Veronika Decides to Die
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Amazon.co.uk 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 --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Review
‘Coelho’s writing is beautifully poetic but his message is what counts… he gives me hope and puts a smile on my face’
DAILY EXPRESS
‘His books have had a life-enhancing impact on millions of people’
THE TIMES
‘One of the few to deserve the term “Publishing Phenomenon”’
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Absolutely inspirational. Veronika has spent her life shielding herself from anything that might hurt her, but because she's never felt anything extreme she feels her life is dull and uninteresting. Makes you realise that you have to go through the depths to reach the highs, and that's what makes life exciting and interesting.
I read this after a fairly painful break-up and it helped me realise that even though what I was going through was hard, I'd at least never have a 'what if' feeling about that particular person, and that I'll look back on these experiences in future and be glad I've lived life to the full.
I read this after a fairly painful break-up and it helped me realise that even though what I was going through was hard, I'd at least never have a 'what if' feeling about that particular person, and that I'll look back on these experiences in future and be glad I've lived life to the full.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Unknown Binding
This book by Paulo Coelho inspired the film of the same name starring "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" actress Sarah Michelle Gellar. (Link: Veronika Decides to Die (DVD) Veronica Paulo Coelho).
The issues addressed by this challenging story include sanity, madness, and what a thin dividing line sometimes exists between them, and how the need to conform can make people follow rules as irrational as any which might be imagined in the fantasies of someone society deems insane.
Veronica is a girl with many blessings who appears to have many good reasons to go on living. But instead she decides to attempts suicide.
Veronica wakes in a special and very peculiar clinic, where she is told that the overdose she has taken has done catastrophic damage to her body. Her suicide attempt did not exactly fail: it is simply requiring more time to take effect than she had envisaged.
Living each day that is left to her and trying to get as much as possible from it, Veronica realises that she no longer wants to die after all - but is it too late for her wishes to matter?
The issues addressed by this challenging story include sanity, madness, and what a thin dividing line sometimes exists between them, and how the need to conform can make people follow rules as irrational as any which might be imagined in the fantasies of someone society deems insane.
Veronica is a girl with many blessings who appears to have many good reasons to go on living. But instead she decides to attempts suicide.
Veronica wakes in a special and very peculiar clinic, where she is told that the overdose she has taken has done catastrophic damage to her body. Her suicide attempt did not exactly fail: it is simply requiring more time to take effect than she had envisaged.
Living each day that is left to her and trying to get as much as possible from it, Veronica realises that she no longer wants to die after all - but is it too late for her wishes to matter?
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Veronika decides to die - but then realises how very precious life is. Although she's a young girl with everything to live for, Veronika is not happy and feels that the only remedy for her malaise is suicide. But she survives and wakes up in the local lunatic asylum, only to be told that her heart is damaged and she has just days to live. More like a fable than a story, the main theme of Veronika Decides to Die is that life is worth living. Paulo Coelho's writing is simple but not simplistic and his images and ideas linger long after the book is finished.
The Historian
The Historian
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A good read
A well written and thought provoking book. An excellent read for anyone that is going through a difficult time in their life.
Published 4 days ago by Gillp
Good Read
I bought this for my Kindle and to be honest it is not my normal choice of reading matter, that said I enjoyed it, though it is a bit dark in places it was also very moving
Published 28 days ago by Mrs. Pj Davison
really interesting book
My mum read this book a few years back and suggested I read it too, though I didn't like it as much as her, I still found it a really good book to read. Read more
Published 1 month ago by dnewhall
Unforgetable
I read this book many years ago but I have never ever forgotten it.
If ever you feel tired of life this is the book to help you understand that
we are the lucky... Read more
If ever you feel tired of life this is the book to help you understand that
we are the lucky... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Lizzie M
Beautiful story
It is no secret that I absolutely adore Paulo Coelho! He writes with such beauty, skill and heart!
This is the first of his novels, I read, and I just fell in love with... Read more
This is the first of his novels, I read, and I just fell in love with... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Merle
excellent book and quality from seller
what an eye opening book! i recommend all of of paulos books be read. a book about a girl with no will to live gives you by the end a completely different reason to live. Read more
Published 2 months ago by emma
Steer Clear
This is possibly the worst book I have ever read. And as someone who has also recently read Twilight Eclipse there was stiff competition for this accolade. Read more
Published 6 months ago by pixie freak
Thoroughly engaging
There are certain passages in this book which describe aspects of the protagonist's reality in such a relatable way that those passages alone are enough to make me want to read the... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Shaz
Trust
After many months of not bying anything on amazon i have bought this book for my friend in Slovakia as she ask me to have it in english. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Tomas
You're probably too old for this book
Oh dear. I don't find this kind of pop-psychology-philosophy-religion b.s. very plausible. If you're too old to be interested in adolescent angst, don't bother with this book. Read more
Published 15 months ago by moby-dick
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