Veronika Decides to Die

I must be on a roll of sorts…this is the third book I’ve finished in less than a week. Veronika Decides to Die is the second book of Paulo Coelho that I read, the first one being The Alchemist. The story itself (which is based on a true story for that matter) has a very intriguing plot going for it. A twenty four year old girl, possessing everything that a young woman could want…beauty, boyfriends, a loving family, a secure job, decides to take her own life. At twenty four, she believes she has already seen everything that life has to offer. Unfortunately…or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the suicide attempt fails, and she finds herself committed inside a mental institution…with supposedly less than a week to live.

The book tackles several issues…among them suicide, death, insanity, conformity, life, love, career, family, sex, among others. During her brief period of confinement, she gets to know other patients and their stories as well…a middle-aged lady suffering from depression, an old lady lawyer suffering from panic attacks, a young man diagnosed with schizophrenia. It turns out being crazy is not that all different from being insane. Being crazy means going against the flow, acting in a manner which goes against normalcy. But then again, what is normal behavior? It seems that what passes for normal behavior to us is arbitrarily set by the majority…whatever most of us think is normal behavior probably is…but then again, that is not always the case. We’re all guilty of being crazy at one time or another…maybe some are even more guilty than others. Ironically for Veronika, even after her suicide attempt, she discovers that the closer she gets to death, the more she realizes that life is worth living. And that you never know when and where you find love. Or when and where it finds you.

Oh, the story has a happy ending of sorts, if only a little sketchy. There is a twist which unfolds very late in the story…in the last few pages which leave you muttering under your breath…”what happened to…” But I guess that’s not the point of the story.

A pretty nice book. Perhaps a bit underwhelming, but the message is loud and clear...:-)