The Diving-bell and the Butterfly - Jean-Dominique Bauby

...or breathe without medical assistance. The stroke had also left him with impaired hearing, painfully amplifying and distorting many of the sounds around him, and the ability to still feel pain in the body that confined him (''my hands, lying curled on the yellow sheets, are hurting, although I can't tell if they are burning hot or ice cold''). Bauby was forced to concede that his former high-living Paris life was over, now as unreachable as the objects ...
...had not been impaired by the stroke by blinking his left eye. He had soon established a communication system with his visitors and hospital staff, whereby they recited the alphabet - this soon developed into a French language frequency ordered alphabet, for efficiency - and Bauby blinked to select each letter of the word he wanted. This system, however, worked better with some people than others. ''It is a simple enough system,'' he explains. ''You ...

Collingwood21 07.10.2008 · Read full review
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Review of The Diving-bell and the Butterfly - Jean-Dominique Bauby

The true story behind this novella is what drew me to reading it. Then, I did not know who Jean-Dominique Bauby was or, for that matter, what "locked- in syndrome" was. Not only does this book tell its reader a great deal about the author through the first person narration, but also via the obituary placed at the end of Bauby's emotive story. You come to learn Bauby's deepest fears, regrets, hopes and loves from this novella and everything you feel ...
...The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is not your typical autobiography. It doesn't start with mundane and insignificant details of the author's childhood, followed by his struggle to rise to fame. In fact, it starts with his dreams, his darkest fears. As a reader, we are instantly drawn in to the hidden corners of Bauby's mind. He has no secrets from his reader. The poetic language and metaphors are again not what you'd expect from an autobiograpical ...

chellbian 06.05.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Diving-bell and the Butterfly - Jean-Dominique Bauby

this film is beautifully directed and thought about, every detail has been taken into consideration especially the camera angles. I think this film captures the struggle of Jean-Dominique Bauby from the first person angle the director places the audience into. The acting gives these create very realistic and believable characters. This is a very well composed film which is highly recommendable. ...

xpinkishnessx 03.07.2009
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of The Diving-bell and the Butterfly - Jean-Dominique Bauby