Salman Rushdie was put on a ventilator after being stabbed and spent 6 weeks in hospital.
London:
Salman Rushdie has spoken for the first time about having “crazy dreams” following the fatal knife attack on him in New York in August last year, which left the Mumbai-born writer blind in one eye and a doctor were working with. Help him deal with the mental effects of the trauma.
The 76-year-old Booker Prize-winning author was on stage nearly a year ago when suspect Hadi Matar, jailed for attempted murder, stabbed him 10 times.
Speaking to the BBC this week, Rushdie said he was indecisive about whether to face his alleged assailant in court, who has not pleaded guilty.
The British-American novelist said, “I have a very good doctor who has a lot of work to do. I have crazy dreams.”
“If he changes his plea to guilty, there will really be no trial, just sentencing, and it may be that then my presence is not needed. I am ambivalent about it. A part of me feels like I want to go and stand on the court and see that, and there’s another part of me that just can’t be bothered.
“I don’t have a very high opinion of him. And I think what’s important to me now is that you’re able to get on with life. You know, I’m more busy with business, getting on with it.” When asked if he plans to participate in the Pea trial later this year, he said no.
The injuries from the attack left his liver damaged, loss of vision in one eye and nerve damage to his hand which left him paralyzed.
The author of ‘Midnight’s Children’ said, “The human body has an amazing ability to heal. And so I am lucky to be on this path.” He says he feels “more or less fine” physically.
He was put on a ventilator and spent six weeks in hospital after being stabbed 10 times.
Rushdie is now writing a book about the fatal stabbing incident, which serves as a means of understanding the past on him. In the virtual interview, he told the BBC that it would be no longer than “a few hundred pages”.
“There’s this huge elephant in the room and until I tackle that, it’s hard to take anything else seriously,” he said.
The British-American author, who lives in New York, has been the subject of a fatwa by Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini for his controversial novel The Satanic Verses released 30 years ago and received several death threats at the time.
His latest book, ‘Victory City’, was finished just before the attack in August last year and has been well received by critics.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV Staff and has been auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)