Book Review: “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder” by Salman Rushdie
The conversation between two angels — the Angel of Life and the Angel of Death — on the writer’s shoulder
Title: Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder. First Published: 2024. Genre: Memoir, True Crime. Publisher: Random House. Pages: 209.
In August 2022, in New York, writer Salman Rushdie was attacked right on stage during a speech on the safety of authors, facing various threats. A young man jumped up from his seat, rushed at Rushdie, and stabbed him numerous times with a knife. At that moment, the writer was 75 years old, and the attacker was three times younger. The writer lost an eye and partial use of his arm, while the attacker, it seems, will lose his freedom for the rest of his life.
If you are not aware, Salman Rushdie has been in danger for 35 years. In 1989, immediately after the release of his novel The Satanic Verses, the then-religious leader of Iran declared a holy war on the author, demanded Rushdie’s death, and set a reward for his head. From that moment on, Rushdie lived under constant threats, first in the UK, and then in the US.
In April of this year, Rushdie published a small book that was supposed to describe his life after the attack, but it turned out to be something completely different — a long essay about love and support, dedicated to his wife, Rachel Eliza Griffiths. The book is divided into two parts: “The Angel of Death” and “The Angel of Life.” These two engage in a conversation, trying to decide: should Salman Rushdie live or die? This debate is rather metaphorical because it quickly became clear that the attack was not fatal. However, it was not obvious how the writer would live after it.
…what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. But does it? Does it really?
The first decision he makes in his book is not to name the attacker. For Rushdie, he is simply A.; he had not read Rushdie’s novels, was not interested in his life, did not follow any plan, but just decided to take a person’s life. That’s it; the discussion about him ends here.
I don’t care about you, or the ideology that you claim to represent, and which you represent so poorly. I have my life, and my work, and there are people who love me. I care about those things.
The person who is talked about a lot throughout the book is Eliza. Knife seems like a long love confession and an admiration for the resilience of the woman who was there during this difficult time. She stayed awake at night when he moaned in pain, had long, painful conversations with insurance and transport companies, delved into all the medical details of Rushdie’s condition, and constantly convinced him that today was the hardest day and that tomorrow would be easier.
While the angel of death quickly did his job and left, the angel of life immersed herself in the healing work, which continues to this day.
Naturally, Rushdie writes about his physical torment and mental anguish. Perhaps, even compared to the pain he experienced after the attack and surgery, turning his soul inside out before a multimillion audience of readers seems like an unbearable trial. But he went through it.
At the very beginning, he asks himself why he did not fight the attacker, why he did not try to run away, but just stood there and watched the knife approaching him and then chaotically piercing his body. And if on that stage he seemed defenseless, later Rushdie realized that this was not the case. He was also always in possession of a sharp knife.
Language, too, was a knife. It could cut open the world and reveal its meaning, its inner workings, its secrets, its truth. It could cut through from one reality to another. It could call bullshit, open people’s eyes, create beauty. Language was my knife.
Well, why “was,” one wants to ask, it still is. The conclusion of the book is very simple and as old as the world: love defeats hate. There is nothing new in this sense here; just another real story that confirms this.
