Rating: 
Summary: Another great novel from Paulo
Review: This is another great novel that has come out from none other than Paulo Coelho. He is such a good writer, that it becomes difficult sometimes to review his work, how can I not like anything written by him (my favorite).And I am quite sure he must be favorite of so many others in the reading habit. This book is definitely wonderful and worth reading. I have never read any such stuff before on schizophrenics. He has described the life at villette such beautifully that it is a must read book for any of you who are reading this review. Paulo goes so much detailed into the psychoanalytical aspects of the normal thinkers that sometimes his work becomes greater than that of Freud. This book revolves around the story of a normal girl who finds her life meaningless and decides to die. Just with an unsuccessful attempt to suicide, she finds herself at a mental hospital, where she was told that she has to wait for a few more days before she can really meet death. These few days makes her life so meaningful and there are so many things that she discovers were left in her life and suddenly finds life so interesting and worth living. She not only analysis her conditions but even the conditions of other schizophrenic patients and realizes various aspects of life, which makes life worth living. The end is really unexpected and the last few pages changes so much into our thinking habits, that we realize the difference between death and life. In the end we realize what it takes to live is just a simple thought. To know this thought - read the book...! Happy Reading!
Rating: 
Summary: Life affirming
Review: I absolutely love this book, and is my pick for fiction of the year for 1999. It was such a joy to read a book that was about life, without being maudlin or saccharine-sweetly moralistic. It most closely reminds me of the sort of work by people like Isabel Allende and Garcia Marquez. I will be looking for more by this author. Veronika and her friends really make you examine your own views of 'madness' and it moved me to examine how I react when confronted with people who display different, unexpected or confronting beaviour in public. I came to understand that I probably move away, avoid, because it is the sheer unpredicatability of what may occur. We usually operate within a comfort zone of familiarity with our own and others' EXPECTED responses to situations, and for something to do otherwise IS challenging. I wish all fiction was simultaneously as accessible - ie readable- and also leave something to think about, linger on. Not that everything has to be 'deep' or 'seriously profound', but it is like the difference between a nourishing, satisfying meal made from the best and freshest ingredients, and a fat-filled junk food takeaway.
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Summary: Imagination
Review: The Book Veronika Decides to Die The Author Paulo Coelho Theme If you have ever wondered why a keyboard is laid in QWERT order or what is the purpose of a Tie, or what it means by being normal or why some people become mad; then this book has its answers. Here Paulo Coelho is talking to himself; one finds some whisperings that we have all known and felt sometime or the other in our lives. The Skeleton The book begins with Veronika, a twenty-four year old Slovenian's decision to die. She finds no reason to live. Everyday was the same for her, nothing seemed to change. The suicide turns out to be a failure and she is admitted in an asylum in Vilette. Here she is introduced to a new world, a world where she is free to do whatever she wanted, for the simple reason that she was mad. She discovers that a shadow of her life existed in the lives of Eduard, Zedka, and Mari who were the inmates. The author spins a magical web exploring the lives within the protective walls of Vilette where in the patients are allowed to rediscover their 'madness' without criticism or harm. Their discovery turns out to be the message of the book. Impression Excellent. Authors View Q. What is the main idea in your new book? Ans. That we have been educated to accept what society imposes on us. We never ask why we must do this or stop doing that. Those who accept such an imposition and do what the majority recommends are considered normal people. On the other hand, those who try to escape a pre-manufactured life and start fighting for their dreams are generally considered fools. In "Veronika Decides to Die", I tell the story of people that, for one reason or the other do not follow the path of normality and feel obliged to find a new way. Quotes from the Book " Madness is the inability to communicate your ideas. It is as if you are in a foreign country, able to see and understand everything that's going on around you, but incapable of explaining what you need to know or of being helped, because you don't understand the language they speak there. We have all felt that. And all of us, one way or another are mad." " But what is Reality? Its what the majority deems it to be. Its not necessarily the best or the most logical. But it's the one that has become adapted to the desires of the society as a whole." " We are allowed to make a lot of mistakes in our lives, except the mistake that destroys us." " We lived together like fish in an aquarium, contented because someone threw us food when we needed it, and we could whenever we wanted to, see the world outside the glass."
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Summary: Think about your life!
Review: Think about your life! Veronika, a young woman, wants to die. She swallows sleeping pills, but didn't die. She got to a mental hospital. She was told to live only for five days or a week. Still she wanted to die. But after some time she learned to show her feelings and began to enjoy her life. She didn't have to worry about what she did, because soon she would die. She realised that it also need a certain "madness" to live. She began to fight for her future and fell in love with a man. If you read the book you would think about your own life and it gives your more courage to live your own life.
Rating:
Summary: Very well composed, with a good story line
Review: I picked this book up on a whim, and it surpassed all my expectations. It is not for everyone, but will certainly to speak to all of us that have grown up with ideals only to see our lives stuck in the hopelessness of middle class life. In a very unique way the author leads you to question the direction that your life might be heading towards. To use an old cliche, "it is a real eye opener". The book may not enlighten everyone, because not everyone has reached the stage in their life that the protagonist has. Veronika is herself a strong character that refuses to accept life's apparent destinies. Many people try not to stop to think where their lives are going, and instead marry, have kids, etc. because they feel that it is something that they just must do. For all of us that think indepenedently and not follow the herd mentality, that increasingly affects our society, this is our book.
Rating: 
Summary: Go ahead, throw your money away...
Review: Please, do not be fooled. Though Paulo Coelho has been translated to many languages and sells fortunes, he is NOT one of the better Latin American writers. No one takes him seriously in Brazil. This, as are his other books, is a bunch of supposedly profound thoughts thrown together and poorly written. There are better books in the self-help section. If you want the real thing, get a book of chinese proverbs.
Rating: 
Summary: A little disappointment
Review: "Veronica Decides to Die" is my second reading of Coelho's work. I know well that he has lots of fans around the world, and this novel, written in such easy langauge and simple narrative structure, reads very quick. However, I have to admit that it was a little bit disappointment to me. The beginning is fine, suggestive--up to about 21 pages, but, I feel, the rest of the novel gets more and more normal and sounds much like what I have already heard somewhere else-- in TV programmes, films, books on psychology, or even other novels. The characterization is rather boringly typified, including the main characters, Veronica, Eduard, Dr Igor and other characters such as Eduard's parents, "the ambassador" and "the wife". All the prolonged teacher-like talk (there is too much reference to old theories or discoveries of Sigmund Freud!!) about madness, death, and human suffering ends up with over-simplified and sentimental conclusion "Love Conquers All". And the healing power of love is, of course, given only to Veronica and Eduard, woman and man, both "young", very "nice-looking" and artistically talented (as we are told so over and over). What about other older and less attractive patients left in hospital? What are they supposed to do? Only occasional shock treatment by Dr Igor? Finding someone available and falling in love too? In the end, this novel may hint at another unhealthy, discouraging, and discriminating message.
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Summary: Best Book Of Coelho
Review: I've read 3 books of Coelho including "Veronica Decides To Die". I do think that Coelho is a great author, who can write about totally different people, about totally different time eras. What I love most about Coelho is his describing the most intimate and complicated thoughts so easily by so simple examples. And I strongly believe that "Veronica Decides To Die" is his best book ever. You can't help thinking if being "crazy" is the best? The people in the story and the story itself are so real.. I strongly recommend it to others.
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Summary: Adventures in death
Review: Using deceptively simple language, Coelho tells us the story of Veronika, who attempts suicide, only to wake up in a mental hospital where she is told she has irreparably damaged her heart and she has only a week to live. Through her interactions with fellow patients and the hospital staff, Veronika examines the nature of death and life, and reawakens to the joy of living in each moment. Like in faerie tales, the language and story of the book are easy to read. But don't let its simplicity fool you. Covering the way of life in our modern world, its effect on us, the nature of what's commonly referred to as 'insanity', and more, Coelho has crafted a delicious gem that is heartening and celebratory. This is the second book I've read by him, and it certainly won't be the last.
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite worth my time
Review: I picked up Veronica Decides to Die on the airport and read about 30 pages before I fell asleep. Always wanting to give books a second try I picked it up a couple of days later but found it not worth my time. This is my first book by Coelho and I admit I became curious about him and his message to the world. To me he sounds like a priest or some kind of guru for a sect but this may be wrong :) Veronica Decides to Die is not a bad book, but for an experienced reader it certainly has a number of serious flaws, among them an over-explicitness that shouldn't be necessary, but that fits into my impression of Coelho as a man with an urge to express common (though important) ideas with a common man's pen. Coelho's ideas about madness and the value of life and love have been expressed more originally and more beautifully by numerous other writers.
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