Salman Rushdie looking from the screen in the hall of the Barcelona Center for Contemporary Culture (CCCB) It reveals the consequences of the attack that nearly cost him his life last year. One of the lenses of his glasses is smoky, but from one angle his lifeless eye is revealed. The mouth is crooked. Scars are visible on his neck. The right hand, which has mobility issues, is barely visible in the field of vision. And yet the whole direction of the author ‘Satanic verses’ inspires strength, determination and a great sense of humour. As if nothing had changed. Two days ago he fearlessly accepted the German Booksellers’ Peace Prize in Frankfurt, and this Wednesday, from his home in London, he reiterated his defense of freedom of expression at the opening session, where he was introduced by the director of Kosmopolis 2023. CCCB Judith Carrera and author and Freud expert Lisa AppignanesiOld friend of the writer and former president of PEN.
Although the author had previously written a two-volume memoir, he had just finished it.KnifeThe book titled ‘, which describes the attack, was inspired by the fatwa declared by Ayatollah Khomeini, which has been tormenting him for 33 years. “It’s a short book, and unlike my other memoirs, this book is written in the first person, because when they stick a knife in your neck, the first person wins. This needs to be said in the most direct way possible. In reality, I wasn’t interested in talking about what happened, but in thinking about it, in showing everything that was going through my mind under the circumstances. The author admits that this book, which he wrote much faster than he usually writes, helped him rethink writing fiction, something he plans to do in the future.
Freedom of expression and social networks
“It seems strange to me and ridiculous that we have to do this. Defend freedom of expression. “This freedom is obvious, but in some parts of the world they want to suppress something that is unique to all human beings: our ability to express ourselves freely,” Rushdie argues with as much conviction as courage, and continues: a situation in the world beyond one’s own situation. For Rushdie, freedom of expression is the last “When I was young, the oppressive forces were authoritarian states and conservative political actors, people who were older, but now the pressures also come from young people or left-wing people who don’t want to hear unpleasant speeches. “This is something I don’t understand,” he says, his understanding of the world in which he lives. He underlines his shortcomings and admits that he has relaxed his once productive involvement in world politics. social networks. “I don’t want to talk about something called X anymore,” he jokes.
wait for ‘Cuchillo’ will be in bookstores next AprilRushdie reader has book in hand ‘Languages of truth’ Bringing together his essays over the last 17 years and his last novel, which he completed shortly before his brutal attack, ‘City of Victory’, A book that combines the profession of historian he studied at university and the stories and legends that form the basis of his narratives, which are often likened to magical realism, which he admires. “They tell me this all the time, but it’s because they don’t know the cultural heritage of the stories of Hindus and Muslims. “My inspiration is not Latin America.” And while he is lost in thought, he stops to comment on the news that García Márquez’s unpublished novel, to which he has been compared so many times, will be published next year. “I find it very worrying that the children decided that this novel should see the light of day because they said they were not convinced by the outcome. Please, I have some unpublished books at the University of Austin in the United States, but I would like to make it clear that I do not want them to be published.” The writings of the author, who has many ties with Spain, about Andalusia are not in vain.‘The Moor’s Last Sigh’ and ‘Don Quixote’, has promised to appear “live” in Barcelona in the not-too-distant future. Thus, without the slightest fear.