My people, you guys know that I love some writers, and yes I do have some favorites: Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, James McBride, James Baldwin.... BUT, I am going to have to put Paulo Coelho at the very top of my list. Yep, this guy is at the very top of my favorite authors' list.
I do believe that there are prophets still walking this earth, and I strongly believe that Paulo is one of them. He truly knows human nature, and he uses his writings to get readers to think about things such as love, fear, death, and sex in ways that just may solidify some things that we already know or to help us to think about these things from different perspectives. Every single time that I read one of his books, I am moved and changed.
In Veronika Decides to Die, Paulo deals with life, death, love, sanity....
Veronika, the main character, takes a lot of pills in the hopes of committing suicide. But, like in most books, there is no way that the protagonist is going to die in the beginning of the book. Veronika wakes up in a ‘lunatic asylum’ with someone saying to her “You’ve landed slap bang in hell, so you’d better make the most of it.” And, the rest of the book takes place mostly in the insane asylum.
Paulo takes us into the mind of Veronika and a few of the other patients in the insane asylum. It seems, through narration, that almost everyone in the insane asylum are there because they were living lives that he/she did not want to live. So, they escaped real life and ended up in the asylum. Paulo is trying to tell us something about the importance of being true to ourselves and overcoming every obstacle to live a life that gives us meaning.
In the asylum, Veronika and the other patients, realize that they could be whomever they want to be and do whatever they want to do without being judged; there was a sense of freedom on the inside. Veronika’s presence has an effect on several of the patients and causes them to exam their lives, and they decide to go out into the world and live their lives differently than they had before.
Inside, Veronika is drawn back into her passions of music and explores love and life.
My people, what would you do if you weren’t afraid????
Now, in real life Paulo Coelho was committed to a mental institution by his parents three times, because they thought that he must be mentally ill if he wanted to be a writer. He infuses this into the book, and mentions himself in third person. I found this very intriguing; haven’t seen to many authors do this before. This caused me to think about people who go against the norm and pursue their passions and appear to be crazy......
What would you do if you weren’t afraid????
This is a well-written, thought-provoking book that can cause a reader to think about his life, love, death, and the pursuit of happiness.
Paulo’s work should be read, read, and reread!!
Other blogs that I have written about books by Paulo:
The Alchemist
Eleven Minutes
Adultery
Happy Sunday, My People!!!
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