Veronika decides to die

another book by paulo, a great book. i can relate to this 1 well and i liked it very very much. a movie adaption is being filmed this year, to be released nxt year. the book was so gd tat i finished it w/in 24hrs.. (it's not a thick bk at all.. less than 200 pages). i just didnt really put it down haha.

i liked to read when i was a child, storybook was nice. bt i nvr really made it a hobby. going to a place (library) just 2 borrow book and having 2 return it again is just too much travelling for me (im so lazy.. i noe.. it's actually called "home-ly"). n books r expensive also, but eventually i found some friends to swap books with and i did lend some, or buy when there's discounts.

finally ordered my research stuff, my lab coat is hanging on the hook. its all abt to begin, tml my special sem module, intro to psy, will hav a pop quiz during tut.. so much of a "pop" quiz it is when u noe when its coming.. there's still mid term nxt week and final exam in 3 weeks, so fast..

well i'm gonna include a short story frm the book where a discussion of a question: "what it means to be mad" was brought up in 2 parts of the book (there were many other parts discussing these and they're impt but im just gonna put this here cos its interesting)

for those nt gonna get the book, maybe u shld read it for entertainment.



**** Book Spoiler ****




Quote from Veronika Decides to Die:

'I don't know what it means to be mad, but i'm not, I'm just a failed suicide.' Veronika whispered.

'Anyone who lives in their own world is mad. Like schizophrenics, psychopaths, maniacs. I mean people who are different from others.' replied Zedka

'I'm going to tell you a story. A powerful wizard , who wanted to destroy an entire kingdom, placed a magic potion in the well which all the inhabitants drank. Whoever drank that water would go mad.

The following morning, the whole population drank from the well and they all went mad, apart from the king and his family, who had a well set aside for them alone, and which the magician had not managed to poison. The king was worried and tried to control the population by issuing a series of edicts governing security and public health. The policeman and inspectors, however, had also drunk the poisoned water and thought that the king's decision were absurd and resolved to take no notice of them.

When the inhabitants heard these decrees, they became convinced that the king has gone mad and was now giving nonsensical orders. they marched on the castle and called for his abdication.

In despair, the king prepared to step down from the throne, but the queen stopped him, saying: "Let us go and drink from the communal well. Then, we will be the same as them."

And that was what they did: the king and the queen drank the water of madness and immediately began talking nonsense. Their subjects repented at once; now that the king was displaying such wisdom, why not allow him to continue ruling the country?

The country continued to live in peace, although its inhabitants behaved very differently from those of its neighbours. And the king was able to govern until the end of his days.'

----some time later...----

Zedka: 'Do you remember the first question i ever asked you?'

Veronika: 'Yes, you asked me if i knew what being mad meant?'

Zedka: 'Exactly. This time, I'm not going to tell you a story. Madness is the inability to communicate your ideas. It's as if you were in a foreign country, able to see and experience everything that's going on around you, but incapable of explaining what you need to know or being helped, because you don't understand the language they speak there.'

Veronika: 'We've all felt that.'

Zedka: 'And all of us, one way or another, are mad.'

***** Spoiler end *****

The last 2 lines i think it's spoken as per i indicated, though i do think both can be by the latter haha.

~life is beautiful..becos this world is imperfect~