Veronika Decides to Die
I was walking though a used book store and this book caught my eye. It had the word “die” on it, and any books with the words death, sadness, betrayal, madness, depression, etc. tend to get my attention. I like books with serious themes; it’s rare that I read something just for a good story. I need them to inspire my mind as well. Usually those types of books aren’t exactly about happiness and other positive emotions, because that’s just not realistic. Also, I believe that people learn far more through pain than any type of pleasure, therefore making these books leave a stronger impression.
Anyway, I picked up the book and it looked interesting, even though I had never heard of Paulo Coelho. It turned out to be one of the best books I’ve ever read. It starts out with Veronika deciding to kill herself. Not because she’s extremely depressed or unhappy with life, but she’s just bored. There is nothing to look forward to. She would rather be dead than live a life of monotony and typicality. So she takes sleeping pills and ends up just passing out only to wake up in a mental institution. There she is told that she has permanently damaged her heart from the pills she took and will probably die in a few days. She is satisfied with that until she begins to see life in a different way through the other people in the institution.
The book is a piece of philosophy, not just a story. Coelho is a genius who understands the human condition more than some of the greatest philosophers. The fact that he can get these points across even while telling a fictional story is incredible.
It is rare for me to be able to say that a book changed my life in a great way. Every book I read shapes me in some way, even if just to alter my mood a bit for the day. But this one actually changed the way I looked at life and my decisions. I have been much happier since I read it. I also ran out to buy two more of Coelho’s books as soon as I finished this one. He has a lot out there, and they each deal with different questions in life. The Alchemist is his most famous work. I actually had heard of that before but I didn’t realize it was the same author until later.
If you are looking for his books at a bookstore, they are usually found in the Metaphysical section rather than fiction. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a good read as well as something that may lead to answers you weren’t even aware you were looking for. I definitely give this book an A.
Buy it on Amazon by clicking here.
