Knife

It is an absolutely stunning piece of writing: the ugliest thing turned into the most beautiful. No words of mine can do it justice. But I do have to say that it’s such a profound love story, too. -- Nigella Lawson
Salman Rushdie’s memoir is horrific, upsetting – and a masterpiece… Knife is a tour-de-force, in which the great novelist takes his brutal near-murder and spins it into a majestic essay on art, pain and love…full of Rushdie’swit, his wisdom, his stoicism, his optimism, his love of all culture from the so-called “high” to the so-called “low”. -- Erica Wagner * Daily Telegraph *
Knife is a rich, immersive, feisty account of [Rushdie's] journey through darkness back to the light. Part thriller, part love story, part celebration of literature, it’s an incandescent book full of hair-raising descriptions of hard-won survival and beautiful, philosophical passages about art, freedom and resilience…Rushdie has not just enlarged literature’s capacities, he has expanded the world’s imaginative possibilities — and he has paid a tremendous price for it. We owe him a huge debt of gratitude. -- Johanna Thomas Corr * The Times *
Rushdie’s triumph is not to be other: despite his terrible injuries and the threat he still lives under, he remains incorrigibly himself, as passionate as ever about art and free speech... At one point he quotes Martin Amis: “When you publish a book, you either get away with it, or you don’t.” He has more than got away with this one. It’s scary but heartwarming, a story of hatred defeated by love. -- Blake Morrison * The Guardian *
With both candour and rich detail, and reminding us again of his knack for storytelling, Knife celebrates art and love over violence, resilience over acquiescence * i, *Books to Look Out for 2024* *
Knife is a clarifying book. It reminds us of the threats the free world faces. It reminds us of the things worth fighting for. Rushdie’s friend Christopher Hitchens, in the wake of the initial fatwa, eloquently explained the stakes. The affair drew a line between “everything I hated versus everything I loved,” he wrote. “In the hate column: dictatorship, religion, stupidity, demagogy, censorship, bullying and intimidation. In the love column: literature, irony, humor, the individual and the defense of free expression.” His words apply to this book. * New York Times *
Although the account of his violent ordeal is dramatic…the book is also a nuanced meditation on life, death, the importance of art, and the chilling daily reality of violence... the book fulfils his aim to take charge of what happened on that terrible day and “to answer violence with art" -- Martin Chilton * The Independent *
Rushdie has never written quite as directly as this, or emotionally. He emerges as stoic, droll, and astonishingly brave. “There are moments when these events are painful to set down,” he says. They’re painful to read, too, but necessary. As simple testimony, it makes for an incredibly compelling reading experience. The aim of the attack was ultimately to silence him. The aim failed. Salman Rushdie is a writer. The pen proved mightier than the sword after all. -- Nick Duerden * i news *
Brave and compelling…Knife isn’t only Rushdie’s finest book in years, it’s also his most enjoyable * Daily Mail, *Book of the Week* *
A surprisingly tender and redemptive story * Economist *