The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death 1st Edition

by Jean-Dominique Bauby (Author), Jeremy Leggatt (Translator)

418 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0375401152

ISBN-10: 0375401156

Why is ISBN important?

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Share <Embed>

More Buying Choices

30 New from $14.29 122 Used from $0.01 10 Collectible from $8.25

162 used & new from $0.01

See All Buying Options

Free%20Two-Day%20Shipping%20for%20College%20Students%20with%20Amazon%20Student

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 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.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death

Available from these sellers.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Cathy Crimmins

104

Hardcover
Joan Didion

80

Paperback
$9.37
Janet Fitch

1,263

Hardcover
Chuck Palahniuk

572

Paperback
$8.34
David Small

152

Hardcover
$18.09
Jill Bolte Taylor

1,470

Hardcover

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Product Details

Hardcover: 131 pages
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf; 1st edition (May 13, 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0375401156
ISBN-13: 978-0375401152
Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 4.8 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (418 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #13 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Diseases & Physical Ailments > Strokes
- #30 in Books > Textbooks > Social Sciences > Gay & Lesbian Studies
- #47 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Diseases & Physical Ailments > Physical Impairments

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Important Information

Ingredients
Example Ingredients

Directions
Example Directions

Customer Reviews

418

4.6 out of 5 stars

5 star		72%
4 star		17%
3 star		7%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

See all 418 customer reviews

Share your thoughts with other customers

Write a customer review

Top Customer Reviews

My Daughter's Condition Mirrors Author's

By Priscilla Smith on May 15, 2001

Format: Paperback

This is the most remarkable book I have ever read. I make this comment because my own daughter, age 26, was suddenly "locked-in" two years ago due to a stroke from birth control pills. Her condition mirrors the author's. I used his spelling method and shocked the doctors with her communication abilities. (They had told me she was vegetative.) Bauby's little book has changed our lives. I was deeply saddened by his death from a heart attack. He was beginning to do a great wonder for the unfortunate people with this rare syndrome by starting a newsletter and being the subject of a documentary. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a clever account of what it's like to be locked-in and a combination of some personal slices of life which ironically relate to the author's terrifying condition.

7 Comments 200 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Report abuse

life worth living

By Orrin C. Judd VINE VOICE on September 30, 2000

Format: Paperback

In December of 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, 43 year old editor in chief of Elle magazine in France, suffered a stroke which severely damaged his brain stem. After several weeks in a coma, he woke to find that he was one of the rare victims of a condition called "locked-in syndrome" or LIS, which had left his mind functioning but his body almost completely paralyzed. In a perverse sense he actually got fairly lucky because, unlike most victims, he was still able to move one eyelid. This allowed him to work out, with a speech therapist, a system of communication which entailed winking as someone slowly read through the alphabet. By using this code, he could painstakingly spell out words, sentences, paragraphs and, finally, this memoir.
The title of the book refers to the metaphors he uses to describe his situation. The physical paralysis leaves him feeling as if he was trapped within a diving bell, as if there is constant pressure pinning his body into immobility. However, at the same time, his mind remains as free as a butterfly and it's flights are as random. In fact, he calls the chapters of this book his "bedridden travel notes" and, indeed, they eloquently relate his journey through memory.
Although Bauby's situation is obviously unique, this book has universal resonance because his condition is itself an apt metaphor for the human condition. It is the essence of Man's dilemma that our infinitely perfectible minds are trapped within such weak containers of flesh and blood. For most of us, at most times, this frustrating dichotomy, between that which makes us godlike and that which makes us mortal, lurks in the background; but the author has it thrust rudely into the foreground, where it necessarily dominates his existence.Read more ›

9 Comments 323 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Report abuse

Stunningly beautiful glimpse into a nightmare.

By Amazon Customer on March 31, 2004

Format: Paperback

Wow. This book is beautiful and haunting. You begin the book with the knowledge of Mssr. Bauby's fate. He proceeds to share with us his eloquent and striking observations post-accident. This book is beautifully and concisely written - it's as tight as a drum - and that is a testament more to Bauby's journalistic talents than his impaired condition. An intellectual with a love for opera, music, writing, and food, he comes to life in these pages despite the brevity of the book. We get a decent sense of him prior to his stroke: a man with a full appetite for life. At times, I had to suck in my breath and set the book down to pause, it was so profoundly heartbreaking. He shares with us his deepest, raw thoughts about his daily life, his former lifestyle, his children, the blessings he misses and the pleasures he now looks forward to, as well as the torment he cannot control. A key point, I think, is that throughout the book he sprinkles his persistent sense of humor, and a feeling of hope. It's amazing considering that he is experiencing something we all agree is our worst nightmare. There is no bitterness on these pages, it's more of an honest wistfulness. Like when he says he would have cheerfully killed one of his caretakers for the neglect he suffered at his hands. I will never forget the irony of the photograph from his childhood sent to him by his father; the description of his last day of normal life; the story of Mithra-Grandchamp; the bleakness of his Sundays and how they lend perspective to his other days (and ours); and his trip to smell the French fries. The meaningfulness and importance of the small, everyday events, abilities, and choices we make are cast in a new light after reading this book. But the experience is like having someone open you up and rip out your heart, such is the sympathy we feel for Bauby. In fact, I will likely be haunted by his descriptions of life, both breathtakingly beautiful and immensely sad. What a man. What a book.

1 Comment 58 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Report abuse

"My mind takes flight like a butterfly."

By E. Bukowsky HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on August 9, 2004

Format: Paperback

In 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby was a vigorous man of 43 when he suddenly had a massive stroke that left him in a coma for twenty days. When he awoke, Bauby found himself a victim of "locked-in syndrome," a state of paralysis in which a person's mind functions while his body is frozen.

Bauby was the father of two young children and the editor-in-chief of a major magazine. He had traveled extensively and was blessed with many friends. After the stroke, his active and exciting life was no more. As a quadriplegic, Bauby had to be bathed, fed by a gastric tube, and moved by nurses and attendants. He could not speak at all. What was there left to live for?

It turns out that Bauby's mind provided him with the spiritual and emotional fuel to keep him from falling into despair. He did not become bitter or cantankerous, and he never lost his humor, imagination, or the wonderful memories that he cherished. Finally, he began to compose this book in his head, and through a system in which blinks of an eye indicated letters of the alphabet, he "dictated" this book to his secretary.

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is witty, lyrical, and poignant. Bauby notes that since he could no longer eat in the normal way, he had to dine in his head, imagining himself enjoying beef bourguignon, apricot pie, or even a simple soft-boiled egg. Since he could not speak to his ninety-three year old father, Jean-Dominique's father called him on the phone and spoke to him. When he was finally able to sit in a wheelchair, Bauby was taken to the sea where he admired the colorful umbrellas, the beautiful seascape, and the lovely sailboats. He was destined to live the remainder of his life one step removed from reality, but, in his mind, this was better than not living life at all. Jean-Dominique Bauby lived to see his book published before he died in 1997. "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is an inspiring testament to the indomitable spirit of a very remarkable man.

Comment 76 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Report abuse

See all 418 customer reviews (newest first)

Write a customer review

Customer Images

Most Recent Customer Reviews

Amazing Read

This is a book about life lived well. I'd recommend it without hesitation to anyone who reads. It is simply written, impactful, and genuine. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Brian WIlson

AWESOME BOOK

Extremely interesting book with a slightly sad story. Never take life for granted.

Published 1 month ago by Kelly

A must read for health care workers.

Gives an amazing account of what it is like to be " locked in". A must read for any health care worker working with stroke patients. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Barbara E. Brossok

Five Stars

Short but thought provoking

Published 1 month ago by Amazon Customer

Breathtaking

Almost unbelievable that this book was written by someone who couldn't speak or even move. A triumph of human spirit.

Published 2 months ago by Betty Green

The power of one eye

This book gave a glimpse of how an patient experience the stroke and go through!!!

MUST-READ
For those who are health professionals(especially Rehab doctor,Physical... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Great book, no complaints about it.

Published 2 months ago by Blake

Great, astounding read

A stunning book. I loved it, and often gift it.

Published 2 months ago by Kayakeruth

Not your typical book

I was expecting something that could really appreciate life but this book was not it. It's sad and tragic but it lacks the punch to wake you up and savor life.

Published 2 months ago by Robert Kirk

The book itself is pretty small, less than 200pages but its an amazing...

The book itself is pretty small, less than 200pages but its an amazing story based on Bauby's true experience with LIS (locked-in syndrome). Read more

Published 2 months ago by Amazon Customer