Just when you think "nothing can top this........."

books:

	• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Vintage International) Jean-Dominique Bauby Vintage, 2007 - 131 pages average customer review:based on 180 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The Diving Bell & the Butterfly

An amazing story of human resilience - Jean Dominique Bauby's story is incredible. This memoir was written by Bauby after he suffered a serious stroke which left him completely paralyzed except for the ability to blink one eye. A true testament to the human spirit.

Just when you think "nothing can top this........."

We collect stories of Extraordinary Comebacks (am the author of a book by the same name), and occasionally, we say to ourselves, 'nothing can top this.' Then, along comes The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Our protagonist, Frenchman Jean-Dominique Bauby, 43, was in the prime of life, editor of Elle, with a sports car, three adoring children, a mistress, and the world by the proverbial tail. In one instant, he suffers a stroke and is submerged in a world where he can understand but not communicate, a victim of "locked-in syndrome" -- as the author states, "a hellish trap as likely as being caught in as winning the lottery."

He says he would be the happiest man if all he could do was swallow. But he can't.

So -- with an active mind that is disconnected from his entire bodily function with the exception that he can blink his left eye -- what does he do? He honors his contract to write a book the only way he can.

By blinking his left eye.

A translator painstakingly repeats letters of the alphabet in order of most frequent use. When the letter he wants comes up, Jean-Do blinks. And so goes the "dictation." And so through this tiny, pinprick-sized hole, his imagination can pour forth -- one letter at a time. his essays on life in the hospital in his new condition, imaginings of his children, gourmet food, events of his past life. Regarding the latter, forever gone in physical reality, but persistently alive in his spirit.

This story is all at once horrifying, uplifting, numbing, life affirming. And finally, heroic. Bauby died just 10 days after his book was published -- it was his mission to communicate, to affirm life itself, that kept him going.

Made into a film by artist and now director Julian Schnabel. Not for the squeamish, but also, not to miss.

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THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY

Its one of the few times that the movie adds to the book, both should be experienced and are inspirational

wish i liked it more

I was so inspired by the premise, and I wondered what beautiful prose a man "locked in" would produce. Unfortunately, I found it average. The most inspirational part of the book was his willpower to write it, in his condition. It is also valuable to note how much he could think under the circumstances.
His situation however, was not unique, though his case was more extreme than most.
His life was not particularly inspirational - he seemed to live for fine cars and fine food and travel. A nice book, but probably more meaningful to his family and friends than the population at large.
Look elsewhere for inspiration.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, page 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

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