ASSOCIATES (vol. 4, no. 3, March 1998) - associates.ucr.edu
_The Diving Bell and the Butterfly_
Jean-Dominique Bauby
Translated from the French by Jeremy Leggatt
Alfred A. Knopf, New York
1997
ISBN: 0-375-40115-6
Reviewed by
Diana Cripe
Library Clerk
Kitsap Regional Library - Port Orchard Branch
Port Orchard, WA
dcripe@linknet.kitsap.lib.wa.us
_The Diving Bell and the Butterfly_ is a book written in a most
unusual manner. Jean-Dominique Bauby was the editor-in-chief of the
French magazine "Elle". In December of 1997, at the age of 43, he had
a brain stem stroke. He was in a coma for twenty days, and then woke
to find that only his left eye functioned.
Bauby wrote this book by having an assistant rearrange some of
the letters of the alphabet. Bauby would blink when the assistant got
to the letter that was needed next. The volume reads so smoothly that
I would periodically have to stop and remind myself that it was
written literally one slow letter at a time!
_The Diving Bell and the Butterfly_ is a remarkable story. The
title is appropriate since Bauby felt his body was as immobile as if
it were locked in an old-time diving bell. Yet his mind just kept
going like the wings of a butterfly.
At the end of the book, the author recalls the day that he had
had the stroke. It is amazing to me that he could recall every detail
up to the very moment of his lapsing into a coma.
Jean-Dominique Bauby died two days after the publication of his
book in France. Though heartwarming and sad, the book makes one
realize what we can do in the face of adversity--and it shows the
courage and love the author had. One cannot help but be in awe of
Jean-Dominique Bauby--and appreciate the gift he left to us.