Veronica decides to Die by Paulo Coehlo

People never learn anything by being told, they have to find out for themselves.

Veronica, a Ljubljana librarian who—tired of the fact that, at 24, she already finds every day like every other and can’t imagine any future but increasing boredom, decay, and death—takes an overdose of sleeping pills. She awakens in Villette, Slovenia’s notorious lunatic asylum, to learn that she’s damaged her heart irreparably and has only a week to live. Initially rebelling against her keepers’ solicitous rules and regulations (``I'm not here to preserve my life, but to lose it,” she reminds a nurse), she finds first her curiosity and then, gradually, her passions aroused by her fellow patients. Serbian Zedka Mendel, lacking a necessary brain chemical, endures mega doses of insulin that send her into comas. Mari, a lawyer who committed herself because she was suffering from panic attacks, has been asymptomatic for years but, divorced and forced into retirement, has nothing left to return to. Eduard, a “schizophrenic” who is an ambassador’s son who ended up in Villette after rejecting a diplomatic career to paint. Dr Igor, one of the main characters of the stories gives Veronica series of shocks to test his medical theory. He wants to prove through his experiment that he can shock someone into wanting to live again by convincing them that their death is around the corner. That is exactly what he did with Veronica. Veronica finds herself on a journey to discover herself before she dies. She rediscovers her passion for piano. She played the piano every evening that lifted the spirits of many at Villette. She suffered heart-attacks throughout the week; she found her desire to live again.

Coelho makes you rethink your decisions and your routines. Just like all his other books, this book also successfully connects with its readers. Like Veronica, all of us have had moments in our life where we thought the only way out is to die. Paulo gives his readers a new hope to live. You will reevaluate your reasons to continue living. He leaves a hidden message that there a number of reasons in this world to live and suicide is not an option. A moment can change your life. This book is for everyone especially the people who have been suicidal for some time in life. Veronica decides to Die is not a long read. The story winds up in around 200 pages. By the end of the book, it will leave its readers happy to be alive. Paulo focuses on the fact that even the slightest of change in perspective can make a broken person stronger.

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