The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death

from the Me And My Big Mouth blog (2010-06-27) : 3/5
Classic schoolboy error. I watched the movie before reading the book.

Fool.

Problem is, I preferred the film. By quite some distance.

The mere existence of the The Diving-bell and the Butterfly is, of course, remarkable. As you no doubt know Jean-Dominique Bauby 'dictated' the whole thing by winking - the rest of his body paralysed by locked-in syndrome. It became an international bestseller.

As an account of this rare condition, as a memoir of a man mentally alert and eloquent but physically inert, it is fascinating. It is slight, for obvious reasons, but the short episodic chapters work well. The author manages to weave in just enough back story (the before) for us to better appreciate the impact of the syndrome (the after) but you can't get away from the fact that there isn't a great deal here.

The film makers clearly agreed and added a fair amount of, perhaps fabricated (?), material to flesh out the story. Which brings me back to my initial problem. The best bits of the movie - the tension between his wife and his lover, the imposition of a religious doctor - are not in the book at all.

If I have approached these two versions the other way round I may have felt differently. But I didn't. So I find myself impressed, but slightly short changed.
contemplative, insightful, and inspirational (2010-06-15) : 5/5
Synopsis: In 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, the 43-year-old editor-in-chief of Elle magazine in France, suffered from a stroke. When he woke up from a coma, he discovers he has a rare condition called "locked-in syndrome," which completely paralyzes the body. The mind, however, is left functioning normally. Still, he urges himself to move on with his life. With the help of a speech therapist, he decides to account his thoughts, feelings, and dreams in little fragments, using only his eyelid -- his only remaining functioning body part -- to express himself and tell his story. Through this heart wrenching and unbelievable challenge he knew he had to face, he came up with this memoir.

Review: This is a unique and extremely contemplative and insightful account, of a disturbing and an uncomfortable topic. The author of this memoir "wrote" the book by blinking his eyes to spell the alphabet. He first had to learn how to do this, and practiced it for a while, before starting this.
Though it is a heart breaking situation, it is not a sad story. In fact, it was actually uplifting, knowing that despite the horrible circumstances he was forced to face, he still found a way to persevere and overcome them, in his own ways.
That having said, I highly recommend this book. Forget for a moment the technicalities of how a book should be, because this memoir is all about the story itself. It is simply, about a man and his courage, despite the odds. This will definitely linger in my mind for a long time.
Locked-in to a wonderful story (2010-06-14) : 4/5
A tremendous story from a wonderful writer. So unfortunate that he had to write the book under such extraordinary circumstances
interesting (2010-06-05) : 5/5
bought this for my graduate independent media arts course and although i haven't read it yet, it seems worth reading. i hear the film is great.
Beautiful and insightful (2010-06-03) : 5/5
After seeing the movie version, I HAD to read the book. I couldn't put it down. The author tells his story in a way that will both break your heart and have you literally laughing out loud at his use of irony and sarcasm.

I've read some of the more negative reviews, and my only response to their criticism is that Jean Do was only a man....not a saint...not a fictional hero...just a human being who was struck by a disability that disconnected him from the world he'd known, and made him reflect on his past joys, AND his past failures.

This book is very well written, and the translation is seamless. More importantly though, the story provides insights into the identity issues, the sense of isolation, and the tendency towards escapism into one's imagination that many people with disabilities face on a daily basis.

Those with physical disabilities may find a kindred spirit in Jean Do, and those without disabilities may learn to see those with disabilities in a more compassionate and thoughtful way.