Точка Синхронізації

Renowned British-American author Salman Rushdie provided a harrowing account of the 2022 assassination attempt against him during his first major television interview since the incident, broadcast this week to coincide with the release of his new memoir, "Knife." The brutal stabbing took place at the Chautauqua Institution in New York during a public lecture in August 2022, when a 24-year-old assailant rushed the stage and inflicted life-threatening injuries. Rushdie, who has lived under the shadow of a fatwa issued by Iran decades ago, explained that he sought to reclaim his narrative and process the profound trauma of the event through the act of writing. During the detailed interview, the Booker Prize winner described the terrifying seconds when the attacker charged toward him, admitting that his initial thought was one of resignation, feeling that death had finally arrived for him. The assault resulted in several severe wounds to his neck, chest, and eye, the latter of which he permanently lost. Despite the physical devastation and the long road to recovery, Rushdie emphasized that the book serves as a tool to dominate the person who attacked him, replacing the weapon of a knife with the power of language and storytelling. "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder" marks a significant milestone in the author's recovery, serving as both a personal catharsis and a defiant statement on free speech. Rushdie spent months in rehabilitation, dealing not only with the loss of vision in one eye but also with nerve damage in his hand. Throughout the discourse, he expressed a refusal to be defined as a victim, instead focusing on the love and support from his family and the global literary community that sustained him during his most vulnerable hours. The trial for the suspect, Hadi Matar, has been delayed to allow the defense time to review the contents of Rushdie's memoir as potential evidence. Meanwhile, the author remains a symbol of resilience for writers worldwide. By choosing to detail the attack and its aftermath so publicly, Rushdie continues to challenge the forces of censorship and violence that have pursued him since the 1988 publication of "The Satanic Verses," proving that the written word remains his most effective shield.