conforming to social norms and how we act and feel in our day to day lives to fit into what society prescribes. Veronika, a librarian (an awesome job I would imagine!), decides to commit suicide but luckily fails and ends up in an institution for the mentally ill. As she is 'treated' by the hospital's head physician she encounters other patients who are all looking for, but seldom finding, their place in the world.

      I loved the dialogue and the opportunity that her 'illness' allowed for her to finally find and express her true self. Viewed as an unstable person allowed for her to voice and act out in ways she (and we as 'normal' individuals) would otherwise never have done.

      "If one day I could get out of here, I would allow myself to be crazy. Everyone is indeed crazy, but the craziest are the ones who don't know they're crazy; they just keep repeating what others tell them to."

      With this (and an on-going experiment by said head physician) Veronika finds love, acceptance and her true voice.
    • 5/5
      If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, would you live differently? Would you regret the things you did, thinking you shouldn't have done this or that?

      And to this, Coelho writes, why wait until you're dying? We're born to die , isn't that the saying? Certainly we'll die, and we don't know when. It could be tomorrow, it could be 50 years later. So why waste our lives? For a book titled as such, it talks a lot about the value of living.

      I guess I really like this book because it's full of crazy people, people who don't conform, and I'm a little crazy myself. It's taught me to embrace my madness, to look at every day as if it's different from the day before it, to live like who I am, and how I want it.

      When faced by your own mortality, I don't think you have a choice but to live your life to the fullest.
    • 2/5
      Who the heck decided that this book - out of the hundreds of millions of books out there - belonged on the 1001 books to read before you die list? Seriously, I don't understand. I do not like Coelho's style at all. The upside: it was a quick read.

      Two back to back 2 star books do not make me a happy camper. Jane Austen, I'm counting on you to get me out of this reading slump.

      ETA: I have decided that this book must have been commissioned by Hallmark. Are all of Coelho's books like this?
    • 1/5
      This is one of the most WTF books I have read in a while.

      I had read some of "The Alchemist" also by Paulo Coelho and gave up on it after I couldn't stand his preachy attempts at philosophizing, but this was recommended to me by a friend. Because I know so few people who read, I latch on to any book they mention in the hopes that I can actually talk about books with someone in real life. I need to learn my lesson already.

      The plot and characters could've been anything, and were probably underdeveloped as a result, because they were really just a vehicle for his message that madness is all relative. Perhaps there are some kernels of truth there, but I think it's much a more nuanced idea than how he writes it, and it certainly doesn't have to be so obvious and heavy-handed. I can only be told what to think for so long without resenting you and your unlikeable, illogical characters. And, by the way, that argument is not exactly supported by having a character fall instantly in love with a man who just sits there as she plays piano for hours and then silently watches while she furiously masturbates. That makes sense. But who am I to judge? Maybe I'm the mad one!
    • 1/5
      Mr Cohelo's books are extremely popular and having read "The Alchemist" I gave ths one a chance. It was better but still patronizing. All his books seem to say much about nothing. They assume the reader will be taken in by trying to sound mystical and that there is something behind it but you are left thinking "What was all that about"
    • 5/5
      The lesser known of Paulo Coelho's books and I had to be really pushed to read it, yet even more so than The Alchemist, the message is so very simple. Be EXACTLY who you seek to be ... and that certainly rang home with me. A 'must read' in my mind but only after you have read the Alchemist :)
    • 5/5
      i loved this book, message given was nice, which also included that too make some one happy even if its necessary to lie then its not a big sin
    • 3/5
      Is it only what we cannot have that we want? I liked the concept, but did not enjoy the writing much, or was that the translation?
    • 5/5
      Loved this one. My only gripe about it is when the story sidetracks to give some background for the other patients. I thought that didn't really make much difference to me regarding the story, at times I felt they were just fillers. Four and a half out of five.
    • 3/5
      Some love affairs with authors last only for a single book, while others span an entire oeuvre. For me and Paulo Coelho, it's the former. I loved [book: The Alchemist], so I thought I would love this. Not so much.All of the characters sound similar, and speak as if quoting from an essay. It's like Coelho is trying to directly address the reader, but hiding behind different characters. Which seems unnecessary, given that he breaks the fourth wall early in the novel and acknowledges his own history as a mental patient.If you're looking for a first-person "young woman in asylum" story, stick to [book: Girl, Interrupted].
    • 3/5
      Went to download this book because I remembered wanting to read it a long time ago. After I downloaded it I remembered that I had read it last year. It was that forgettable. The story had so much potential. I'll probably like the movie much more, releasing in US in 2011, becuase the movie will probabaly help us feel more for Veronika. The way she was written, I feel nothing for her.I actually grew so bored with the book halfway through that I started skimming large portions of text just to get through it. I NEVER do that. And then I get to the end and it was exactly as I suspected. I might give it another read sometime when i have nothing else to read.
    • 5/5
      This book is wonderful, my favorite by Paulo Coelho. The end is absolutely brilliant.
    • 1/5
      Frankly, this is a terrible book.I've read two other Coelho books, and I see the pattern now: these are fictionalised self-help books, and they are every bit as vapid and soulless as the worst self-help books.In this example, Veronika decides to end her life; she wakes up in a mental institute, and slowly rediscovers life and a reason for living. How very predictable. The other major characters, three other inmates of the asylum, all seem on the point of recovering, or have already recovered from their problems. In fact, we don't see anybody in the asylum who really has a problem to speak of.The writing is worse than bad. Coelho's style has been praised as being simple and pared-down, much in the way of Hemingway's 'Old Man and The Sea', but the difference here is between simple and simple-minded. Coelho's is definitely the latter. It almost seems lazy. The characters, when they speak, say the most tremendously profound things - or they speak in hackneyed, unrealistic tones. Regardless, they speak in the same style and grammatical structure as the rest of the book. We only know when the characters are philosophising and not just Coelho thanks to the speech marks.I've read enough Coelho now to know that his writing is not for me. I shall not return to his books.
    • 4/5
      Read in June 2000. An easy read with some interesting issues that were discussed.
    • 4/5
      This book sketches an idea on the origin of insanity. Through the fates of four asylum inmates madness is seen to result from the conflict of our own desires and the expectations of our loved ones, and the force towards living a "normal" life, all of which create a fear of the outside world. Very convincingly, Coelho portrays normality as just a code enforced by a majority. An asylum is a place where one can ignore this code, where one can freely be "different", but the fear of reality persists. In this book, the haven is disturbed by Veronika's impending death, and some of the inmates are forced to face this fear.Apparently Coelho has himself been committed to an asylum. It seemed like a calm, safe place. This book has a positive tone throughout it, it is encouraging, soothing. Veronika's will of life in the face of death is like someone working harder to meet a deadline. I just wonder what happens when she finds out that she's not really dying...Coelho writes well, there is real thought to his text, but at times it's cheesy.
    • 3/5
      How's this as an idea for a book? A young, beautiful woman decides life is not worth living and attempts suicide. She does not die, however; unfortunately, her suicide attempt has weakened her heart...she will only live for another week. I liked the idea for the book much better than I liked the book itself. The story, to me, simply seemed to be a device the author used to make his points about The Meaning of Life.
    • 5/5
      For Jessica, yes, reading the book first and see if the movie rendition is worhty. That's what I always do. LOL. And This is my favorite Coelho book.In one his his many interviews Coelho said this is a book about life and death. Agreed 100%. It starts off with our protagonist Veronika's night when she deided to overdosed herself with sleeping pills. only to wake up in an asylum called the Villet, the doctor then explained how they managed to revived her but barely, she was told that she only have a few days to live. She then found and met interesting people. The horrifying treatments and the heartbreaking story of their life made me finish the book in one sitting.I can never really describe how much this book change the way I view mental illness. Veronikas situation is so colloquial that I felt the depression that drove her to suicide. But like any other person looking outside the box I also feel that her stunt earned her a place in the aylum and then I got to know her, like Zedka, Mari and most especially Eduard. In a society that one simple act of temporary violence is considered a disease thus said people are shunned by the public and most of their relative. Example: Mary, in a heated arguement with her co-worker pulls her hair, out of frustration. Said co-worker then pressed charges and Mary was sent to a mental institution backed up with paper works from a professional that labeled her as a bi-polar, Mary then was given medications that they think would help her "get well" and the result... could be many things. She maybe now suicidal, lost or even dead. I respect the professionals but I question the authenticity of their diagnosis. My point is, can someone really say one is truly disturbed, based on one given situation? Because for me people who annoys you or people who lost their temper and smash, say an ex-husbands windshield because she caught him cheating doesn't count. (ok, enough reality shows. LOL)Beautifully written. Based on Paulo's personal experience in the asylum. Prepare to cry. A life changing book.
    • 4/5
      We all have ways that we deal with life. In Coehlo's book, these isn't much difference between the coping skills of the institutionalized and the rest of us. Should these people be in a mental institution, or is it really that they cannot cope with life in a way that is socially acceptable?"During her life Veronika had noticed that a lot of people she knew would talk about the horrors in other people's lives as if they were genuinely trying to help them, but the truth was that they took pleasure in the suffering of others, because that made them believe they were happy and that life had been generous with them. She hated that kind of person, and she wasn't going to give the young man an opportunity to take advantage of her state in order to mask his own frustrations." p. 37"She was in a mental hospital, and so, she could allow herself to feel things that people usually hide. We are all brought up only to love, to accept, to look for ways around things, to avoid conflict. Veronika hated everything, but mainly she hated the way she had lived her life, never bothering to discover the hundreds of other Veronikas, who lived inside her and who were interesting, crazy, curious, brave, bold." p. 76"You say they create their own reality," said Veronika, "but what is reality?" "It's whatever the majority deems it to be. It's not necessarily the best or the most logical, but it's the one that supports the desires of society as a whole." p. 95"That's how it should be with you; stay insane, but behave like normal people. Run the risk of being different, but learn to do so without attracting attention. Concentrate on this flower and allow the real "I" to reveal itself." "What is the real 'I'?" asked Veronika. Perhaps everyone else there knew, but what did it matter: She must learn to care less about annoying others. The man seemed surprised by the interruption, but he answered her question. "It's what you are, not what others make of you." p. 110She would consider each day a miracle--which indeed it is, when you consider the number of unexpected things that could happen in each second of our fragile existences. p. 217
    • 4/5
      This was a very strange and compelling book, I read through it in one night. I really had no idea what to expect from it and if I had any expectations it surpassed them like most of this authors books do. I know a lot of people don't like a book that is simple and direct with it messages but I love this authors style and how he get to the heart of an issue and really make you think. What if? What would I do? Would I do the Same thing? I think most of his books are a must read ,period! Just read it and be surprised, I don't want to give anything away but so far each book I read by this author makes me think about what parts of my life are working and what parts could be changed , and maybe what kind of person I really want to be. Hey maybe Insanity is just being really , deeply honest. :0)