The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly

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The Vegetable: This chapter marks 6 months since the dramatic shift in his life; he now sends monthly letters to family and friends. He receives many in return and feels proud to be able to exert his unwillingness to be called a vegetable, if even not in his presence. Living each and everyday to its fullest is so very important, and recognizing life’s fragility is inevitable.

Bauby was born in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, and grew up in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, on Rue du Mont-Thabor, north of the Tuileries Garden, living in the building where Alfred de Musset had lived. [1] I must say that while his story and fate is indeed a tragic one, and one that sinks right into the heart but still an inspiring story as well, then this movie was unfathomably boring. It was so slow-paced and uneventful that it was somewhat of an ordeal to sit through. And with that in mind, one can only speculate about the horrible ordeal that life and situation must have been for Bauby himself in real life. In 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby was the editor-in-chief of French Elle, the father of two young children, a 44-year-old man known and loved for his wit, his style, and his impassioned approach to life. By the end of the year he was also the victim of a rare kind of stroke to the brainstem.Guardian Angel: The author tells of Sandrine, his speech therapist, who has developed the communication code for him and is helping him regain vocal language. He listens to his daughter, Céleste, his father, and Florence speak to him on the phone but he is unable to reply. Arnold, Beth (23 February 2008). "The truth about The Diving Bell and the Butterfly". Salon. Archived from the original on 7 July 2008 . Retrieved 3 July 2008. Festival de Cannes: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly". festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2012 . Retrieved 18 December 2009. Me: OMG. I have never felt so fragile. I could die or, at least, lose a limb in a thousand different ways. Did you hear about the guy who was decapitated by the elevator doors? Blood and gore splattered all over the other passengers!

He began his journalism career at Combat and then Le Quotidien de Paris. He received his first by-line the day Georges Pompidou died in 1974. At age 28, he was promoted to editor-in-chief of the daily Le Matin de Paris, before becoming editor of the cultural section of Paris Match. He then joined the editorial staff of Elle, [2] and later became the magazine's editor. [3] The book’s tone, in Jeremy Leggatt’s translation, is dominated by a sweet, even humorous, lyricism.”— The New York Times We become Jean-Dominique from the beginning, played wonderfully by Mathieu Amalric, in this point-of-view subtitled masterpiece, living our last days in a French hospital with only gorgeous rolling hillsides, countryside, beaches, and glaciers to look at. As the editor of Elle we can only expect a lifestyle of luxury and also not be surprised by the amorous affairs of such a charismatic figure. Needless to say this was a powerful read. Its popularity is partly due to the fact that this book was made into a successful movie.When the film begins, you see what the world looks like when a man (Jean-Dominique Bauby) very, very slowly awakens for the first time in weeks. It seems he's been in a coma and this is the result of a stroke--a stroke occurring to a vibrant man who was only in his early 40s at the time. This is possibly the best part of the film and it caught my attention--the fascinating use of very unusual camera angles, focus and close-ups. After working with therapists, Jean-Dominique has an unusual request--he wants his therapist to call a publisher. It seems that he (who was the real life editor of 'Elle' magazine) had an existing contract to write a book--and now he wanted to dictate his memoirs! To do this, he had to use a painfully slow methods involving blinks to spell out every word of the text! Long, complicated but, amazingly, quite possible--resulting an an actual book "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"--which also became the title of this movie.