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

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Summary: Depending on what you expect from the book.....
Review: When I learnt about Mr. Bauby's situation. I decided immediately that I have to read his book. I expected that I should be able to learn some lessons from someone who is approaching a final stage in his life. Lessons on what I should do or prepare when I still can. In this respect, the book disappoints me. There are very few lessons covered which we can learn from. What Mr. Bauby is trying to tell us is that the Butterfly (i.e. the mind) can still fly freely unrestricted by the paralyzed body. Except for some chapters, this book is just an ordinary book written by an ordinary writer who is in a perfect health. Depending on what you expect, the book might be a good inspirational source for anyone who is in Mr. Bauby's position.

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Summary: What's all the fuss about?
Review: At the risk of sounding like a creep, I don't get it. This success of this book is obviously a godsend for family left behind in this terribly moving, tragic story. Thank God for that. But I found myself feeling at once manipulated and guilty for feeling that way. How dare I look at someone else's tragedy so coldly! Well, I'm going to stand out here in the cold, because this is a manipulation of the highest order, and most of the people I know who read the book feel the same way. Still, buying the book is undoubtedly going to help the man's loved ones, so there's little harm in it.

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Summary: I'm shocked by this man, but not his book!
Review: Bauby is really a man of guts and also a patient of lots of patience to put all these words into his book. I will say that his courage really gives rise to my withering heart. However, I would rather not say the same comments to his book, for it's content is a little bit boring. Well, maybe it's because I'm a foreigner and don't know the delicate feeling of a Frenchman.

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Summary: Jen Dominique Bauby is a model for everyone to follow
Review: This book was inspiring and stimulating. The strength and willpower this man had is amazing and mesmerizing. He never lost faith and held on. A very moving read, I hope whoever reads this finds it as wonderful as I did. I recommend this to anyone who likes intellectual and thought- provoking books.

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Summary: sooner or later you will see or face disease - read the book
Review: it's short; it's good; it puts things in perspective; it prepares you for the inevitable

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Summary: The fastest book I've read in years!
Review: Everyone else has said it all. But I'll add, that as well as being sweet and moving, it's really short! Double bonus. One of my better impulse buys. :-)

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Summary: a story of joy beyond loss
Review: I was grieving a loss when I read this book about a man who lost 'everything' except the blink of an eye. His story did not lessen my loss, but it made me appreciate the abundance that remained in my life.

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Summary: Bauby leaves a rough butterfly kiss for his readers.
Review: Jean-Dominique Bauby wrote by batting an eyelash, over and over again. Eyelashes brushed gently against the cheek are called butterfly kisses, and he has left behind the roughest of butterfly kisses with "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." Entombed in immobility, his spirit and imagination took flight. He had a life of such exquisite privilege before his stroke -- even the stroke itself took place in a brand new BMW. Bauby wrote that now that he drooled on himself, he preferred to drool on cashmere, rather than wear those shabby hospital sweatsuits. He kept intact the sentiments he had honed as the editor of the French "Elle" magazine. His paralysis did not paralyze his dreams or his sense of self.

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Summary: An amazing and elegant treatise about living.
Review: I was drawn to this book after hearing of it's subject matter through, perhaps, a morbid curiosity of what possibly could be said about the life of imprisonment suffered after so severe a stroke. My amazement quickly overcame my curiosity as I immediately became entranced by the elegance and simplicity with which Mssr. Bauby described his plight and daily life. It is obvious that his curiousity and zest for life was not diminished by his physical condition. I was left with an extraordinary sense of hopefulness, and my only regret was that the book was not 5 times longer. One may question whether we need yet another reminder of the preciousness of life; but when it is in a form such as this, we do.

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Summary: one of the most moving, inspirational books I've ever read
Review: This man is struck by unimaginable tragedy, and describes the horror, and irony, of being trapped inside one's own body with terrifying clarity and heartbreaking honesty.This work leaves you both inspired and ashamed of your own petty complaints and yet, in reality, will never actually leave you.