Two great writers, having to deal with unexpected, life-changing, pain, tell their story. Coincidentally, they are friends and mention each other in their books. They both hail from the Indian subcontinent although their background is quite different.
‘’Knife’’, by Salman Rushdie
No introduction is needed for one of the most successful writers of the last fifty years, the author of the outstanding ‘’Midnight Children’’, magical realism steeped in the subcontinent’s history. Rushdie has a very polished, elegant approach to stories. Many will, of course, remember him as the author of the (in)famous ‘’Satanic Verses’’, a book judged blaspheme by Muslim fundamentalists. In 1989, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa condemning Salman Rushdie to death for alleged blasphemy in his novel. Despite Damocles’ sword on his head, Rushdie has lived a relatively normal life in England and in the States writing many other successful books until…
…until on 12 August 2022, while giving a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution, a quiet American backwater, he was stabbed multiple times. He survived but lost an eye. ‘’Knife’’ is the story of the attack and the subsequent months of recovering in the hospital. Twelve weeks after the knife attack Salman Rushdie returned to his home in New York. Despite the gravity of the attack, he was fairly out and about again: eating and drinking, and generally amazing everyone with his quick physical recovery. In the book, Rushdie explains how the physical side of things was almost the ‘’obvious’’ part. Despite the crude description of his condition and the sometimes ‘’harsh’’ treatment needed, the body eventually recovered.
His agent, when visiting him in the hospital, told him he should write about the experience. Rushdie was not convinced at first, but it was then taken by the idea. It was a way for him to win back control, almost a cathartic exercise, meeting the hatred with art.
The description of his treatment and the ups and downs (including reoccurring nightmares) of his hospitalisation are hard to read although Rushdie often uses a subtle comedic tone in describing them. Part of the book is dedicated to a virtual discussion with his attacker ‘’A’’. Rushdie refuses to use his name. It is a way to explain his point of view on many subjects, including, of course, freedom of speech and the relationship between faith and violence.
Rushdie’s ‘’Knife’’ is probably at its best when it describes the reality of the moment, less when he tries to move on to philosophy. Despite this, it is definitely a book to read and ponder upon.
‘Shuttered’’ by Hanif Kureishi
Hanif Kureishi first attracted attention when he wrote the script of ‘’My Beautiful Laundrette’’ in 1985, about a gay Pakistani British boy growing up in 1980s London, for a film directed by Stephen Frears. Subsequently, his book ‘’The Buddha of Suburbia’’ (1990) won the Whitbread Award for the best first novel and was made into a BBC television series with a soundtrack by David Bowie. Kureishi’s writing was groundbreaking unashamedly describing the difficult life of mixed-race youths in Thatcherite England.
On Boxing Day 2022, in Rome with his Italian partner Isabella, Hanif Kureishi felt dizzy while sitting at the table. He fainted, landing on his neck and becoming tetraplegic as a result. He spent 2023 in Italian and English hospitals, being prodded, rearranged, and invaded while sending regular updates to his fans (dictated to Isabella and to his son, Carlo) via the internet.
Those updates constitute the backbone of ‘’Shattered’’. The first impression is that Kureishi’s raw, acidic humour is still very much alive. It is his way to defuse the dramatic situation he suddenly finds himself in, being moved to different hospitals, being manhandled by carers and nurses, feeling totally dependent on other people even for his most basic needs: eating, going to the toilet, even scratching his back.
Unable to even read or watch a film without help, Kureishi’s mind wonders thinking of the past, of his ‘’new’’ body condition, of the status of patients and health institutions, of how being sick renders an individual almost invisible to society.
Eventually, the desperation of becoming a burden slowly turns to acceptance. He becomes more interested in small things and finds new connections with the nurses looking after him and his fellow patients. ‘’Shattered’’ is inspiring; Kureishi’s writing, his humour, and his attempts to find meaning move you.
I like to end with a quote from a recent Guardian review: ‘’He is back home in London now, his world forever altered. “I sat in the centre of this old city that I loved … surrounded by people I loved,” Kureishi wrote 35 years ago, in The Buddha of Suburbia, “and I felt happy and miserable at the same time. I thought of what a mess everything had been, but that it wouldn’t always be this way.” The young Kureishi wrote his way into a different kind of life. And now, someone new is emerging. I can’t wait to read everything he has to write.’’. Totally agree!
