From the Bookshelf of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge…

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

Jean-Dominique Bauby,

Jeremy Leggatt (Translator)

Finish date: February 19, 2015

Discussion: Task Ideas/Resources/Discussions

Discussion leader: Karen

Why we're reading this: Beautiful book originally published in French. It is a sad story about a young high power exec whose life…more
[close] Beautiful book originally published in French. It is a sad story about a young high power exec whose life is completely changed in a matter of hours. His refusal to succumb to bitterness and death is what makes it beautiful.

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 64 topics — 5,978 comments total

Task Ideas/Resources/Discussions

This topic has been closed to new comments.

* Challenge Tasks: the Complete List
By Book Riot · 1 post · 5295 views

last updated Dec 16, 2014 09:22AM

Free copy of Proximity Factor this July, no reviews required. Just enjoy.
By S.S. · 1 post · 9 views

last updated Jul 18, 2024 06:08AM

showing 5 of 5 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Aug 30, 2011 Allie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audience-adults, non-fiction, own, place-western-europe, short-books, 10-stars

I was motivated to read this a) because it's short and b) because of Johanna's review. It truly was haunting and really beautiful, but also immensely sad. The prose was so simple and elegant. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 24, 2008 Maggie rated it liked it

I'm really curious to see how they turn a 132 page book (with gigantic margins, mind you) into a 112 minute movie. Don't get me wrong, apparently it was a great movie. Just curious. ...more

Like · see review

Jan 02, 2011 Wendy E. rated it really liked it

Wow. I'm not sure what else to say. What a moving memoir. It is definitely best read in one sitting, though I'll be thinking about parts of it for quite some time. ...more

Like · see review

Feb 07, 2008 Kate rated it really liked it

This is a really great book, though not a happy one. Beautifully written. I know the movie is coming out soon, but a friend of mine pointed out that it may end up feeling pretty claustrophobic - apparently there are a lot of shots from the author's point of view through one eye. The book, though it focuses on this entrapment by his body, certainly does not feel so claustrophobic as that. So, maybe skip the movie and read the book. It's very short, so it won't take you much longer than seeing the ...more

Like · see review

Oct 16, 2008 Kate rated it liked it

Shelves: memoirs, disease-health

For Lit & Med class. Okay, I used to not really believe in this book, that it was actually transcribed the way I had heard, but now I do. And it WAS uplifting, actually, and not in the insipid way I expected. Bauby was a fine narrator and I'm glad he was able to tell his story. ...more

Like · see review

Aug 21, 2008 Laura Watkins rated it really liked it

This is a beautifully written book and an incredible story. However, I must say it is one of the few books where I preferred the movie over the book. Still, I think fans of the movie should read this book.

Like · see review