2023-09-07 14:03:25
The British writer, who lost the use of one eye and one hand after being stabbed in the neck and abdomen in August 2022, spoke on Wednesday in the Grande Librairie on France 5, of his state of health.
“It wasn’t going well, but I’m better now.” A year after being targeted by an assassination attempt, the writer Salman Rushdie, who has just released the novel The City of Victory, confides in his state of health in The Great Bookstore on France 5.
“I have physical problems, it took me a long time to recover from my injuries. Apart from the eye which will not recover, I am largely healed”, commented the novelist, who lost the use of his eye and one hand after being stabbed in the neck and abdomen in August 2022.
“It’s very strange to be the beneficiary of a miracle, when you don’t believe in it!”, He also quipped. “A lot of people told me it was a miracle to have survived. But I don’t believe in miracles!”
Still in shock
A year after the events, Salman Rushdie remains in shock at the attack: “It will take me a little time before I go back on stage again in front of the public”, he confided, before adding :
“The Chautauqua foundation where the attack took place is very peaceful, the public is liberal, progressive, in all of America this is the last place where such an act of violence was expected.”
The writer says he is very touched by the support from all over the world: “It was very moving for me and my family, it strengthened me, I am very grateful.”
He regrets only one thing: “The greatest harm of this attack on me is that it has diverted people’s attention from my writings! The best thing anyone can do to support me is to read my damn books!”
Threatened with death since the publication of his novel The Satanic Verses in the 1980s and still targeted by a fatwa from the Iranian state, Salman Rushdie lives under protection. Since the attack, he has confined himself to rare media interviews and appearances at award ceremonies and literary festivals.
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