Last night I finished reading The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, written by Jean-Dominique Bauby. The book was originally published in French (unfortunately I'm restricted to German at the moment), and entitled Le Scaphandre et le Papillon. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is the beautifully written story of journalist and editor of French Elle magazine (Bauby himself) who suffers a stroke that results in locked-in syndrome; a prisoner in his own body unable to communicate to anyone except through blinking. Bauby wrote the book with help of his aide Claude and the French alphabet in order of most frequently used letters, blinking when reaching the desired letter.
The language of the book is delicate, elegant, witty, charming and fastidious. Each page draws you in for another.
Read this book and you will not regret it. It's short (for those of you who don't like to read), and a very intriguing look into a man's life when he's lost most of it. In 2007 the book was adapted to the film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly directed by Julian Schnabel. I originally downloaded the film first, but decided to read the book before watching it. It won awards at the Cannes, Golden Globes among others and was nominated for four Academy Awards, so I look forward to having a screening. Hope you get a chance to, as well.
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