VERONIKA DECIDES TO DIE by Paulo Coelho

“I want to continue being crazy; living my life the way I dream it, and not the way the other people want it to be.” 

In his latest international bestseller, the celebrated author of The Alchemist addresses the fundamental questions asked by millions: What am I doing here today? and Why do I go on living?

Twenty-four-year-old Veronika seems to have everything she could wish for: youth and beauty, pleny of attractive boyfriends, a fulfilling job, and a loving family. Yet something is lacking in her life. Inside her is a void so deep that nothing could possibly ever fill it. So, on the morning of November 11, 1997, Veronika decides to die. She takes a handful of sleeping pills expecting never to wake up.

Naturally Veronika is stunned when she does wake up at Villete, a local mental hospital, where the staff informs her that she has, in fact, partially succeeded in achieving her goal. While the overdose didn't kill Veronika immediately, the medication has damaged her heart so severely that she has only days to live.
The story follows Veronika through the intense week of self-discovery that ensues. To her surprise, Veronika finds herself drawn to the confinement of Villete and its patients, who, each in his or her individual way, reflect the heart of human experience. In the heightened state of life's final moments, Veronika discovers things she has never really allowed herself to feel before: hatred, fear, curiosity, love, and sexual awakening. She finds that every second of her existence is a choice between living and dying, and at the eleventh hour emerges more open to life than ever before.

In Veronika Decides to Die, Paulo Coelho takes reader on a distinctly modern quest to find meaning in a culture overshadowed by angst, soulless routine, and pervasive conformity. Based on events in Coelho's own life, Veronkia Decides to Die questions the meaning of madness and celebrates individuals who do not fit into patterns society considers to be normal. Poignant and illuminating, it is a dazzling portrait of a young woman at the crossroads of despair and liberation, and a poetic, exuberant appreciation of each day as a renewed opportunity.

Aside from The Alchemist, this is one of Paulo Coelho books I truly love. I purchased the book before I even become a bookworm. I am an avid fan of Coelho, who isn't? This book is such a fast-read. You could actually finish it a day but you won't. I didn't. Because in every chapter, I badly had to absorb every lessons.


Coelho has always been deep when it comes to writing. This book is not an exception. It discussed about Veronika, who really decided to die at the first part of the story, Her life wa a complete cycle and she got bored. With no purpose that could drive her to llive her live. She decided to kill herself. But failed... When she got conscious, She was already in Villete. A mental institute. She learned a lot in that insitute, so did I! It was so amazing that through this book I got an idea on how fuck up it is inside.


It was so cool for Coelho to share his knowledge in mental institutes in this book. It was creative and inspiring. His flow was a bit hard to follow but still it was very smart. I always salute Coelho for his genius.


I can't really explain the book. You have to read it yourself.

“Be like the fountain that overflows, not like the cistern that merely contains.”