Holly R W 's Reviews > Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder

In 2022, Salman Rushdie suffered multiple stab wounds by an assailant while giving a talk at the Chautauqua Institute in New York. The assailant was a 24 year old man, inspired by his belief in radical Islam. Rushdie was 75 years old at the time. The knife wounds were so extensive and severe that he was not expected to survive. This is his memoir of his ordeal and fight to reclaim his life. Rushdie goes into detail about his resulting health issues and treatments. He also pays tribute to his young wife (Eliza Griffiths) who was his rock and support during this time.

I have not read any of Rushdie's books, so I had little familiarity with him while reading his memoir. As he is a historic figure, I was aware of the fatwa issued by Khomeini in 1988, due to Rushdie's book, The Satanic Verses.

What is remarkable is Rushdie's resiliency and wish to not only survive, but to live and live as well as he can. He addresses his problems in a straightforward way. Along the way, Rushdie looks at his own struggles in the larger context of history, literature and religion.

I found this to be a heavy and sobering read and felt somewhat disadvantaged by not having familiarity with Rushdie's writings.


3.5 stars

Additional Notes: At a point in the book, Rushdie has an imaginary conversation with the man who attacked him. Rushdie imagines him to be an antisocial misfit who grew up playing violent video games. I do share Rushdie's thinking that violent video games are more destructive than the public believes.

Rushdie is an atheist and has been the target of religious fanaticism. He believes that religion should be a private matter, best left up to the individual - not governmentally legislated.