Sexual Astrology - Books : Veronika Decides to Die

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by: Paulo Coelho See Larger Image Used Price: $2.12 Collectible Price: $24.00 Third Party New Price: $14.78 Binding: Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number: 869.342 EAN: 9780060196127 ISBN: 0007639589 Label: HarperCollins Manufacturer: HarperCollins Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 224 Publication Date: June 01, 2000 Publisher: HarperCollins Release Date: May 16, 2000 Sales Rank: 449818 Studio: HarperCollins Related Items: By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept: A Novel of Forgiveness (P.S.) The Alchemist Warrior of the Light: A Manual The Fifth Mountain The Pilgrimage: A Contemporary Quest for Ancient Wisdom see more Editorial Review: Product Description: 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. Amazon.com Review: When Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist) was a young man, his parents had him committed to mental hospitals three times because he wanted to be an artist--an unacceptable profession in Brazil at the time. During his numerous forced incarcerations he vowed to write some day about his experiences and the injustices of involuntary commitment. In this fable-like novel, Coelho makes good on his promise, with the creation of a fictional character named Veronika who decides to kill herself when faced with all that is wrong with the world and how powerless she feels to change anything. Although she survives her initial suicide attempt, she is committed to a mental hospital where she begins to wrestle with the meaning of mental illness and whether forced drugging should be inflicted on patients who don't fit into the narrow definition of 'normal.' The strength and tragedy of Veronika's fictional story was instrumental in passing new government regulations in Brazil that have made it more difficult to have a person involuntarily committed. Like any great storyteller, Coelho has used the realm of fiction to magically infiltrate and alter the realm of reality. --Gail Hudson Customer Reviews Average Rating: Rating: - wonderful book I loved this book. You never expect a book to touch you... this one does. Rating: - Inner madness My favorite book from Coelho. Read it through almost with one go and will definitely reread it soon. It's so crazy how many people have confined their inner craziness. Rating: - Decide to read this. This is the first novel I decided to read by Paulo Coelho. Yes, the title is very blunt, quite literal, and perhaps a bit pretentious to a jaded generation who consider such things as "cool". However, the text itself is turely far from pretension. Infact, it's quite modest and dealing with such a subject as suicide and mental institutions, the story becomes simple,honest, and life affirming. In the first page of Coelho's novel, Veronika decides to die (no pun intended). Her attempt, ... Read More Rating: - "About living like it is the last day of your life" Veronika is a young woman in her 20's that decides life has nothing left to offer her, and comites suicide, only she was not succesful, but instead she wakes up in a mental hospital. She is told that her heart was damaged though, and she has about a week to live. During this time she meets other people comited to this hospital, who do make a contribution to her life, she learns to live like this is the last day of her life, and discovers she now desires to live, so this is what unfolds here. Amazing ... Read More Rating: - I read this in the book store Yes indeed! I finished this cover to cover at the bookstore while waiting to pick up my friend from the hospital (who btw is a new father congrats!) First and foremost as a reader: understand that this book has been translated from Portuguese. Coelho is a Brazilian and of course their native language isn't english, so for all the elitist reviews here saying this is not a real piece of literature then I feel sorry for you. I'm sorry because you can't let your guard down and enjoy books for ... Read More see more Browse for similar items by category: Literature & Fiction - Book Clubs - Custom Stores - Specialty Stores - Books - Popular Fiction World Literature - Literature & Fiction - Subjects - Books - Portuguese Literature & Fiction - Subjects - Books - Contemporary Literature & Fiction - Subjects - Books - Literary Literature & Fiction - Subjects - Books - General AAS