What is the hardest thing that has happened to you, and what did you carry out of it?
Writing became a therapy. First of all, it meant I was reconstructing my own existence. It was also an act of defiance. I wasn’t supposed to write. ... I evolved all kinds of mental exercises, even went back to those subjects which I said I hated in school, in particular mathematics. ... You know, anything to keep the mind alive.
Academy of Achievement interview, 3 July 2009 source ↗