Ayoub Hayati

"Veronika decides to die" is short novel written by Paulo Coelho. It recounts the experience a young slovenian girl of 24 yo has with life and death. Veronika wants to put an end to her life which she sees as "insignificant" due to some silly reasons she convinces herslef to believe true. she finds the most suitable and delicate way to commit suicide is by taking an overdose of pills, so she does so. but unluckily she wakes up in a very famous mental hospital in Slovina called "Villete" when she asks dr Igor what hapened to her, he tells her that she did not succeed in putting an immediate end to her life, nevertheless, she only has 1 week in the world of the living. only then she starts reflecting on her real life and starts living to the fullest. the fact that she does not have much time to live sets her free from a load of moral and social constraints which when she goes against them and does what her inner voice tells to do she gets a great feeling of gratification. this makes her cling to life and fall in love with it. her spontaneity in expressing herself enlightens others who think that thier lives are meaningless and makes them look at life and at themselves from another more freer perspective, hence discover that no one is actually mad and that everyone is mad. the overall themes of the story include love care life and death. the story has an unpredictable yet fulfilling ending which changes the reader's consideration of all the previous characters and situations but has a great meaning and a strong existential message.