Veronika Decides to Die
Ratings139
Average rating3.4
I found The Alchemist to be immoral, but that pales in comparison with this horrible excuse of a novel.
Veronika Decides to Die is outright dangerous. Dangerous in its approach. Dangerous in preaching mental illness, romanticizing it, mystifying it to an unimaginable level.
Of course, I fell for a few scenes and tidbits along the way, but altogether, this book is a clear and present danger to those susceptible to ill-thought interpretations of evident crises.
this is my favorite book of all times. i read this when i actually wanted to die so i think it really helped me. veronika is such an interesting character and i relate to her. she learns to live after almost dying, even though the doctors tell her she only got a few days. such a good book and ive read it many times
Veronika decides to die... a rather morbid title, don't you think? This is my second Coelho book, having battled with “The Alchemist” some years previously. I just didn't get it at all, despite all the (online) praise.
What did I like about “Veronika”? Coelho is a gifted writer, very able to transport you to another world, in this case, a psychiatric hospital in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Did Coelho need to include himself as a character in the book in the opening few chapters? Not really...
It is in no way a perfect novel, but at its core, it has inspiring messages that many of us could take into our day to day lives, especially with 2018 now on our doorstep and when perhaps many of us have gotten bogged down by winter blues and want a fresh start. Am I likely to revisit this again in the future? Yes.
This book allows the reader to reevaluate the importance of life and that each day is precious... not to be wasted.
This book was absolutely TERRIBLE. Again, I'm glad I only paid $1.99 for it instead of full price, otherwise, I might be more than a little ticked. Now, if I could only get the time back that I spent reading this nonsense, I'd be golden. I found not a single likable character in this book. You have Veronika, who attempts suicide for stupid, selfish reasons. Mari, who suffers from panic attacks and wants to continue staying on at the hospital after she loses her job and her husband divorces her, Eduard, the schizophrenic son of a diplomat, and Zedka who is clinically depressed and longs for a married lover or some nonsense like that. There's also Dr. Igor (oh, what a lovely name) who is not likable at all, and decides to do some experiment on the suicidal Veronika, by telling her that her overdose has messed up her heart and she has only a week to live, when in fact she is fine. Knowing she is to die soon, she embraces life and does things she wouldn't normally do (masturbating in front of the schizophrenic Eduard, whom she barely knows. Hello, wtf was that scene? I'm all for embracing your sexuality, but please.) The whole book is just foolishness. I'd give it zero stars if I could.
I learned to reevaluate and appreciate what makes me different from everyone else. Essentially my differences is what makes me unique. Trying to fit in to a model that society has created will only make you crazy or feel less than.
How's this as an idea for a book?
A young, beautiful woman decides
life is not worth living and
attempts suicide. She does not
die, however; unfortunately, her
suicide attempt has weakened her
heart...she will only live for
another week.
I liked the idea for the book
much better than I liked the book
itself. The story, to me, simply
seemed to be a device the author
used to make his points about
The Meaning of Life.