Veronika Decides To Die - Paulo Coelho

AUTHOR - PAULO COELHO

BEST-SELLERS - The Alchemist, Brida, The Winner Stands Alone

SYNOPSIS - Twenty-four-year-old Veronika seems to have everything -- youth and beauty, boyfriends and a loving family, a fulfilling job. But something is missing in her life. So, one cold November morning, she takes a handful of sleeping pills expecting never to wake up. But she does -- at a mental hospital where she is told that she has only days to live. Inspired by events in Coelho's own life, Veronika Decides to Die questions the meaning of madness and celebrates individuals who do not fit into patterns society considers to be normal. Bold 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.

QUOTES -

• “There is always a gap between intention and action.”

• “Nothing in this world happens by chance.”

• “God knows the past, the present and the future. In that case, he had placed her in this world with the full knowledge that she would end up killing herself, and he would no longer shocked by her actions.”

• “In adolescence she thought it was too early to choose, now in youth she was convinced it was too late to change.”

• “'If God exists, and I truly don't believe he does, he will know that there are limits to human understanding. He was the one who created this confusion in which there is poverty, injustice, greed and loneliness. He doubtless had the best of intentions. but the results have proved disastrous; if God exists, He will be generous with those creatures who chose to leave this Earth early, and he might even apologize for having made us spend time here.'”

• “Everyone is indeed crazy, but the craziest are the ones who don't know they're crazy; they just keep repeating what others tell them to.”

• “we lived together like fish in an aquarium, contended because someone threw us food when we needed it, and as we could, whenever we wanted to, see the world outside through the glass”

• “An awareness of death encourages to live more intensely.”

• “Stay insane, but behave like normal people. Run the risk of being different, but learn to do so without attracting attention. Allow the real “I” to reveal itself. It’s what you are, not what others make of you.”

• “A schizophrenic is a person who already has a natural tendency to absent himself from this world.”

PULKIT SPEAKS -

A Novel of Redemption;

I read this book almost an year back, when it was recommended to me by my soul sister. She had been increasingly getting worried about me in those days, due to my severe mood swings and emotional outbursts on status updates and blog posts. On being pushed rigorously for the same, I purchased a copy of it. It was a slow starter, I had read alchemist by the same author previously and thus I managed to held on to the plot of this one and the writing style which soon gathered momentum, and took the reader i.e. me to a journey of self discovery and answers. Each character is unique and fresh, Dealing with dilemmas of life which are common to almost all of us, and within the course of the book, they get answers to those dilemmas, simultaneously answering our own set of personal riddles.
The writer successfully manages to set up an analogy between regularity and sadness. It establishes the connect of love and compromise, as well as madness and liberation in the most amazing of manners. This book near its end, hits you hard with slaps of reality and truth right on your face, and reminds you of the life that is present in every moment going by right at this point of your life. Spritual in many ways, and enlighteningly fascinating in others, This is a master read for all those who think a lot and analyze life way too much. Every such reader can derive a lot of new things out of every page and every line. Brilliant and thought provoking, I am glad I read it, at the right time and thus enjoyed it the most that can be.

RATING - 4/5 - Strictly recommended for people who ponder more at day today basis on the meaning of life, A must read for people suffering with depression/Insomnia and mood swings, I guess that included 90 percent of online community of ours ;)

PRICE - $10.17 , Online purchase from Amazon