On August 12, 2022, while preparing to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institute in Chautauqua, New York, Salman Rushdie was stabbed multiple times on stage by a twenty-four-year-old man from Fairview, New Jersey. The writer survived, but suffered serious injuries, as a result of which he lost the sight in one eye and the ability to use one hand. He writes about this traumatic experience in his latest book, The knife. Reflections after an assassination attempt/ KNIFE: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, whose translation will be published in Romania by Polirom Publishing.
Salman Rushdie PHOTO: Rachel Eliza Griffiths
Captivating account of the writer's efforts to understand and integrate into his own life the drama he went through with the attack that occurred 33 years after the death sentence brought to him by the publication of the famous novel The Satanic Verses, the Knife volume. Reflections after an assassination attempt appears simultaneously in 16 countries today, April 16, 2024, and the Romanian edition will be available in bookstores from Monday, April 22.
“I didn't see the knife, or at least I don't remember it. I don't know if it was long or short, with a broad, hunting blade, or narrow, like a stiletto, serrated like a bread knife, or curved like a sickle, a street kid's penknife, or even an ordinary paring knife the meat, stolen from his mother's kitchen. I don't even care. That unseen weapon was useful enough and did its job.”, writes Salman Rushdie in his book.
“Thirty-three and a half years had passed since the famous death sentence proclaimed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini against me and all those involved in the publication of The Satanic Verses, and I confess that during these years I sometimes imagined how the assassin would rise to some event public and rushes to me in exactly this way. So my first thought when I saw this murderous figure charging towards me was: So it's you. Here you are. It is said that Henry James' last words were: “So at last the distinguished matter came.” Death was coming to me too, but it didn't give me the impression that it was distinguished. It gave me the impression of anachronism”, more notes Rushdie.
A deeply personal book, a meditation on life, loss, love, the power of art, The knife. Reflections after an assassination attempt appears in the “Polirom Library” collection. Author series Salman Rushdie” (coordinator Dan Croitoru), translated by Dana Crăciun. Hardcover edition.
