![]() ![]() The entire book was written by Bauby blinking his left eyelid, which took ten months (four hours a day). ![]() His right eye had to be sewn up due to an irrigation problem. He awoke 20 days later, mentally aware of his surroundings, but physically paralyzed with what is known as locked-in syndrome , with the only exception of some movement in his head and eyes. On 9 December 1995, Bauby, the editor-in-chief of French Elle magazine, suffered a stroke and lapsed into a coma. The first person narrative is superb at placing the reader inside his mind. In terms of empathy, the reader is totally looking at the world from Bauby’s autobiographical perspective throughout the book – gaining a grasp of his physical suffering, his psychological torment, his memories, his anger, his fears. It describes what his life is like after suffering a massive stroke that left him with locked-in syndrome, where the only bodily movement he could make was to bink his left eyelid. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (original French title: Le Scaphandre et le Papillon) is a memoir by journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby. ![]()
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