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'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly' on 'the Vivid Memory of Tastes and Smells'

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is the film adaptation by Julian Schnabel of the namesake memoir by Jean-Dominique Bauby, former editor of the French Elle. (The film has been winning awards left and right, but please note that the overly sentimental trailer somewhat misrepresents the film.) After suffering a massive stroke in 1995 leaving Bauby completely paralyzed with a condition called "locked-in syndrome," he writes the entire book by blinking his left eyelid. To escape what he calls his "diving bell," he writes: "... [M]y mind takes flight like a butterfly. There is so much to do. You can wander off in space or in time, set out for Tierra del Fuego or for King Midas's court." Bauby, the...

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3 Comments | Posted by Raphael, January 4, 2008 at 11:15 AM
Tagged: books, Jean-Dominique Bauby, Julian Schnabel, movies, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly