“If it hadn’t been for Henry and the viewers, I wouldn’t be sitting right here writing these phrases,” Rushdie says within the e book. “That Chautauqua morning I skilled each the worst and better of human nature, nearly concurrently.”
At first it was unclear whether or not he would survive.
“The gravity of his wounds was simply insane, like one thing out of a horror movie,” stated Andrew Wylie, who has represented the creator for many years. Rushdie remained within the hospital for almost two months. Even after returning dwelling, he had vivid, horrific goals — concerning the blinding of the Duke of Gloucester in “King Lear,” concerning the opening sequence of the Luis Buñuel film “Un Chien Andalou,” during which a cloud drifting throughout the moon turns into a razor blade slicing an eye fixed. He had medical appointments nearly on daily basis, completely different specialists for every affected physique half. “Everybody needed to log off on the varied restore jobs,” he stated.
Rushdie had been toying with an thought for a novel earlier than the assault. However “when, lastly, it felt just like the juice was starting to stream once more, I went and opened up the file that I’d had, and it simply appeared ridiculous,” he stated. “It simply grew to become clear to me that till I handled this, I wouldn’t be capable to write anything.”
“Knife” is a visceral, intimate e book, in distinction to an earlier memoir, “Joseph Anton,” a 2012 e book that was written within the third particular person, in order that the central character existed on the identical stage because the supporting gamers.
“I wished it to learn like a novel,” Rushdie defined of the sooner e book. However “Knife” is completely different. “This isn’t novelistic. I imply, someone sticks a knife in you, that’s fairly private. Fairly first particular person,” he stated.
