Veronika Decides to Die in Q&A with Paulo Coelho

Dec 27, 2007 Irina rated it it was amazing

Fantastic read! Awesome! I could not put the book down!

“Veronika Decides to Die” – just read the title again….decides to die…
How many times have you said to yourself, at least I have, “Ahh…I don’t care, I don’t really want to live anymore”, without even thinking about the meaning of it.

So Veronika said the same thing and decided to do something about it. Why?
Nothing bad had happened to Veronika, she was beautiful, had a regular life…very ordinary though ... but normal
She decided that it was not Fantastic read! Awesome! I could not put the book down!

“Veronika Decides to Die” – just read the title again….decides to die…
How many times have you said to yourself, at least I have, “Ahh…I don’t care, I don’t really want to live anymore”, without even thinking about the meaning of it.

So Veronika said the same thing and decided to do something about it. Why?
Nothing bad had happened to Veronika, she was beautiful, had a regular life…very ordinary though ... but normal
She decided that it was not exciting enough, and decided to die!
But her suicide attempt didn’t succeed and she ended up in the mental hospital. The pills ruined her heart and she had one more week to live before she dies – or so she was told.

"An awareness of death encourages us to live more intensely." Having only week to live, Veronika re-discovers herself sexually and emotionally, falls in love, and starts having this eagerness to live.

In addition, her suicide touched lives of other people in the mental hospital, who started cherish every day of their lives.

"Basically everything that happens in our life is our fault, and our fault alone."

So when the next time you say to yourself, “Ahh…I don’t care, I don’t really want to live anymore” - think twice.

2014 Update:
I re-read this book this year for my book club... 6 years since I read it first. I agree with all points after my first read but want to add some additional points on issues that Coelho discusses:

- Conformity, society norms and its danger
- Madness/insanity and what they really mean within the chains of society norms; how society norms varies from culture to culture, and how personal individuality can be affected by these “norms”
- Death and life and how knowing that death is imminent changes your perception of life: you start appreciating every moment and allow yourself to express yourself
- The book discusses other characters, Mari, Zedka, and Eduard. They were hiding inside the walls of Vilette because they were trying to escape the real world due to similar reasons related to to not being understood by their families and society. Vilette’s environment created a shield from the real world, “society”, and allowed these “insane” people to express themselves and behave the way they want without criticism. At the end… Veronika’s suicide affects them profoundly awakening in them a desire to live outside of Vilette’s walls and also making them to realize that Vilette is just another form of controlled society with its own rules and acceptance. And that at the end the true happiness lies in our own desire and believe, in our own acceptance and willingness to remove any boundaries and allow ourselves to live to the fullest, and be happy! ...more

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Oct 02, 2007 Mm abrahimy rated it it was amazing

ورنيكا تصميم ميگيرد كه بميرد

پائولو كوئيلو
ترجمه آرش حجازي

پس درد دل خود گفتم
حتي بر من نيز خواهد شد
همان كه بر آن ابله شد
راه خود را بپوي نان خود را بخور با لذت
و بنوش بادهات را با دلي شاد
كه پيشاپيش كردارت پذيرفته است نزد خداوند.
بگذار ردايت هماره سپيد باشد
.....
خدا مرا داوري خواهد كرد بخشي از زندگي ام را به نگريستن به باد گذراندم فراموش كردم كه بذر بيفشانم شاد نزيستم حتي بادهايي را كه به به من داده شد ننوشيدم اما يك روز ديدم اماده ام و به كار برگشتم رويايم را از بهشت براي انسانها گفتم....

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Oct 08, 2007 Michelle victoria rated it it was amazing

ceritanya, setelah beberapa lama, akhirnya gw nemuin buku ini di Gramedia Depok...dan gw seneeng bgt...

buku ini gw baca hampir 100 kali dalam waktu 2 minggu, dan gw gak bosen... ni buku 'hadir' when i think that nothing more to do on this life...

buat orang2 diluar sana yg berpikir bahwa 'this is the end'... well, gw rekomendasiin 'Veronika memutuskan mati' karya Coelho ini buat lo baca... dan lo akan terkaget2 saat nyadar bahwa ternyata hidup itu INDAH..!!! ...more

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Oct 19, 2007 Indah arsyad rated it really liked it

dari buku ini aku belajar tentang satu kata "gila"...
sebenernya gila itu apa??? normal itu apa???
walo akhirnya terasa agak menggantung, karena terjemahannya cukup bagus dan bahasanya enak untuk dibaca...aku seneng sama novel ini....membuatku berpikir, apa semua orang itu sebenernya berpotensi untuk menjadi gila? ...more

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