View source for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

{{short description|Autobiography and memoir of Jean-Dominique Bauby}}
{{About|the 1997 book|the 2007 film|The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (film)}}
{{infobox book
| name = The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
| orig title =
| translator =
| image = Jean-Dominique Bauby.jpg
| author = [[Jean-Dominique Bauby]]
| cover_artist =
| country = France
| language = French
| series =
| genre = [[Autobiography]], [[Memoir]]
| publisher = [[Éditions Robert Laffont]]
| release_date = March 6, 1997
| isbn = 978-0-375-40115-2
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}
'''''The Diving Bell and the Butterfly''''' (original French title: ''Le Scaphandre et le Papillon'') is a [[memoir]] by journalist [[Jean-Dominique Bauby]]. It describes his life before and after a massive [[stroke]] left him with [[locked-in syndrome]].
The French edition of the book was published on March 7, 1997. It sold the first 25,000 copies on the day of publication, reaching 150,000 in a week. It went on to become a number one bestseller across Europe. Its total sales are now in the millions.
== Plot summary ==
On December 8, 1995, Bauby, the editor-in-chief of French ''[[Elle (magazine)|Elle]]'' magazine, suffered a stroke and lapsed into a [[coma]]. 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 some movement in his head and eyes. Further, his right eye had to be sewn up because of irritation.
Bauby wrote the entire book by blinking his left eyelid, which took him two months working 3 hours a day, 7 days a week.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-01-27 |title=Elizabeth Day interviews ghost-writer Claude Mendibil |url=http://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/jan/27/2 |access-date=2022-11-10 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref> Using [[partner assisted scanning]], a transcriber repeatedly recited a [[French language]] [[Letter frequencies|frequency-ordered alphabet]] (E, S, A, R, I, N, T, U, L, etc.), until Bauby blinked to choose the next letter. The book took Bauby about 200,000 blinks to write at an average of approximately two minutes per word.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}
The book also chronicles everyday events for a person with locked-in syndrome. These events include playing at the beach with his family, getting a bath, and meeting visitors while in hospital at [[Berck-sur-Mer]]. On March 9, 1997, two days after the book was published, Bauby died of [[pneumonia]].<ref name="BBC">Thomas, Rebecca. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7230051.stm Diving Bell movie's fly-away success], ''[[BBC]]'', February 8, 2008. Accessed June 5, 2008.</ref><ref name="BlinkNYT">Mallon, Thomas (June 15, 1997) [https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/06/15/reviews/970615.mallon.html "In the Blink of an Eye - ''The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'',"] ''The New York Times''. Retrieved April 8, 2008.</ref><!--NOTE:before adding "10 days" as mentioned in the movie, see talk page-->
==Adaptations==
In 1997, [[Jean-Jacques Beineix]] directed a 27-minute television documentary, "Assigné à résidence" (released on DVD in the U.S. as  "Locked-in Syndrome" with English subtitles), that captured Bauby in his paralyzed state. He also explored as the process of composing the book.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.film-documentaire.fr/4DACTION/w_fiche_film/3739_1|title=film-documentaire.fr - Portail du film documentaire|website=www.film-documentaire.fr}}</ref>
Artist/director [[Julian Schnabel]] released a [[The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (film)|feature-film adaptation]] of the book in 2007, starring [[Mathieu Amalric]] as Bauby. The film was nominated for several international awards and won best director that year at the [[2007 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes Film Festival]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.altfg.com/film/cannes-2007-winners/|title=Cannes Winners: Stark Abortion Drama Tops|website=www.altfg.com}}</ref><ref>[http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/BasicSearchInput.jsp Academy Awards Database] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921143432/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/BasicSearchInput.jsp |date=2008-09-21 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bafta.org/film|title=Film Awards|date=31 July 2014|website=www.bafta.org}}</ref><ref>[http://www.goldenglobes.org/browse/film/26136 HFPA Awards Database]</ref>
In 2019, [[Dallas Opera|The Dallas Opera]] was awarded a [[National Endowment for the Arts]] [[Grant (money)|grant]] to [[Commission (art)|commission]] ''The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'', an [[opera]] based on ''Le Scaphandre et le Papillon'' by Jean-Dominique Bauby. It was [[Composer|composed]] by [[Joby Talbot]] with a [[libretto]] by [[Gene Scheer]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://artandseek.org/2019/02/14/north-texas-arts-sweep-2019-grants-from-national-endowment-for-the-arts/|title=Fourteen North Texas Arts Groups Earn $400,000 In Grants From The NEA|website=www.artandseek.org|date=14 February 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/FY19-Round1-DisciplineList-new.pdf|title=Fiscal Year 2019, First Round, Artistic Discipline/Field List|website=www.arts.gov}}</ref> It premiered on November 3, 2023 after facing production delays due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dallasopera.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/DallasOperaNative_10_26.pdf|title=The Dallas Opera's poignant 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly' set for world premiere|website=www.dallasopera.org}}</ref>
== References ==
<references/>
== External links ==
Reviews of ''The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'':
* [http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=1245 Literature, Arts, and Medicine database]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diving Bell and the Butterfly}}
[[Category:French memoirs]]
[[Category:1997 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Neurotrauma]]
[[Category:Memoirs adapted into films]]
[[Category:Éditions Robert Laffont books]]
[[Category:French novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Radovan Karadžić]]