One of my hobbies is finding books I think could be made into
movies. I find it kind of interesting to read a book and think about
how things would be shot if they were to appear onscreen, what would be left in, what
would be left out, etc. Usually, I will go to used bookstores or
thrift shops and look at the books, just scanning the titles, reading
the backs, maybe a few pages of a chapter, just to get a feel for it
and see if it has any visual potential. What can I say? I am a
photographer; as such, I am a visual person. As an example, years
ago, I picked up "A Beautiful Mind" with just this thought.
I guess some other people had the same idea, 1) First and 2) And did
something about it. That is usually the way it is.

The other day I was in Borders Books. I very rarely buy a book new
from a store. What is the point? Whenever I go up to the cashier, a
little voice inside my head can be heard saying,
"Amazon.com...Amazon.com...Used...Buy used. Cheaper, maybe even with
shipping." Still, it is fun to look. While I was on my way out of
the store, I noticed a book, the title of which caught my eye ever so
briefly: "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." Shifting gears into
"hobby mode," I picked it up and read the back. The short version of
what I read goes something like this: In 1995, a French magazine
editor, Jean-Dominique Bauby, had a stroke which left him "locked-
in." What does it mean to be "locked-in?" Well, in Bauby's case, it
is like being encased in a diving bell. He lives, he thinks, he
dreams, he knows what is going on, and yet he cannot fully
communicate with the outside world. Indeed, the book, a mixture of
dreams, flashbacks and scenes from his locked-in life, was dictated
by Bauby through a series of blinks with his left eye. Sounded like
an interesting movie plot to me. Of course, what I had not noticed
on the front of the book was the little circle containing the words:
"Now A Major Motion Picture."

Of course, just a cursory glance at the book reminded me of that
classic of anti-war literature, "Johnny Got His Gun." That was a
book of my youth. It is hard to think of a time when I have not
known of the book. I liked the movie, too. In fact, I saw the movie
even before I read the book. When I was a senior in high school, I
wrote a book report about it. It was a life-changing book; those, for
me, are few and far between. So, when I saw "The Diving Bell and the
Butterfly," I immediately felt a bond between the books. Only Bauby's book is
not a work of fiction.

I suppressed my urge to buy the book then and there. As it turned
out, I was rewarded, because I found it a few days later in a thrift
store. Coming in at 132 pages, it is a pretty quick read and well
worth, in my humble opinion, the few hours it will take you to read
it. The chapters are very short, which adds to the sense of the
book flying by before your eyes. One chapter, Twenty to One, was
especially poignant for me. If nothing else, the book might serve as
a stark reminder that our lives are precious and that every moment
should not be taken for granted. Who knows--ur own diving bells may
only be a heartbeat away.

Jean-Dominique Bauby died two days after the book came out in France
in 1997 at the age of 44.