WARNING: This is an extremely dangerous book. It could change your life. Paulo Coelho has written only one real book and Veronika (1998) is it. The story is set in an asylum where the lead character finds herself, and a refrain is a redemptive analysis of madness, closely related to the notion popularized by Foucault - madness as a societal construct, and not something independently affirmable. This novel works because it does not moralize as much as The Alchemist, though it does make broad sweeping statements. The story is made more believable through powerful vignettes (like the statue of the Slovene poet France Preseren in Ljubljana), which work to give depth to the story. Even the moralization is couched in terms of observations that can be pure poetry:

"You say they create their own reality," said Veronika, "but what is reality?" "It's whatever the majority deems it to be. It's not necessarily the best or the most logical, but its the one that has become adapted to the deisires of society as a whole. You see this thing I've got around my neck?" "You mean your tie?" "Exactly. Your answer is the logical, coherent answer an absolutely normal person would give: it's a tie! A madman, however, would say that what I have round my neck is a ridiculous, useless bit of coloured cloth tied in a very complicated way, which makes it harder to get air into your lungs and difficult for you to turn your neck. I have to be careful when I'm anywhere near a fan, or I could be strangled by this bit of cloth. If a mad person were to ask me what this tie is for, I would have to say, absolutely nothing. The only abuseful function a tie serves is the sense of relief when you get home and take it off; you feel as if you've freed yourself from something, though quite what you don't know. If I were to ask a madman and a normal person what this is, the sane person would say: a tie. It doesn't matter who's correct, what matters is who's right." - p.79

And this next pithy line seems to have become my motto:

I want to continue being mad, living my life the way I dream it, and not the way other people want it to be. - p.31

Especially if you have been sausaged out of or are still stuck in the depravity of a schooling system mugging-unlearning culture, this is a great book to read. But do heed the warning. It can be dangerous. Especially if (heaven forbid!) you are reading this with one of these strangulating pieces of cloth around your neck. Extremely dangerous.