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A review by celestesbookshelf
Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
đź”– 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list
⚠️ Suicide, Inhumane Medical Treatment
đź”…I learned that Coelho was himself institutionalized for a period of time, in and out and that this novel is partly based on his experience in these sanatoriums.
If you’ve seen Behind Her Eyes on Netflix you may enjoy this as it also has themes of astral projection and travel. Or The Twilight Zone, in the episode Eye of the Beholder where a woman covers her face in bandages to not hide her disfigurement. She undergoes one more plastic surgery attempt and it fails, when the camera shows the surgeon and nurses they’re the ones who are disfigured and the woman is “normal”
according to our society.
Coelho touches on these themes of “what is normal?” as well as inhumane medical treatment being given fancy names as a euphemism. The plot advances with Dr. Igor, the sanatoriums psychiatrist, running am experiment on Veronika without her or anyone else’s knowledge. Will he be able to convince her to value her life without any treatment at all?
⚠️ Suicide, Inhumane Medical Treatment
đź”…I learned that Coelho was himself institutionalized for a period of time, in and out and that this novel is partly based on his experience in these sanatoriums.
If you’ve seen Behind Her Eyes on Netflix you may enjoy this as it also has themes of astral projection and travel. Or The Twilight Zone, in the episode Eye of the Beholder where a woman covers her face in bandages to not hide her disfigurement. She undergoes one more plastic surgery attempt and it fails, when the camera shows the surgeon and nurses they’re the ones who are disfigured and the woman is “normal”
according to our society.
Coelho touches on these themes of “what is normal?” as well as inhumane medical treatment being given fancy names as a euphemism. The plot advances with Dr. Igor, the sanatoriums psychiatrist, running am experiment on Veronika without her or anyone else’s knowledge. Will he be able to convince her to value her life without any treatment at all?