Author Salman Rushdie at PEN America’s annual gala on May 18, 2023.
Ted Shaffrey/AP
hide caption
caption conversion
Ted Shaffrey/AP
Author Salman Rushdie at PEN America’s annual gala on May 18, 2023.
Ted Shaffrey/AP
On August 12, 2022, famous author Salman Rushdie was stabbed. He was on stage at the Chautauqua Institute in western New York, preparing to give a talk “about the importance of keeping writers safe from harm,” Rushdie writes in his new memoir, Knife: Reflection after an attempted murder.
Rushdie, 76 year old writer of Satanic verses, Midnight children, Victory City, and more, survive the attack. But not without some lasting scars, including being blind in one eye. Since the attack, he’s done a few interviews here and there, but he’s largely kept to himself. IN Knife, he details everything that’s been going on in his life and in his head since the attack. He spoke about his recovery, the support he received from loved ones and his feelings about his alleged attacker, Hadi Matar.
Matar is being held at the Chautauqua County Jail, charged with attempted second-degree murder and second-degree assault. The judge in his case actually postponed Matar’s trial after Rushdie published his memoir, to give Matar’s lawyers a chance to see what was inside the book.
The book came out Tuesday. Here’s what you can expect from it:
1. Rushdie does not want to sue again Satanic verses
Rushdie makes only a few mentions in his 1988 book that prompted Iran’s supreme leader at the time to call for Rushdie’s death. And, Rushdie notes in Knife, it was not just the Muslim world that criticized Rushdie for writing the book. He calls other names, including the former US President Jimmy Carter and writers Roald Dahl and Germaine Greer. Additionally, Rushdie writes that he has said all there is to say about Satanic verses in his previous memoir, Joseph Anton.“If anyone is feeling regretful, you can stop reading here,” he wrote in Knife. “My novels can take care of themselves.”
2. The book is about freedom of speech, specifically aimed at the left
Instead, Rushdie saved his argumentative energies for calling for freedom of speech – an ideal that he believed progressives and leftists had left behind to their detriment. “Departing from First Amendment principles has allowed that venerable section of the Constitution to be co-opted by the right,” he wrote. Rushdie has a long history of advocating for free speech. He is the former president of PEN America, the literary rights advocacy group, and co-founder of that organization’s World Voices Festival. His first public appearance after the attack was at PEN Gala in his honor. And if anything, the attack only strengthened his position. “Art is not a luxury,” he wrote. It represents the essence of our humanity and it requires no special protection except the right to exist.”
3. This is also a book about marriage
In 2021, Rushdie quietly married poet and novelist Rachel Eliza Griffiths. Rushdie is tender in writing about the early days of their relationship, saying he was not looking for romance. “It then came up behind me and hit me behind the ear, leaving me helpless to resist.”
It was Griffiths who helped Rushdie through many doctor’s visits, physical therapy appointments, sleepless nights, mysterious illnesses and piling up bills (maybe a side dish, right? Even world-famous authors can’t avoid unexpected medical bills), all while taking care of herself. writing career. There are difficult moments they go through together in the book, but there are also frequent moments that could be scenes from any other marriage.
4. He tried to understand his attacker
Rushdie never mentions Matar by name in the book. And he maintained a certain distance from him. There’s a brief example in the memoir where Rushdie comes up with the idea of approaching Matar, but he quickly decides it’s a bad idea. Instead, Rushdie takes another route to understanding Matar that we will not reveal here. But it’s an exercise in deep empathy – one that seems to help Rushdie find at least some closure.
5. There might be a documentary.
Early in the book, Rushdie and Griffiths begin filming Rushdie’s thoughts. The plan seems to be to take all the footage and bring it to an experienced filmmaker who can shape it into something. But no announcements have been made on that front yet.
