Status: 16.10.2023, 13:53 PM
By: Sven Trautwein
CommentsShare
In August 2022, writer Salman Rushdie was seriously injured in an assassination attempt. Now the author announces his memories of the incident.
In April, Salman Rushdie published his novel "Victory City". The publication of the book was unclear after the assassination attempt in 2022, as the author's injuries were serious. Since the attack, Salman Rushdie has been blind in one eye. In 2023, his book entitled "Knife" will be published worldwide in German and English.
Salman Rushdie "Knife": What is the book about?
Writer Salman Rushdie announces new publication "Knife". © Frank Franklin II/dpa
For Salman Rushdie, it was important to write the book about the events and to come to terms with the events. The publisher's statement states that it was necessary for him to write the book. It is his way of getting a grip on what is happening and responding to violence with art.
"Knife" sheds light for the first time on the traumatic events of August 12, 2022, in which Salman Rushdie was injured. It is, according to the publisher's website, a "powerful, deeply personal and not least uplifting meditation on life, love and the power of art".
In 1989, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie. The political and religious leader at the time called on all Muslims to kill the writer, as he accused Rushdie of blasphemy in his novel "The Satanic Verses". Police protection has been part of the Indian-born author's everyday life ever since, according to spiegel.de. In recent years, however, Rushdie has been able to live comparatively freely in his adopted home of New York, until the incident of the knife attack at the Chautauqua Institution.
What is a fatwa?
A fatwa is a religious legal opinion or declaration in Islam issued by an Islamic scholar or jurist. It can answer questions about the religious legality of acts.
Salman Rushdie "Knife": simultaneously in English and German
Salman Rushdie announces his new release "Knife" about the memories of the 2022 assassination attempt for April 2024. © Penguin Random House
0
Read also
Germany's Most Beautiful Bookstores: Eight Paradises for Bookworms
READ
Ken Follett's "The Weapons of Light" storms the bestseller lists shortly after its release
READ
Fancy a voyage of discovery?
My Area
For the head of publishing at Penguin Random House, Nihar Malaviya, it is an honor to be able to publish the book "Knife". It shows Salman Rushdie's determination to tell his story and his view of the assassination. Finding his way back to writing after such experiences impresses him.
Stay up to date on new releases and book tips with the free newsletter from our partner 24books.de.
Salman Rushdie has lived in England since he was 14 years old. For years, the author has been speaking out publicly on the subject of freedom of expression. On 20 October, he will be awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The laudatory speech will be given by the writer Daniel Kehlmann, whose novel "Lichtspiel" will be discussed in the programme "Das Literarische Quartett" on 13 October.
Salman Rushdie "Knife – Thoughts after an assassination attempt"
Translated from English by Bernhard Robben
2024 Penguin Random House, ISBN-13 n.a.
Price: Hardcover approx. 25 €, 256 pages
Salman Rushdie
Salman Rushdie was born in Bombay in 1947 and graduated from Cambridge with a degree in history. His novel "Midnight Children" brought him worldwide fame. His work has been recognized with prestigious international awards, including the Booker Prize, and has been translated into numerous languages. In 1996 he was awarded the EU Aristeion Prize for Literature for his oeuvre. He was knighted by the Queen in 2007.