Veronika Decides to Die
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| Author | Paulo Coelho |
|---|---|
| Original title | Veronika decide morrer |
| Country | Brazil |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Publisher | |
| Released | 1998 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| Pages | 224 pages (Paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-060-95577-5 |
Veronika Decides to Die (Portuguese Veronika decide morrer) is a novel by Paulo Coelho; it tells the story of 24 year old Veronika, who appears to have everything in life going for her, but who decides to kill herself.
This book is partly based on Coelho's experience in various mental institutions (see the biography Confessions of A Pilgrim by Juan Arias). It is based around the subject of madness.
The gist of the message is that "collective madness is called sanity".
Veronika Decides to Die has been adapted for theatre a number of times.
The title Veronika Decides to Die was adapted by Danish Metal band Saturnus in 2006, as they released their third studio album titled Veronika Decides To Die.
[edit] Plot summary
Veronika, who seemingly leads a perfect life with everything going for her, lives in Slovenia, a small European country. She decides to commit a premeditated suicide by ingesting too many sleeping pills. While she waits for her death, she decides to read a magazine.
After seeing an article in the magazine that stupidly asks "Where is Slovenia?," she decides to write a letter to the press justifying her suicide, the idea being to make the press believe that she has killed herself because people don't even know where Slovenia is in today's global village. Good excuse, she thinks. Her plan fails and she wakes up in Villete (a mental hospital in Slovenia), where she is told she has a week to live.
Her presence there affects all of the mental hospital's patients, especially Zedka (who has clinical depression), Mari (who suffers from panic attacks), and Eduard (who has schizophrenia) and with whom Veronika falls in love.
During her internment in Villete she realises that she has nothing to lose and can therefore do what she wants, say what she wants and be who she wants without having to worry about what others think of her. (Who's going to criticise her? She's mad, after all.)
Because of this newfound freedom Veronika experiences all the things she never allowed herself to experience including hatred, love and even sexual awakening.
Another character that has an interesting part is Dr. Igor, one of Vilette's top doctors. Igor has a theory about a poison of the mind, which he names vitriol after the toxic chemical discovered by alchemists. The reader quickly discovers that Dr. Igor believes that by telling patients they only have a very short time period to live, they will find the will to live again and will appreciate being alive rather than trying to commit suicide again.
