NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Months after being Salman Rushdie is blind in his right eye, struggles to write and, at times, has 鈥渇rightening鈥� nightmares.
But, he said during his first interview since the attack, he still has a feeling of gratitude.
鈥淲ell, you know, I鈥檝e been better,鈥� he during an interview published Monday. 鈥淏ut, considering what happened, I鈥檓 not so bad."
鈥淭he big injuries are healed, essentially," Rushdie went on to describe. "I have feeling in my thumb and index finger and in the bottom half of the palm. I鈥檓 doing a lot of hand therapy, and I鈥檓 told that I鈥檓 doing very well.鈥�
Remnick, who spoke with Rushdie both in person at his agent's office in Manhattan and via Zoom, wrote that the Booker Prize-winning author had lost more than 40 pounds (18 kilograms) and mostly reads through an iPad so he can adjust the lighting and font size.
鈥淭here is scar tissue on the right side of his face,鈥� Remnick wrote. 鈥淗e speaks as fluently as ever, but his lower lip droops on one side. The ulnar nerve in his left hand was badly damaged.鈥�
Rushdie, 75, lived in hiding for years after in 1989 calling for his death because of the alleged blasphemy of the novel 鈥淭he Satanic Verses.鈥� But he had long since moved about freely, with minimal security, and did not feel any sense of risk last August about appearing a nonprofit education and retreat center in western New York.
Rushdie was on stage when approached by a young man dressed in black and carrying a knife. The has pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and attempted murder. During his New Yorker interview, Rushdie referred to Matar as an "idiot,鈥� but otherwise said he felt no anger.
鈥淚鈥檝e tried very hard over these years to avoid recrimination and bitterness,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 just think it鈥檚 not a good look. One of the ways I鈥檝e dealt with this whole thing is to look forward and not backwards. What happens tomorrow is more important than what happened yesterday.鈥�
The interview came out on the eve of the publication of Rushdie's new novel, 鈥淰ictory City,鈥� which he completed a month before he was attacked. Featuring a protagonist who lives to be 247, 鈥淰ictory鈥� is a characteristically surreal and exuberant narrative about an imagined ancient poem that has received highly favorable reviews, with The Washington Post's Ron Charles writing that 鈥淩ushdie鈥檚 magical style unfurls wonders.鈥�
Rushdie had been silent for months on social media, but now tweets on occasion and even responds to insults. When a tweeter last week told him he was living a 鈥渄isgraceful life,鈥� Rushdie answered, 鈥淥h, another fan! So pleased.鈥�
During his interview, he noted ruefully that sales for his book had soared after the stabbing, as if he were more popular when in danger.
鈥淣ow that I鈥檝e almost died, everybody loves me,鈥� he said. "That was my mistake, back then. Not only did I live but I tried to live well. Bad mistake. Get 15 stab wounds, much better.鈥�
On Monday, he of himself, staring directly into the camera lens 鈥� his face thinner than in photos from before the stabbing, his right eye covered by a dark lens in his glasses frame.
He is otherwise still trying to recover. Rushdie has written that he initially had difficulty writing fiction after the fatwa, and he is having a hard time now, saying that he will sit down to work and 鈥渘othing happens," just a 鈥渃ombination of blankness and junk.鈥�
One project he may attempt: a follow-up to his which he wrote in the third person.
鈥淭his doesn鈥檛 feel third-person-ish to me,鈥� Rushdie said of a possible sequel. 鈥淚 think when somebody sticks a knife into you, that鈥檚 a first-person story. That鈥檚 an 鈥業鈥� story.鈥�
Hillel Italie, The Associated Press
