Tuesday, May 6, 2014

First Chapter, First Paragraph Tuesday Intro - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby



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


Prologue

Through the frayed curtain at my window, a wan glow announces the break of day. My heels hurt, my head weighs a ton, and something like a giant invisible diving bell holds my whole body prisoner. My room emerges slowly from the gloom. I linger over every item: photos of loved ones, my children's drawings, posters, the little tin cyclist send by a friend the day before the Paris-Roubaix bike race, and the IV pole hanging over the bed where I have been confined these past six months, like a hermit crab dug into his rock.

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The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a memoir. The author had been the editor of the French edition of Elle magazine and was known for his vitality and wit. Then one day at the age of 44, he suffered a massive stroke, and when he regained consciousness in the hospital he found he could no longer move his body; he could only blink his left eye. He suffers from what is known as "locked-in syndrome". The book was dictated by a series of blinks. The letters of the alphabet would be read to him in order of frequency of use and he would blink when he heard the letter he wanted. Sadly Bauby passed away 2 days after the French publication of the book. There is also a movie adaptation of it that is available for free to Amazon Prime customers. I will have to watch it when I am done.



11 comments:

  1. Oh my, this is really a good memoir to read. Sorry about his Stroke. Would like to know how he dealt with it. The title is very interesting along with the First Chapter....

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  2. I like the sounds of this one. I'd keep reading. Thanks for stopping by today. kelley—the road goes ever ever on

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  3. I read this years ago. It's fascinating to me how he learned to communicate after his stroke. Where there's a will there's a way.

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  4. Love that intro. I would go on.....

    Here is my Intro post!

    AND

    Here is my teaser post!

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  5. What a moving story. What a loss.

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  6. Wow - I'd heard of this book, but never knew what it was about. I can't imagine what it took to write a book by blinking one eye…what a strong man.
    Thanks for stopping by my blog!

    Here's Mine: http://www.sarahsbookshelves.com/fiction/first-chapter-first-paragraph-tuesday-intros-cutting-teeth-julia-fierro/

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  7. This sounds good. I'd keep reading.

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  8. I haven't read this but I like the sound of it. Here's Mine

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  9. I don't read a lot of memoirs, but this sounds interesting, can you image - through a serious of blinks!
    My post is here

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  10. Love the sound of the intro ---hope the rest is as good ---enjoy

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  11. Thanks for commenting, everyone! I get warm fuzzies when I get the comment emails! I apologize for not replying to everyone, but I did visit everyone's blogs!

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