Siri Hustvedt Professions : Novelist Born : February 19, 1955 Browse All Authors Top 90 quotes by Siri Hustvedt As one of four daughters, I grew up with an imaginary brother - wondering what it would have been like if one of us had been a boy. There's no question that there was a phantom boy child in my imagination when I was young. Siri Hustvedt boy child imagination brother Both depression and anxiety disorders, for example, are repeatedly described in the media as 'chemical imbalances in the brain,' as if spontaneous neural events with no relation to anything outside a person's brain cause depression and anxiety. Siri Hustvedt anxiety media brain depression Most of us accept that although we may believe our dreams to be real events, upon waking, we can tell the difference between nocturnal hallucinations and reality. Siri Hustvedt dreams real believe reality I am always suspicious of those who impose 'rules' on child rearing. Every child is different in terms of temperament and learning, and every parent responds to a particular child, not some generalized infant or youngster. Siri Hustvedt i-am child learning parent Children are not in a position to assess risk and safety; it must be done for them, and it must be done carefully. Siri Hustvedt safety risk done children Perception plays a vital role in the diagnosis of bipolar illness. Symptoms are perceived through the categories of psychiatric medicine at a given moment in history, categories which are continually shifting and being named or renamed. Siri Hustvedt moment medicine perception history While reading 'David Copperfield' in the middle of the night - probably because of the light, I had insomnia for the first time - I looked out of the window and thought, 'If this is what books can do, this is what I want to do.' Siri Hustvedt light time night window I have a longstanding fascination with visual art. I do, in fact, draw as well, as I did in 'The Summer without Men.' I also write essays about visual art. Siri Hustvedt without summer men art Although sometimes the morbid is also the transcendent, the transcendent cannot be reduced to the morbid. Siri Hustvedt also cannot transcendent sometimes My feeling is, when you are writing an essay, you don't make anything up. This may be a very Protestant notion, and I'm aware of the fact that memory is fallible, that if I had access to films or some absolute documentary evidence of what happened, it might look different; we get confused and fuzzy. Siri Hustvedt memory feeling look you Similar Authors Adam Johnson novelist Ivan Goncharov novelist Binnie Kirshenbaum novelist Bruce Jay Friedman novelist Buchi Emecheta novelist Bryce Courtenay novelist All Authors