Veronika Decides to Die

Additional Veronika Decides to Die Information

Twenty-four-year-old Veronika seems to have everything she could wish for--youth and beauty, pleny of attractive boyfriends, a fulfilling job, and a loving family. Yet something is lacking in her life. Inside her is a void so deep that nothing could possibly ever fill it. So, on the morning of November 11, 1997, Veronika decides to die. She takes a handful of sleeping pills expecting never to wake up.

Naturally Veronika is stunned when she does wake up--at Villete, a local mental hospital, where the staff informs her that she has, in fact, partially succeeded in achieving her goal. While the overdose didn't kill Veronika immediately, the medication has damaged her heart so severely that she has only days to live.

The story follows Veronika through the intense week of self-discovery that ensues. To her surprise, Veronika finds herself drawn to the confinement of Villete and its patients, who, each in his or her individual way, reflect the heart of human experience. In the heightened state of life's final moments, Veronika discovers things she has never really allowed herself to feel before--hatred, fear, curiosity, love, and sexual awakening. She finds that every second of her existence is a choice between living and dying, and at the eleventh hour emerges more open to life than ever before.

In Veronika Decides to Die, Paulo Coelho takes reader on a distinctly modern quest to find meaning in a culture overshadowed by angst, soulless routine, and pervasive conformity. Based on events in Coelho's own life, Veronkia Decides to Die questions the meaning of madness and celebrates individuals who do not fit into patterns society considers to be normal. Poignant 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.

What Customers Say About Veronika Decides to Die:

It leaves the reader with much food for thought as Coelho is famous for. Great book. amazing. The ideas of pleasure, custom, love and life. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The concept of insanity and 'normality' has always been one to intrigue me over the years & I've never read a book that peeled back the layers and exposed the argument with such intellectual finesse and raw idealism and simply and poetically written, such as this.

Not good condition at all, as compared to previously ordered books from other vendors.I will look elsewhere for my used books in the future. I ordered a book in "good" condition and it arrived with the spine almost falling out. When I ordered this book, I specifically looked for a used book seller on the west coast, where I live, for the ability to receive the book timely. It took me TWO WEEKS to receive the book from one state over.

I will never forget this book. Very captivating plot with an unpredictable ending. Interesting style of writing by the author. Very interesting insights into psychiatry.

What would you do if you miraculously survived, but weren't sure when you might die anyways. What would you do if you knew you had a short time to live. I would definitely get my fill of love and books by Paulo Coelho. I so much enjoy Paulo Coelho's writing. It's simple, meaningful, and always carries with it a life lesson.

it was a bit strange reading, but my opinion is if i care enough to finish it then it's enjoyable. i did finish it, so i did enjoy it. not life changing, but enough to interest me in finishing it. it is rare for me to read a book continuously through without having to put it down for some time and then return to it. i had to put this one down for a week or two and then pick it up again.