The ending didn't come as too much of a shock as I didn't expect her to die. Didn't realise it was going to be an experiment though!

I thought Coelho's descriptions of the mental institution and the patients lives were very powerful. I liked that although their stories were different they were all perceived as mad simply because they did not conform to society or other people's expectations of them. Makes you think about why we all strive so hard to be the same and lable anyone who doesn't as crazy or abnormal. It's not a very happy existence is it?

I liked that the book was thought provoking without being overly long or complicated. It did make me think what I would do if I only had a short time to live and whats actually stopping me from doing those things anyway.

Veronika realises she wants to live because she's been told she's going to die in a week's time. She realises she chose to live in a comfort zone where every day was pretty much the same. She built up walls to protect herself from the outside world (I liked the suggestion at the end that we all live in our own world, that the walls we construct around ourselves are no different to the walls of a mental hospital).

An awareness of impending death made Veronika understand she could have chosen a more exciting life and treated every day as a miracle. It changed her outlook on life and on herself. And living in a world where it is acceptable to behave any which way, must have been freeing. I liked how she no longer cared what people thought of her, how she unearthed a passion for music in her newfound passion for life, and gave in to her inner desires rather than continue to suppress them. I wonder how we'd all behave if we were in Veronika's shoes, what we'd find out about ourselves. We often suppress our true feelings and desires, or they are suppressed by others (Eduard's parents), because we're expected, or feel we are expected, to live up to society's norms.

I found it an inspirational story. It's good to do something challenging, to get out of your comfort zone, to take down the walls we put up around ourselves and act a little mad. It makes us feel alive. I've got my driving test coming up and the book inspired me to look forward to the challenge rather than be nervous of it. Bring it on!!

I didn't pay too much attention to the writing style as I appreciate it's a translation. The story is what's important, I felt. Definitely an inspirational story, and allegorical as it reminds us of our own mortality. The message - we should aim to live each day as if it is our last, and we can choose to live suppressed or more fulfilling lives.

I did compare it to Never Let Me Go (again!!), which makes you aware of your own mortality, but Veronika Decides to Die is a much more spiritually uplifting story. NLMG doesn't give any hope and the atmosphere in it is oppressive. In contrast, Paulo Coelho's story is invigorating.

I think he included himself in the story to show that it is based on/inspired by his own experiences in a mental institute, and also to forward the narrative. His friend Veronika, Dr Igor's daughter, "was horrified at what her father had done" and said, "'...how could my father, the director of an asylum, treat someone like that?'" It made me want to find out what happened to Veronika, and I guessed early on that she wasn't really dying. I thought if her heart really was irreversibly damaged, it wouldn't be mentioned on the blurb as surely that would be the twist in the story? I knew there'd be more to it, do you know what I mean?

I liked Eduard's story and felt sorry for him. Mari and Zedka's stories were okay, but I agree with Nicnic that some of it was a bit sickly.

Didn't he also mention on page 2 something about coincidences?"'nothing in this world happens by chance'...What was the hidden message she saw before her, assuming there are such things as hidden messages rather than mere coincidences".

I remember The Alchemist mentioned there was no such thing as coincidence, but that the Universe had synchronised an incidence, we would normally call coincidence, as a way of telling us that we're on the right path in life. I believe in synchronicity and do think it's a way of being told something we need to know.

I didn't question if what Dr Igor did was ethical, as I saw the whole story as an allegory. Like a hypothetical point

I like the examples (clock, QWERTY keyboard) Dr Igor gave to illustrate how society accepts an idea, and calls it the most normal way of behaving. We do accept things without questioning them because it's all we've ever known. (Was the QWERTY keyboard really invented to slow down typing speeds?).

Wikipedia suggests the book's message is "collective madness is sanity". It's true. If I bought a book that read from left to right, people would think me odd!

... I didn't actually finish it. This is unusual for me. I remember finishing 'Everything is illuminated' even though I didn't like it and that took me weeks, I kept with it. With Veronika I just lost interest, I can't even find the words to say why. I thought perhaps that I am not keep on the 'sound' of a book when it has been translated (maybe the meaning was 'Lost in Translation' for me, I'm not sure). But at the same time, I think he is a clever writer with clever ideas so I have given him 2 stars. I've also given it two because I hope that one day I would pick this book up again and get so much more out of it. Finally, I would say that this book doesn't make me want to run out and read any of the authors other books.

I thought it was ok, at least it was short and only took a few hours to read. I just couldn't work out what he was trying to say with it, what his point was. I suppose it's the bit about us all being individuals but it wasn't especially clear.

I also worked out early on that she wasn't going to die, it just seemed really clear.

I didn't understand what the doctor was going on about with Vitriol either, it seemed to make a mockery of mental health problems, he didn't seem to have a clue about the area really.

I've probably completely missed the point of it all though!

I really enjoyed this book & have kept it rather than put it up for swaps as I think it's a book I could read again & get more from the next time around. I didn't like Veronika either at the beginning she was shallow & I couldn't empathise with her. Although having had depression myself I could relate to her feelings of hopelessness at the future. By the end of the book I'd grown to likeher & like others here I preferred Edourd as a character. I also enjoyed the stories of the other 2 characters Mari & Zedka & I think they added a lot to the book. The books message to me was to really live life & Dr. Igor's theory was so true, however I never guessed that he was doing it as an experiment I thought they just misdiagnosed her. His theory worked & ethically I'm not sure it was wholly wrong! That's all for now.

the fact that someone would choose to die so as not to have time to get used to the beauty around us, so us not to lose the sense of wonder. In my eyes, after reading the first few pages, Veronika chose to die because she didn't want to live in an ordinary world, a world with no beauty to be amazed of.