Salman Rushdie says his new book isn’t the easiest one to write, on account of his being stabbed on stage
Image source: BBC
‘The Satanic Verses’ author, Salman Rushdie, suffered a knife stab injury last year while he was on stage delivering a lecture in the U.S.
Rushdie talked about his new project at the Hay Literary Festival, where he appeared virtually.
He said he is trying to write a book about the attack, how it happened, and what it means. He won’t just write about the attack but also the events surrounding it.
He explained that the book will be a short one, something he needs to get past so he can focus on other things. It is not the easiest book to write. He said it would be difficult to write a new book that has nothing to do with the attack if he doesn’t deal with it.
Rushdie spent six weeks in the hospital after his knife attack. He lost vision in one eye and suffered some injuries to his hand, which left him with no sensations on his fingertips, which makes typing difficult.
Hadi Matar, the man suspected of stabbing Rushdie, has been charged with attempted murder.Â
Rushdie said he was doing okay and happy with the response to his latest book, Victory City. The book was written before the attack and published after it.
He never took anything for granted, and that book was liked by a lot of people, which meant a lot to him.
Rushdie was awarded this year’s Hay Festival medal for prose for Victory City. In a panel discussion, experts said that the book started off as a fairytale and eventually became like Wars of Roses. The book is a blend of harsh politics and reality.
After being forced into hiding for nearly ten years when a fatwa was issued against him after the publication of The Satanic Verse in 1988, the novelist lived without round-the-clock security for nearly two decades. The same was the case when he got stabbed last year in August.
There were widespread protests saying that his book was anti-Islamic. Rushdie faced numerous death threats, and the then Islamic leader had called for Ruusdie’s murder while placing a bounty on the author’s head.
Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses is known as one of the most controversial books of modern times.
Image Scource: Los Angeles Times
The Indian-born British-American novelist writes stories that have hints of magic realism mixed with historic fiction, which deals with migration, connections, and disruptions. He has received many awards for his book, including the Writer of the Year award in Germany, the Booker Prize (1981), and the Golden PEN award.
Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses is known as one of the most controversial books of modern times.
