Customer Reviews

Veronika Decides To Die: A Novel of Redemption

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Ok I'll start with the pros, then I'll lash out the cons at the end.....first of all, I do think the plot of "Veronika Decides to Die" is intriguing and original (a young woman suffers a failed suicide attempt and lands in a mental hospital, suspended somewhere between life and death, believing her days to be limited due to irreversible heart failure and acting upon this belief. During her stay at the hospital, her closeness to death renews in her an appreciation of the life she had attempted to take away. Through her exchanges with her inmates, she learns about love, madness, dreams, freedom and the need to break free from self-imposed inhibitions and social "norms." Here, some interesting questions are raised in the novel...what IS the "norm"? why does society fear that which is different/erratic/new? why is being "different" considered a kind of madness? and who is madder....those who live as they please or those who destroy their dreams and limit their potential in order to conform?

The intended message is inspiring and beautiful .. one must discover the true value of life, the richness with with it can be lived, the meaning of living it. We should not be apathetic and resigned to the dull norms, instead we should savor every mad moment, every whim, every impulse we feel...so long as we do not cause destruction to those around us....sing in the rain, climb a mountain, paint, dance, laugh with the joy of life and living, unleash the individual within you and cry, scream, go out and follow your dream. It is an inspiring approach to our existence and the book answers to a modern-day malaise inflicting thousands of people world wide: boredom/apathy/depression. All of us meet face-to-face with sadness and emptiness at some point in our lives, and at such times we should take heed of some of Coelho's inspiring words in the novel: "the 2 hardest tests on the spiritual road are the patience to wait for the right moment, and the courage not to be dissapointed with what you encounter along the way" ..... there's another assertion by Veronika that I enjoyed reading: "to smell the earth is to feel alive" and "the meaninglessness of life was no one's fault but mine". A beautiful message, much needed in this age of prozac and therapy...

HOWEVER, I am a very objective and critical reader, and my interest in the book's main idea does not change what I've always believed to be true about Paulo Coelho: he IS an overrated writer and a bit of a pseudo-philosopher as well....yes, he is interesting, but if you read his works, for example "Veronika", you realise that the entire book revolves around one very elementary idea that he fluffs up with pretty parables and cute little symbols and metaphors JUST to give the illusion of profundity....and while he's at it, he makes it a point to mention his own admission to a mental hospital in order to appeal to the reader's sympathy and to re-confirm that he writes what he writes out of personal experience and depth of feeling.... it is so obviously fake....unfortunately, though, this is what sells his books: he appeals to an exoteric, moderately intelligent audience whilst allowing them to believe that they have just read a work of great depth and perception ... and many also think that his "simple" vocabulary is a sign of his unpretentious, down-to-earth persona ....I think its just a sign of bad writing.

Yes, the book's message is great, yes, life should be lived happily and yes, one should sit back and assess the meaning of their existence and what they can do with their lives, but for god's sake if you're looking for depth, go out and read Hesse, Roth, Dostoevsky......ignore the Coelho fad and start giving credit where real credit is due! And in case you're still wondering, the 4 stars are for the IDEA/PLOT and not for the WRITING/DEPTH.

A friend of mine had suggested I read this, and based on the reviews I saw on here it seemed like a good bet. I was therefore surprised to find myself reading a novel that was poorly written with awkward dialogue that made me cringe as I read. It was also full of cheesy cliches, and overall frustrating to get through. The author's use of the third person at the beginning of the novel seemed stupid, awkward, and cheesy all at the same time.

Oftentimes it read like a psychology or science textbook rather than a novel. Example: "There was more. She knew that everything she could see around her was just a scene created by electrical impulses inside her brain, using light impulses that passed through a gelatinous organ called the eye." (p.106). (This one was particularly cringe-worthy!)

Maybe it was problem of translation to English from Portuguese, but still, why this book/author is so famous eludes me.

I don't recommend this book at all. I want 6 hours of my life back =)

The first part of Veronika Decides to Die is a bleak journey into the head of the fatalistic young woman who gives the book its name. Author Paulo Coelho does a good job here of describing the mindset that would lead someone to suicide, and in setting the stage for Veronika's rebirth in the later parts of the book. Really understanding the book, I think, requires understanding this part.

But understanding Mr. Coelho requires understanding the rest of the story.

There is a simple beauty to Mr. Coelho's style, in evidence as he describes Veronika's ascent from the depths of her private purgatory to her return to her place among the living. This evolution in Veronika is the crux of the book and it illustrates Mr. Coelho's strengths and weaknesses as a storyteller: his ideas are fresh and original and his sense of plot of solid. But his techniques as a writer, his dialogues, his pacing, are weak.

To be sure, Mr. Coelho's ideas are the cornerstones of his legion fan base. The ideas are not only visible in this book when it comes to Veronika's rebirth but also in interesting but minor parts of the story. One of my favorites was when Mari -- an antagonist to Veronika, a lawyer, and a fellow patient at the Villete hospital where most of the story takes place -- muses about how she would defend Adam in the eyes of God for the role he played in the Fall of Man. I also enjoyed the metaphor from Zedka -- another patient -- about the king and queen who rules a kingdom of mad people and how they reacted.

But I quarrel with Mr. Coelho's development of characters, and especially with his choice of dialogue. Veronika, notwithstanding her epic journey from being suicidal to becoming essentially optimistic, can seem almost two-dimensional in the sense that she seems to evolve on her own, like a self-contained universe. And events are too pat: witness Eduard, who may have been pretending to be a schizophrenic waiting for the off chance that someone like Veronika would come along.

The dialogue is similarly contrived. Open the book to any page and read out loud what is between quotation marks and it will probably seem artificial. People do not talk that way -- especially when they are talking to themselves, which is often the case here. I also wonder why Mr. Coelho chose to put certain dialogue -- things like "yes, I will" or "sometimes I do," which would normally be added to the narration in the form of paraphrase -- in quotations when they add almost nothing to the characters' development.

I have friends who are big fans of Mr. Coelho's work and they tell me that these unconventional characteristics add to the other-worldliness of the author's stories. I can see how that might work, but I cannot help but feel that they simply make the story less effective, that they dull the edge of what could be sharply original and important story rather than one that is merely good.

Despite that, I will say that if you are reading these reviews because you are undecided about whether or not to read Mr. Coelho's books, I would encourage you to do so and to start with Veronika Decides to Die. In spite of its imperfections, it is a quick and enjoyable read and probably the best point of entry to the collection of work from a writer who has enjoyed phenomenal success worldwide. As I have stated, I do not believe this is a book without flaw, but I cannot be so critical as to say the story is also without value. Read it, and decide for yourself how far the scale tips one way or the other.

First let me say I am a huge fan of Paulo Coelho, but this book left me thinking, "How long does it take anyone to die?"

It seems that most people reviewing this book are reviewing the message ("Life is good") rather than the book. Sure, the moral of the story makes you feel good, but that doesn't mean that the book is well done; in fact, the novel itself is weak. The story goes nowhere, the characters are as dead as Veronika wishes to be, and the ending is obvious from the beginning. Maybe it reads better in Portugese, but this one left me colder than the Slovenian winter.

Plenty of writers have examined clinical psychology and the people who practice it, challenging the standards of sanity, the therapies, and the operation of mental institutions. And most of their books are a lot better than Veronika Decides to Die. Paulo Coelho doesn't really add anything to what's already been said on the subject.

Granted, this is the only work of Coelho's that I've read, and I'm reading it in translation, so I may not be getting the full effect. But so far as I can tell, this book is a series of serious missteps interspersed with only minor displays of skill.

I'm ceding it two stars because it's brief and simple, but that's the best thing I can think of to say about it.

I think that many people think that the people is insane just because they are in their own world, I know that many people suffer of sever head problems, but many of them are just different from us and we think that they have to be at the hospital, as is written in the book, how many times you wanted to do something different and you didn't just because of the people? How many times you did what you wanted to do no matter the people? The difference to do anything different and not going to the hospital is not hurting anybody, even yourself.
This is a very easy and fast book to read I recommend this book in a long flight.

veronika was a beautiful young woman with every thing going her way she could have any man she wanted...and infact she was having them too..she was all that a person could think in her age ...so why did she want to die? well because she had every thing. she decides that she has done every thing in life that makes it worth living for....and from now on each day of her life will just be a repetition of the earlier experiences. so she takes an over dose and wait for death to take her. but that would not make very good reading, not to mention it would only last one chapter...so she doesnt die..and this is precisely where the story begins. She is saved and she goes to a mental hospital where she is told she has but three weeks left to live. so this book looks at her last moments in this world, and it looks at the different ideals behind being mad and what people think. paul coelho uses not only Vernika's story but tells you the stories of other patients putting plenty of plot into it. it certainly changed my opinion of mad people. this is a definet read it has changed my life and made me think in a better way about life. Madness it seems is really worth it. what are you waiting for ...dont be a madman..go buy it now!

Witty.. charming.. funny..another journey to self-discovery and enlightment. Coelho takes you to depths you yourself take in times of hardships and happiness trying to find any kind of explanation to questions we ask ourselves everyday!

Veronika draws a picture of her future life based on her own path that she has taken .. useless .. fruitless .. nothing special .. she decides to die because she didn't like what she saw. Life in a mental hospital opened up her eyes and mind, and eventually her heart to view life from a different angle. ..through the help of other patients, and not to forget her doctor.

I've found the ending really surprising to such a serious subject .. but I think it understates how we sometimes blow things to larger proportions and forget about what really matters.

I really enjoyed it! Veronika was just a means to an end that Coelho intended to prove. Everyday is a miracle, so enjoy it and make the best of it. Love and friends make a big part of our lives. Many simple things .. a walk by a lake, a friend's smile, a blooming flower, we take for granted are actually a reminder of our own miracle on this planet!

it took me SO LONG to read this book because it was boring and i kept putting it down. Coelho is heavy- handed with his message- i felt flogged! maybe i just prefer sublety. if i want to be preached to, i'll read a self-help book.