The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Jean-Dominique Bauby

Mar 2008 · Sold by Vintage

About this ebook

A triumphant memoir by the former editor-in-chief of French Elle that reveals an indomitable spirit and celebrates the liberating power of consciousness.

In 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby was the editor-in-chief of French Elle, the father of two young children, a 44-year-old man known and loved for his wit, his style, and his impassioned approach to life. By the end of the year he was also the victim of a rare kind of stroke to the brainstem.

After 20 days in a coma, Bauby awoke into a body which had all but stopped working: only his left eye functioned, allowing him to see and, by blinking it, to make clear that his mind was unimpaired. Almost miraculously, he was soon able to express himself in the richest detail: dictating a word at a time, blinking to select each letter as the alphabet was recited to him slowly, over and over again. In the same way, he was able eventually to compose this extraordinary book.

By turns wistful, mischievous, angry, and witty, Bauby bears witness to his determination to live as fully in his mind as he had been able to do in his body. He explains the joy, and deep sadness, of seeing his children and of hearing his aged father's voice on the phone. In magical sequences, he imagines traveling to other places and times and of lying next to the woman he loves. Fed only intravenously, he imagines preparing and tasting the full flavor of delectable dishes. Again and again he returns to an "inexhaustible reservoir of sensations," keeping in touch with himself and the life around him.

Jean-Dominique Bauby died two days after the French publication of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. This book is a lasting testament to his life.

Ratings and reviews

Read this from the perspective of a medical student. The author has his flaws and quirks. It's unfortunate he described his neck "as African women necks after taking off their neck rings". I find that really offensive since I identify with the group he vaguely describes. It would have been an excellent book otherwise. Also talking about how he visited Hong Kong and his description of Chinese miniskirts sitting on him. He is a writer, and he wrote a book about his experience. He's from a different time but I hope authors and editors are better at screening offending pieces from stories that have great potential to be universally good.

This book sounds very interesting and not only that, its non-fiction and interesting. I tend to not stay on the fiction side of Barnes and Noble but this time I am ordering the book so that I can buy it. Not only was it recommended to me by a dear friend but it was also encompassed in an amazing novel I just recently read so it got me thinking. This book does seem to address more of an adult audience by its choice of words but I feel like I still need it, whether I read it tomorrow or a few years from now. But what I think I'll find in a book from an Autobiography/ Biography are lessons because when paralyzed, motionless and trapped inside a body that won't function I believe a gizillion of thoughts would be running through your head and at some point you would come to clarifications or theories in life.

Had to read it for English class and I'm a guy who loves action, comedy and mystery. But this book is so captivating I couldn't help but read more

About the author

JEAN-DOMINIQUE BAUBY was born in France in 1952. He attended school in Paris. After working as a journalist for a number of years, Bauby became the editor-in-chief of Elle magazine in Paris in 1991. On December 8, 1995 he had a stroke which left him with the condition known as locked-in syndrome. Bauby died on March 9, 1997, two days after the French publication of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. He was the father of two children, Theophile and Celeste.