Late last year I read the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, I enjoyed it soo much that I pledged to read a few more books by this author, because he is just brilliant.
I just finished reading Veronika decides to die and I think this book should have been titled Veronika decides to LIVE, because for me it is powerful story of a young woman who besides having made lots of mistakes in her life, decided to take life by its horns….
The books starts off with Veronika plotting suicide because she is bored with her life, at first I thought she must be the most stupid and selfish person on earth…..who kills themselves because of mere boredom? Veronika is 24, has both her parents, she has friends, she has a boyfriend, she has a job, she is beautiful, she is healthy and she is sane (I think) but she has what the book describes as ‘an emptiness inside’. What could possibly cause such an emptiness?……is it self-esteem issues?is it disappointment?is it pain? is it confusion?is it not knowing God? or maybe not knowing oneself? I honestly don’t know....but I wish I never experience ‘an emptiness inside’ cause it just sounds too dangerous!!
Veronika’s suicide attempt fails, she ends up in a mental hospital with a ‘serious’ heart condition, she is then told she has only a week to live. At first she is disappointed that she didn’t die, she can’t wait for death to fall upon her, she even tries to find another way of killing herself…. at this point I’m thinking, what a looser…..how could she be soo deficient, most people who have only a few days to live would, hold on to every breath, they would ‘fight’ to see the next day, what’s wrong with this gal? I asked myself.
At the mental hospital she meets people who help her accept her own ‘madness’, and she realises that living is a choice. She falls in love with a schizophrenic, she starts playing the piano; after she stopped when her mother told her that no one will marry a woman who plays a piano for a living. With every sunrise Veronika finds more joy and meaning for her life, she let go of her fear to live!! She decides to LIVE!!!
I just finished reading Veronika decides to die and I think this book should have been titled Veronika decides to LIVE, because for me it is powerful story of a young woman who besides having made lots of mistakes in her life, decided to take life by its horns….
The books starts off with Veronika plotting suicide because she is bored with her life, at first I thought she must be the most stupid and selfish person on earth…..who kills themselves because of mere boredom? Veronika is 24, has both her parents, she has friends, she has a boyfriend, she has a job, she is beautiful, she is healthy and she is sane (I think) but she has what the book describes as ‘an emptiness inside’. What could possibly cause such an emptiness?……is it self-esteem issues?is it disappointment?is it pain? is it confusion?is it not knowing God? or maybe not knowing oneself? I honestly don’t know....but I wish I never experience ‘an emptiness inside’ cause it just sounds too dangerous!!
Veronika’s suicide attempt fails, she ends up in a mental hospital with a ‘serious’ heart condition, she is then told she has only a week to live. At first she is disappointed that she didn’t die, she can’t wait for death to fall upon her, she even tries to find another way of killing herself…. at this point I’m thinking, what a looser…..how could she be soo deficient, most people who have only a few days to live would, hold on to every breath, they would ‘fight’ to see the next day, what’s wrong with this gal? I asked myself.
At the mental hospital she meets people who help her accept her own ‘madness’, and she realises that living is a choice. She falls in love with a schizophrenic, she starts playing the piano; after she stopped when her mother told her that no one will marry a woman who plays a piano for a living. With every sunrise Veronika finds more joy and meaning for her life, she let go of her fear to live!! She decides to LIVE!!!
