The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (1997) by Jean-Dominique Bauby. At the age of 43, Bauby suffered a stroke which resulted in "locked-in syndrome," a condition in which the victim remains fully conscious but is totally paralyzed. in Bauby's case, he was able to move his left eyelid, which made it possible for him to write this book. The book is at times lyrical, at other times a bit bitter about the condition he finds himself in. I think it loses a little in being translated from French into English, but not much. It's a slender volume, but beautifully written. Grade: B

The Echo Maker

The Echo Maker (2006) by Richard Powers. On a winter night on a remote Nebraska road, young Mark Schluter flips his pickup truck in a near-fatal accident, which leaves him brain-damaged. His sister, Karin, returns to their hometown to try to help nurse him back to health, but as he regains awareness he becomes convinced that she is an impostor -- someone who looks, sounds and acts like his sister, but is not really his sister. Karin, not knowing what to do, contacts the famous cognitive neurologist Gerald Weber to ask for his help. Weber recognizes Mark's condition as a case of the rare Capgras syndrome -- the delusion that people in one's life are impostors or doubles. The book is at its most engaging when describing case histories that Weber has explored in his writings, of rare and bizarre cases of changes in behavior and perception caused by damage to the brain. The plot has some interesting twists and turns, but strikes me as overlong. Grade: B

The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones (2002) by Alice Sebold. Susie Salmon, age 14, was murdered on December 6, 1973. This much we learn in the first paragraph of her story. From that point forward, she views life on earth from her heaven. She watches as all those whose lives were touched by hers cope with her death and then get on with life as best they can. It's a unique and involving way to treat a tragedy without being maudlin. Grade: A

Bridge of Sighs

Bridge of Sighs (2007) by Richard Russo. Russo, author of Empire Falls, is a master storyteller and builder of fictional universes. This one holds the story of Lou Lynch and Robert Noonan, boyhood friends who become separated by the years, but whose lives remain nevertheless inextricably intertwined. It is also the story of the generations which preceded them, and those which follow, in the upstate New York town of Thomaston. Russo has a way of weaving a tale which leaves him many secrets to reveal toward the end of the book, and the quest for answers keeps the reader entertained to the very end. Grade: A-