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Editorial Review:
"On 11 November 1997, Veronika decided that the moment to kill herself had--at last!--arrived": so begins Paulo Coelho's extraordinary new novel, Veronika Decides to Die. Renowned for the international success of The Alchemist, Coelho has secured his reputation as an outstanding storyteller and a key figure in world literature (his work has been translated into over 40 languages). Translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa, Veronika Decides to Die is a compelling story of a woman's struggle with and against life, told with Coelho's wit, subtlety and economy. On the track of whatever it is that makes life worth living, Coelho plots Veronika's fate with infinite care, weaving the mystery of her decision to take her own life into the themes of national identity--Veronika is a citizen of Slovenia, "that strange country that no one seemed quite able to place"--and madness.
Veronika does not die; instead, she wakes up in Villette--the "famous and much-feared lunatic asylum"--only to be told that, having damaged her heart irreparably, she has just a few days to live. What she faces now is a waiting game and the strange world of Villette: the rules and regulations which govern the lives of its inmates and the doctors who treat them. Coelho's question may be a familiar one: crudely, who, or what, is mad? But his fiction is a remarkable, sometimes chilling, response to it. "Everyone has an unusual story to tell" is the starting-point of the new treatment initiated at Villette by the enigmatic Dr Igor; it's also the insight from which this book takes off to explore the impact of a "slow, irreparable death" on a young woman and the mad men and women around her. --Vicky Lebeau
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
A poor novel on so many levels Having run out of books on holiday, I started on other people's leftovers. One of them was Veronika Decides To Die - and in the normal run of things, I wouldn't have lifted it from the shelf. But this was an opportunity to try something a bit different. And how different. On the first page, up pops a Brazilian writer called Paulo Coelho. I kid you not, the pompous man has included himself as a character in his own novel. Basically, Veronika has taken an overdose of sleeping pills and whilst... more info
best Paulo Coelho book I've read so far I have read a few Paulo Coelho books. He is one of my favourite authors and this is definitely the best book I have read so far.
It is quite depressing at times, but really gets you thinking about life and its meaning, so if you're into deep meaningful stuff, this is a good book to read.
Bitesize philosophy That is a little crude, but it was the first title that popped into my head. This is a captivating, beautifully written (albeit short) story of a young woman who decides to commit suicide. However she doesn't die straight away, but wakes up in a mental institution and is told that she has irreparably damaged her heart and has less than a week to live. She then spends the next 5 days on a personal journey, learning to appreciate life, and cherish even the mundane moments. She can fulfil fantasies as she has... more info
Will tomorrow always be there? A complicated story of a girl, who decides to die. It is far from corny, and is in reality much more insightful. I personally picked it up and dropped it about 10 times before finally managing to start it. My grandmother's recent passing made me think it would not be a pleasant read. Turns out it was, even in that context.
I loved it because it made me pause, and think, and realise, that I should not take tomorrow for granted. And neither should you. It's one of those books that you read once and they... more info
