Salman Rushdie, who won the Booker Prize, explained why he chose not to mention his would-be assassin’s name in his latest memoir, ‘Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder.’ He said he wanted to deny the person the attention and fame that mentioning their name would bring.
Salman Rushdie Biography
| Name | Salman Rushdie |
| Age | 76 years |
| Born | June 19, 1947 |
| Networth | $15 million |
| Country | British |
During a scholarly occasion at the Southbank Center in London, held practically from New York on Sunday, the 76-year-old English American writer, who was brought into the world in Mumbai, chatted with writer and critic Erica Wagner. They delved into his firsthand account of a harrowing on-stage knife attack, which resulted in the permanent loss of vision in one of his eyes.
He said that former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher coined the phrase “oxygen of publicity,” using it to describe the attention given to violent attacks by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in the 1980s. This influenced his decision to name his attacker only as “A” in the book.
Rushdie explained that the phrase “oxygen of publicity” stuck with him. He reasoned that his attacker had his brief moment of fame and should now fade into obscurity. That’s why he chose not to name him in his book.
“So, I chose to use the initial ‘A’ because he embodied many roles: a potential assassin, an attacker, an opponent; he had numerous facets, but also, he was a jerk,” he said, with a sly grin.
The famous author was onstage at the Chautauqua Institution in New York in August 2022 when he was stabbed multiple times by the accused Hadi Matar, who is awaiting trial for attempted murder in prison. However, the author shared that he didn’t harbor any anger towards his attacker. He explained that his new book was a way for him to reclaim control of his story.
He explained, “What it did was give me control over my own story. Instead of just being a guy lying on the stage in a pool of blood, I’m now the guy writing a book about that guy lying on the stage with a pool of blood. It felt empowering to have control over my narrative, telling it my way. And that felt good,” he shared.
Rushdie is known for his magical realism writing style, which he attributes to his childhood in India. Growing up surrounded by fantastical tales greatly influenced his work.
“I’m pretty grounded in my beliefs, not really into miracles and such, but my books often have a magical feel to them… I think it comes from growing up in India, where the stories you hear as a kid are all fantastical, like fables and fairy tales,” explained the author. He’s known for winning the Booker of Bookers for ‘Midnight’s Children,’ a tale that’s reminiscent of fables, set in modern India.
“I’ve always found it effective to approach things that way. Somehow, by moving away from realism, you can get closer to understanding human nature. Plus, I think the world has moved beyond realism. We don’t live in a realistic world; it’s more like surrealism,” he observed.
Rushdie has a practical perspective on surviving the brutal knife attack. He acknowledges that many consider his survival a miracle, but he doesn’t attribute it to divine intervention. Instead, he believes in medical miracles, the skill of surgeons, and simply being fortunate.
“So much of life is just luck… the truth is, he wanted to kill me, but he missed.” The event was broadcast globally as a part of the Southbank Centre’s Spring Season of Literature and Spoken Word, showcasing well-known authors, artists, historians, politicians, and journalists.
This report was generated automatically from the PTI news service. The Print is not accountable for its content.
