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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
informative
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reflective
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Even as someone not particularly familiar with Rushdie’s work, I was absolutely spellbound by this book. In the world we live in, where violence is more and more a threat to free speech and belief, it was so interesting to see Rushdie’s reaction, written is stunning prose, his experience and contextualize it within his life. Similar to Joan Didion’s “The Year of Magical Thinking” it feels like a real-time processing of events in a way that makes it feel uncommonly personal and particularly impactful.
What can be more compelling than to hear about the experience of being stabbed by a religious fanatic, especially from a master storyteller? Rushdie's memoir about being stabbed more than three decades after the Iranian state declared a fatwa for his assassination and his subsequent unexpected recovery is a powerful story. The author combines his personal life with his immediate family and friends, giving it a more personal and intimate tone. He does not portray himself as a brave hero but just as an ordinary person, afraid of physical pain and mortality.
What he went through to recover is unimaginable. I wish he did not make such a big deal about common medical procedures, such as the insertion of a catheter, or the anxiety about prostate cancer, which is fairly common among men of his age. By doing so, he probably diluted the severity of the unusual pain and agony he went through earlier. Of course, it shows his honesty in admitting that he is not a particularly pain-tolerant person.
I just wish the book was much shorter. About halfway through, I felt he had said everything he had to say. What remained unsaid, I could imagine myself.
salman rushdie wrote a book 30 years ago called satanic verses that caused many extremists to call for his death and put a fatwa on his head. last year a young man sprinted through the audience of an amphitheater and stabbed him almost to death. I’m so impressed by this man’s resilience and thoughtfulness. definitely inspiration for getting through dark times
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced