On December 8, 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby's life was forever altered when a part of his body he'd never heard of--his brain stem--was rendered inactive. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, his exquisitely painful memoir, is neither a triumphant account of recovery nor a journey into the abyss of self-pity. Instead, it is a tender testament to the power of language and love. At 43, Bauby was defined by success, wit and charisma. But in the course of a few bewildering minutes, the editor-in-chief of French Elle became a victim of the rare locked-in syndrome. The only way he could express his frustration, however, was by blinking his left eye. The rest of his body could no longer respond. Bauby was determined to escape the paralysis of his diving bell and free the butterflies of his imagination. And with the help of ESA, "a hit parade in which each letter is placed according to the frequency of its use in the French language," Bauby did so. Visitors, and eventually his editor, would read each letter aloud and he would blink at the right one. Slowly--painstakingly-- words, sentences, paragraphs and even this graceful book emerged.
Bauby relays the horrors and small graces of his struggle, which range from awaking one day to discover his right eye being sewn shut to realising the significance of Father's Day, a holiday previously absent from his family's "emotional calendar": "Today we spent the whole of the symbolic day together, affirming that even a rough sketch, a shadow, a tiny fragment of a dad is still a dad." The author makes it clear that being locked in doesn't kick open the doors of perception, but The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is nonetheless a celebration of life. Jean Dominique-Bauby died of a heart attack on March 9, 1997, two days after his book was published in France.

Having had this little book thrust upon me by the bookpusher Mytilus, I stopped to have a little nose on the way home. I'm glad I took it and I look forward to a life affirming read. Thanks!

I was struck by the contrast of the guy who has everything then having a life pared down to its very essentials. I wonder just how many people have been 'locked in' in the past and who weren't ever able to communicate at all - would be like Poe's story of being buried alive. Do you remember the guy with cerebral palsy who, after years in an asylum for the mentally handicapped, was realised to have an intelligent mind and communicated poetry in much the same fashion as Bauby?
I've just been laid up in bed poorly, so this was just the quick, thought provoking read that was needed. Thanks! Will take this to the bookcrossing meet on Saturday.