Have you ever wondered how people living in mental asylums spend their lives?? What do you think are the circumstances leading them into the darkness while depriving them of all the colors of life? Mental asylum, how would you feel or react after reading these two words? Worried? Wondered? Frightened? or curious? While the idea of getting admitted to the mental asylum gives us goosebumps, but Paulo’s version of the story introduces us to another side of that desolate place. First published in 1998, Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho takes us to a mental asylum where people are not crazy but oppressed by the world’s toxicity.
The top-selling Brazilian writer of The Alchemist brilliantly carves an absorbing and uplifting tale of the suicidal lady, who hangs between happiness and sorrow, life and death, sanity and insanity. Veronika, a young lady, lived a seemingly content life with his family and peers until her inner demons provoked her to find peace in an overdose of sleeping pills. Her failed suicidal attempt takes her to the country’s famous lunatic asylum, where she finds herself standing on the verge of death.
The descriptive tale exhibits a mix of an autobiographical story when the writer takes a role in the novel. He describes the situation under which he discovered this disturbing tale and connects readers with his own traumatic life experiences. After establishing a strong connection, the writer drops out, and once again, the protagonist holds the central position. In a sedative-induced madness, Veronica starts discovering the miserable plight of people in her surroundings. In her companionship, she finds Eduard, a schizophrenic patient, and white-haired Mari, who suffers panic attacks.
Her close observation urges her to dig for the apt definition of insanity. This quest led her to discover the true meanings of life and love. Her stay at the mental hospital introduces her with inner self; she lives a different life, among many others labeled as mentally insane. Employing an absorbing blend of religious and philosophical ideas, the writer hits a thought-provoking question: why do people allow their inner demons to control them when life seems complicated and fate indifferent? Keeping Veronica as the center of attraction, the novel presents us with two different worlds where the word insanity mocks those who fail to recognize the purpose of their existence.
With the unparalleled wisdom, elegance, and decency that has coined him as an optimistic author, Paulo pens down the principles of a joyous life versus the depressed one. If you want to learn the true meanings of life, grab your copy today from the link below.
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