- stranger than, collection, pack, series, bad
- blood, seabiscuit, in the heart of the sea,
- stuart, backwards, fermat's lats theorem,
- diving bell butterfly, perfect storm, longitude
- reading, lolita, dark, naked civil servant,
In 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby was the editor-in-chief of French
Elle, the father of two young childen, 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 alp! habet 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.We've all got our idiosyncrasies when it comes to writing--a special chai! r we have to sit in, a certain kind of yellow paper we absolut! ely must use. To create this tremendously affecting memoir, Jean-Dominique Bauby used the only tool available to him--his left eye--with which he blinked out its short chapters, letter by letter. Two years ago, Bauby, then the 43-year-old editor-in-chief of
Elle France, suffered a rare stroke to the brain stem; only his left eye and brain escaped damage. Rather than accept his "locked in" situation as a kind of death, Bauby ignited a fire of the imagination under himself and lived his last days--he died two days after the French publication of this slim volume--spiritually unfettered. In these pages Bauby journeys to exotic places he has and has not been, serving himself delectable gourmet meals along the way (surprise: everything's ripe and nothing burns). In the simplest of terms he describes how it feels to see reflected in a window "the head of a man who seemed to have emerged from a vat of formaldehyde."In December 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, the 43-year-old editor of Fr! ench
Elle, suffered a massive stroke that left him permanently paralyzed, a victim of “locked in syndrome.†Once known for his gregariousness and wit, Bauby now finds himself imprisoned in an inert body, able to communicate only by blinking his left eye. The miracle is that in doing so he was able to compose this stunningly eloquent memoir.In a voice that is by turns wistful and mischievous, angry and sardonic, Bauby gives us a celebration of the liberating power of consciousness: what it is like to spend a day with his children, to imagine lying in bed beside his wife, to conjure up the flavor of delectable meals even as he is fed through at tube. Most of all, this triumphant book lets us witness an indomitable spirit and share in the pure joy of its own survival.
From the Trade Paperback edition.We've all got our idiosyncrasies when it comes to writing--a special chair we have to sit in, a certain kind of yellow paper we absolutely mus! t use. To create this tremendously affecting memoir, Jean-Dom! inique B auby used the only tool available to him--his left eye--with which he blinked out its short chapters, letter by letter. Two years ago, Bauby, then the 43-year-old editor-in-chief of
Elle France, suffered a rare stroke to the brain stem; only his left eye and brain escaped damage. Rather than accept his "locked in" situation as a kind of death, Bauby ignited a fire of the imagination under himself and lived his last days--he died two days after the French publication of this slim volume--spiritually unfettered. In these pages Bauby journeys to exotic places he has and has not been, serving himself delectable gourmet meals along the way (surprise: everything's ripe and nothing burns). In the simplest of terms he describes how it feels to see reflected in a window "the head of a man who seemed to have emerged from a vat of formaldehyde."In December 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, the 43-year-old editor of French
Elle, suffered a massive stroke that left h! im permanently paralyzed, a victim of “locked in syndrome.†Once known for his gregariousness and wit, Bauby now finds himself imprisoned in an inert body, able to communicate only by blinking his left eye. The miracle is that in doing so he was able to compose this stunningly eloquent memoir.In a voice that is by turns wistful and mischievous, angry and sardonic, Bauby gives us a celebration of the liberating power of consciousness: what it is like to spend a day with his children, to imagine lying in bed beside his wife, to conjure up the flavor of delectable meals even as he is fed through at tube. Most of all, this triumphant book lets us witness an indomitable spirit and share in the pure joy of its own survival.
From the Trade Paperback edition.On December 8 1995, Elle magazine editor-in-chief Bauby suffered a stroke and lapsed into a coma. He awoke 20 days later, mentally aware of his surroundings but physically paralyzed with the exception of s! ome movement in his head and left eye. Bauby had Locked-in-Syn! drome, a rare condition caused by stroke damage to the brain stem. Eye movements and blinking a code representing letters of the alphabet became his sole means of communication. It is also how he dictated this warm, sad, and extraordinary memoir. Bauby's thoughts on the illness, the hospital, family, friends, career, and life before and after the stroke appear with considerable humor and humanity. Actor Rene Auberjonois's narration adds to the poignancy of the story. Sadly, Bauby died of his condition in 1997Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner. A fascinating account of Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor of French Elle magazine, who suffered a stroke at age 43. How he learned to communicate with the outside world again is almost as inspirational as what he said. In French with English subtitles. 2007/color/112 min/PG-13/widescreen.The seemingly claustrophobic story of a man imprisoned in his paralyzed body becomes a dazzling and expansive movie about love, imagination, and the will to live! . After a stroke, Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric,
Kings and Queen) can only move his left eye--and through that eye he learns to communicate, one letter at a time. With the help of his speech therapist (Marie-Josee Croze,
Munich) and a stenographer (Anne Consigny,
Anna M.), Bauby writes the stunning memoir
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. But such a plot summary makes the movie sound like lofty, self-important medicine--far from it. Director Julian Schnabel (
Basquiat,
Before Night Falls), working from an elegant screenplay by Ronald Harwood (
The Pianist) and with an oustanding cast (which also includes
Frantic's Emmanuelle Seigner as Bauby's neglected wife), has created a movie as engrossing and hypnotic as a thriller, a movie that wrestles with mortality yet has stubborn streaks of dark humor and eroticism, that portrays a man who overcomes unimaginable obstacles but refuses to paint him as a saint. Schnabel ! was once dismissed as a pompous and overblown painter, but he'! s crafte d an intimate visual poem, a humble sonata about life at its most fragile.
--Bret FetzerStranger Than .... Fiction books series: 10 books The Naked Civil Servant / Reading Lolita In Tehran / Longitude / The Perfect Storm / the Diving-Bell and the Butterfly / Fermat's Last Theorem / Stuart: A Life Backwards / In the Heart of the Sea / Bad Blood / Seabiscuit rrp £59.95
