Year 3, Book 3

3. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
I read this in anticipation of seeing the movie, which is out now. The book was written by Bauby who was the editor of French Elle. At the age of 43 he had a stroke which left him completely paralyzed and unable to move any part of his body aside from blinking his left eyelid. His brain was still fully functionally, but he was essentially trapped in his body. He wrote the book by blinking out the letters to someone who transcribed it for them. It’s kind of an incredible story. The book itself was not exactly what I was expecting. Instead of an actual narrative story it’s rather more a collection of vignettes detailing his life in the hospital after the stroke, some things from his life pre-stroke and some dreams. I’m really curious how they are going to turn it into a fluid movie. It’s a super fast read. I finished it in about 45 minutes on my lunch break today. I guess you can expect something written out through blinking can’t be too long. I give it an 8 out of 10.