Siri Hustvedt’s reflection on the illness of her husband, Paul Auster: “Living in Cancerland”

The writer Siri Hustvedt has announced through Instagram that her husband, also a writer Paul AusterHe suffers from cancer at the age of 76. Along with a photograph in which she appears giving her husband a kiss, the author has written an emotional text about the hard experience that she is going through in marriage.

Also read: Paul Auster and his wife, united by literature, love and awards

“I’ve been away from Instagram for a while. The reason is that my husband was diagnosed with cancer in December, after having been ill for several months before. He is now receiving treatment at Sloan Kettering in New York, and I have been living somewhere called Cancerland”, wrote the poet.

“Many people have crossed their borders, either because they themselves are or have been sick, or because they love someone, a parent, a child, a spouse or a friend who has or has had cancer. Cancer is different for each person who suffers from it. All human bodies are the same and no two are alike. Some people survive it and others die. Everyone knows this, and yet living that truth up close changes everyday reality,” reflects the 68-year-old novelist years.

“I think it would be horrible to be alone in Cancerland. Living with someone who has cancer and is being bombarded with chemotherapy and immunotherapy is an adventure of closeness and separation. You have to be close enough to feel the nerve-wracking treatments almost as your own and far enough to be a real help. Too much empathy can render a person useless. This tightrope isn’t always easy to walk, of course, but it’s a true labor of love.”

Hustvedt’s announcement comes nearly a year after news broke of the overdose death of Auster’s son, Danielthe result of his first marriage to the writer Lydia David. Daniel was found dead in his Brooklyn home. days after being released on bail from jail charged with the unintentional murder of his ten-month-old baby by exposure to heroin and fentanyl.

Siri and Paul have been married since 1982. how we count, she fell in love with him when someone told her during an act: “Look, it’s Auster, the poet.” In 1987 their daughter was born together, Sophie Austerwho inherited his artistic skills and is dedicated to music.

The married couple can boast of having managed to put together the Princess of Asturias Award for Literature in the same home. In 2019, the novelist got the same award as her husband, which she got in 2006, when he was still the Prince of Asturias award.