Mulher Tremula Ou Uma Historia dos Meus Nervos (Em Portugues do Brasil)

by Siri Hustvedt

Paperback, 2011

Status

Disponível

Genres

Collection

Não Ficção

Publication

Companhia das Letras (2011), Edition: Literatura Estrangeira

Description

In this unique neurological memoir Siri Hustvedt attempts to solve her own mysterious condition While speaking at a memorial event for her father in 2006, Siri Hustvedt suffered a violent seizure from the neck down. Despite her flapping arms and shaking legs, she continued to speak clearly and was able to finish her speech. It was as if she had suddenly become two people: a calm orator and a shuddering wreck. Then the seizures happened again and again. The Shaking Woman tracks Hustvedt's search for a diagnosis, one that takes her inside the thought processes of several scientific disciplines, each one of which offers a distinct perspective on her paroxysms but no ready solution. In the process, she finds herself entangled in fundamental questions: What is the relationship between brain and mind? How do we remember? What is the self? During her investigations, Hustvedt joins a discussion group in which neurologists, psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, and brain scientists trade ideas to develop a new field: neuropsychoanalysis. She volunteers as a writing teacher for psychiatric in-patients at the Payne Whitney clinic in New York City and unearths precedents in medical history that illuminate the origins of and shifts in our theories about the mind-body problem. InThe Shaking Woman, Hustvedt synthesizes her experience and research into a compelling mystery: Who is the shaking woman? In the end, the story she tells becomes, in the words of George Makari, author ofRevolution in Mind, "a brilliant illumination for us all."… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member allthesedarnbooks

This was an interesting and thoughtful book, if not exactly what I expected. The title lead me to believe that it would be more of a personal memoir of illness, while, although Hustvedt talks about her life and her shaking incidents somewhat, it focuses more on the history of "hysteria" and the

biological vs. psychological views of the human brain. If you are interested in learning about neurology, the history of psychology, and philosophical discussions on the soul, then you will enjoy this book, as I did. At times it could be quite dry and esoteric, but it left me with a lot to think about, and even though I would've enjoyed a more personal narrative, the questions raised by this little tome have stuck with me for the last week and I keep finding myself coming back to them again and again. It's the kind of book I wish I owned, instead of borrowed from the library, so I could highlight and take notes and come back to it again and again. Ah, well, maybe when it comes out in paperback. Recommended for intellectual searchers and anyone who has an illness that may, or may not be, "psychosomatic". Four and a half stars.

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LibraryThing member Pennydart

About a year after her father died, while Siri Hustvedt was giving a memorial speech, she experienced a seizure. Her arms and legs shook uncontrollably, although she was able to continue speaking. This episode, which was followed by other seizures in similar circumstances, led her to write this

expansive essay, which touches on the mind-body problem, the connections between psychological and neurological disorders, the nature of self, the human survival instinct, the challenges of living with illness, the biological bases of religiosity, and above all, the role of memory in human existence. Hustvedt did extensive research on these topics and she explores them from philosophical, psychoanalytic, medical, and historical perspectives, weaving in her own personal experiences. This is a challenging book, whose prose at points left me nearly breathless, but it’s a fascinating discourse on what makes us, as humans, who—and what—we are.

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LibraryThing member flydodofly

what IS going on in our minds, and our bodies? we have no idea, most of the time. and yet - we function. well, at least most of the time. hustved is a smart lady and an excellent writer, who asks herself all the obvious questions and keeps scratching on the body/mind surface to see what is

underneath.

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LibraryThing member petterw

What a truly extraordinary book, unlike anything else I have read. Hustvedt takes us on a personal medical/neurological/psychological/cultural detective chase, but it is a chase that has a meaning for the reader as much as for the author. She discusses her own frightening experience, an unexplained

sudden shaking that defies any diagnosis. In her quest to find the diagnosis and treatment, she touches on modern research particularily in psychology and neuroscience, as well as previous research. If you are interested in any of these subjects, I defy you to put this book down. Hustvedt is a laywoman, and with it comes a distance to the findings that no professional might have had. At the same time she is very respectful of the sciences and scientists she collects her knowledge from. The Shaking Woman has put many of the issues concerning psychology and neureoscience in perspective for me, to a much greater degree than any other previous book I have read, all written by scientists.

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LibraryThing member Eoin

3.25 Neuropsychoanalysis is my kind of subject and personal experience is the way to bring it home, but despite the frequently apt and well formed sentences, the over-all structure seemed lacking. A quick and enjoyable, if a little rambling, read. Worth it for the disambiguation between narrative

and non-narrative knowledges on page 27.

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