Whatever

[edit] Plot summary

Veronika, who leads a seemingly perfect life, lives in Slovenia. She decides to commit a premeditated suicide by ingesting too many sleeping pills. While she waits for her death, she decides to read a magazine.

After seeing an article in the magazine which wittily asks "Where is Slovenia?," she decides to write a letter to the press justifying her suicide, the idea being to make the press believe that she has killed herself because people don't even know where Slovenia is. Her plan fails and she wakes up in Villete, a mental hospital in Slovenia, where she is told she has a week to live.

Her presence there affects all of the mental hospital's patients, especially Zedka, who has clinical depression; Mari, who suffers from panic attacks; and Eduard, who has schizophrenia, and with whom Veronika falls in love.

During her internment in Villete she realises that she has nothing to lose and can therefore do what she wants, say what she wants and be who she wants without having to worry about what others think of her; as a madwoman, she is unlikely to be criticized.

Because of this newfound freedom Veronika experiences all the things she never allowed herself to experience including hatred, love and even sexual awakening.

Another character that has an interesting part is Dr. Igor, one of Vilette's top doctors. Igor has a theory about a poison of the mind, which he names vitriol after the toxic chemical discovered by alchemists. The reader quickly discovers that Dr. Igor believes that by telling patients they only have a very short time period to live, they will find the will to live again and will appreciate being alive rather than trying to commit suicide again.