Stilled Life
October 7, 2010 9:02 AM Subscribe
What are some literary works that depict or are written in the voice of someone who is paralyzed or who, for medical and/or existential reasons, cannot move his/her body without great effort?
Kafka's The Metamorphosis or Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun would be great examples. The late Tony Judt's powerful descriptions of ALS are amazing, but I seek fiction. Oblomov is also amazing, but is less about the body than I'd like.
Kafka's The Metamorphosis or Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun would be great examples. The late Tony Judt's powerful descriptions of ALS are amazing, but I seek fiction. Oblomov is also amazing, but is less about the body than I'd like.
Jean-Dominique Bauby composed his memoir, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, after suffering a paralyzing stroke. Most if it centers around his reflections after the stroke.
posted by zoomorphic at 9:09 AM on October 7, 2010 [6 favorites]
posted by zoomorphic at 9:09 AM on October 7, 2010 [6 favorites]
Best answer: Samuel Beckett - Malone Dies, Happy Days and probably others I'm forgetting.
posted by misteraitch at 9:11 AM on October 7, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by misteraitch at 9:11 AM on October 7, 2010 [2 favorites]
Marcia Muller has her heroine, Sharon McCone, solve the mystery of who shot her from her hospital bed while suffering from "locked-in" syndrome in Locked In.
posted by agatha_magatha at 9:14 AM on October 7, 2010
posted by agatha_magatha at 9:14 AM on October 7, 2010
There is a recent play called "The Accident," written by Lydia Stryk, that starts with monologues inside the head of the paralyzed character (after a traumatic car incident) and goes through the recovery period to full mobility.
posted by neitheror at 9:14 AM on October 7, 2010
posted by neitheror at 9:14 AM on October 7, 2010
Cynthia Voigt's Izzy, Willy-Nilly is YA, but still a powerful portrayal of a teenager who loses a leg in a drunk driving accident.
posted by litnerd at 9:43 AM on October 7, 2010
posted by litnerd at 9:43 AM on October 7, 2010
Jeffery Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme books feature a main character (Lincoln) who is a quadraplegic.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:44 AM on October 7, 2010
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:44 AM on October 7, 2010
Though, sorry, they're written in third person, not first person. Missed that part.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:45 AM on October 7, 2010
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:45 AM on October 7, 2010
The World I Made for Her by Thomas Moran tells the story of a man in ICU on a ventilator. He falls in love with one of his nurses. Though the book is fiction, Moran actually experienced most of the medical stuff in the book.
It's a good read.
posted by Saminal at 9:55 AM on October 7, 2010
It's a good read.
posted by Saminal at 9:55 AM on October 7, 2010
Best answer: Iain Banks's "The Bridge" is largely told from inside the head of a post-road-accident coma victim. Damned good it is, too.
posted by Decani at 12:17 PM on October 7, 2010
posted by Decani at 12:17 PM on October 7, 2010
It's non-fiction I'm afraid but The Woman In Bed Number Ten by Sue Baier is a good example of the genre.
posted by the latin mouse at 1:40 PM on October 7, 2010
posted by the latin mouse at 1:40 PM on October 7, 2010
Best answer: I wonder whether you might be interested in The Singing Detective by the late, astonishingly talented Dennis Potter.
It is a fictional work (though a tv series rather than a novel), and the main (somewhat autobiographical) protagonist is ostensibly confined to a hospital bed.
At any rate it is thoroughly entertaining and seems to fit your criteria, if only obliquely.
posted by trip and a half at 7:55 PM on October 7, 2010
It is a fictional work (though a tv series rather than a novel), and the main (somewhat autobiographical) protagonist is ostensibly confined to a hospital bed.
At any rate it is thoroughly entertaining and seems to fit your criteria, if only obliquely.
posted by trip and a half at 7:55 PM on October 7, 2010
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posted by Merzbau at 9:06 AM on October 7, 2010