Salman Rushdie stabbed onstage, helicoptered to hospital

[msmerymac]

www.nytimes.com/live/2022/08/12/nyregion/salman-rushdie-stabbed-new-york#salman-rushdie-attacked

This is crazy. I didn't realize his Japanese translator was murdered in 1991, but I guess both publishers and translators of The Satanic Verses were subject to attempted murder/attacks at various points. 

No word yet on who the person was who stabbed him or what their motive was. The Iranian government has said there is officially no longer a fatwah against Rushdie, but the bounty remains by a semi-official religious group. 

Also, The Chautauqua Institute is a very old and well-respected organization, somewhat close to where I grew up, which is how I know about it. It's pretty intimate and rather rural, which I suppose is why security was a bit lax?

Live updates at the NYT link, here's another link in case you're blocked from that one: www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2022/08/12/author-salman-rushdie-attacked-onstage-in-new-york/?sh=35c3b5bc7634&utm_medium=browser_notifications&utm_source=pushly&utm_campaign=2324166

 

[Velar Fricative]

My goodness. I hope he'll be okay.

[mskitkat]

Rushdie’s “East, West” was my first introduction to literature outside the white, male Euro-centric classical literature. I started reading a whole new world of books after that one showed me what I was missing.

I hope he recovers well and quickly.

[StrawberryBlondie]

OMG. I read that he was attacked, but not that he was stabbed. I assumed he was like punched or something.

[Mushe]

This is so scary! My ILs were there this summer, and a friend of theirs was in the audience today. He’s very distraught. MIL was stuck on having to buy a ticket to get on the grounds and to specific lectures, but of course that’s not security.

[msmerymac]

Aug 12, 2022 12:58:29 GMT -5 StrawberryBlondie said:

OMG. I read that he was attacked, but not that he was stabbed. I assumed he was like punched or something.

Apparently audience members weren't sure if he was being punched or not at first, but some reported that there was blood, and he was reported to have a pulse. The attacker was subdued and taken into custody, but still no updates about either. 

[sonrisa]

He was there to give a lecture on how the US serves as a haven for exiled writers.

Which pretty much sums up this country. Even when it's the safest option for someone it's not safe.

[carmenere]

Aug 12, 2022 11:40:00 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

www.nytimes.com/live/2022/08/12/nyregion/salman-rushdie-stabbed-new-york#salman-rushdie-attacked

This is crazy. I didn't realize his Japanese translator was murdered in 1991, but I guess both publishers and translators of The Satanic Verses were subject to attempted murder/attacks at various points. 

No word yet on who the person was who stabbed him or what their motive was. The Iranian government has said there is officially no longer a fatwah against Rushdie, but the bounty remains by a semi-official religious group. 

Also, The Chautauqua Institute is a very old and well-respected organization, somewhat close to where I grew up, which is how I know about it. It's pretty intimate and rather rural, which I suppose is why security was a bit lax?

Live updates at the NYT link, here's another link in case you're blocked from that one: www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2022/08/12/author-salman-rushdie-attacked-onstage-in-new-york/?sh=35c3b5bc7634&utm_medium=browser_notifications&utm_source=pushly&utm_campaign=2324166

 

I don’t know how much security he normally has anymore - I saw him speak a couple times when he was in residence at Emory University ~12 years ago and remember noticing there was no visible security.

It sounds like his injuries are severe. I really hope he recovers. Also, it is crazy to me that the suspect is only 24 years old. He wasn’t even born yet when the fatwah was issued.

amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/08/12/us/salman-rushdie-attacked/index.html

[anodyne]

Breaking News: After being stabbed, Salman Rushdie is on a ventilator and cannot speak. His arm and liver are injured, and he may lose an eye, his agent said.

www.nytimes.com/live/2022/08/12/nyregion/salman-rushdie-stabbed-new-york?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur

[Velar Fricative]

It’s crazy to think that this happened to him in 2022, when we all thought he was in way more danger years ago.

I’m really interested in finding out why this guy from NJ, who lived not far from where Rushdie lived in NYC (I believe, I know he did live in NYC for a long time at least), traveled to Western NY to do this. Lax security? Notoriety?

[NewOrleans]

Aug 12, 2022 12:55:25 GMT -5 mskitkat said:

Rushdie’s “East, West” was my first introduction to literature outside the white, male Euro-centric classical literature. I started reading a whole new world of books after that one showed me what I was missing.

I hope he recovers well and quickly.

“At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers” from East, West is still one of my favorite short stories ever. 

American effort in book banning, I’m sure, thinks of itself as civilized, but watching Trump shred the press for almost a decade and then watching Trump and golf fans cozy up for the LIV tour 2 weeks ago knowing how Saudi butchered Jamal Khashoggi is a sharp reminder that book bans are persecution and that I’m not sure the distance between book banning and violence against writers is so wide anymore.