Salman Rushdie said his life had become 'very normal again' in an interview published just days before he was stabbed on stage in New York. The author, 75, told German magazine Stern earlier this month that the fatwa issued against him in 1989 no longer scared him, despite acknowledging that death threats have become more common in the internet age.
Rushdie's agent, Andrew Wylie, confirmed on Sunday that the author is on the 'road to recovery' after being taken off a ventilator. Wylie said Rushdie can speak and has been joking with friends, but noted that his injuries are severe, including a severed nerve in one arm and damage to his liver, and he is likely to lose an eye.
The attack occurred on Friday as Rushdie was about to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in New York state. Hadi Matar, 24, has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges. Rushdie sustained up to 15 stab wounds in the assault.
In the Stern interview, Rushdie reflected on the 1989 fatwa, which called for his death over his novel The Satanic Verses, deemed blasphemous by Iran. He said: 'A fatwa is a serious thing. Luckily we didn't have the internet back then. The Iranians had sent the fatwa to the mosques by fax. That's all a long time ago. Nowadays my life is very normal again.'
Rushdie also expressed concern about threats to democracy in the United States, citing the impact of Donald Trump, but remained optimistic about the younger generation, describing them as 'fighters for a society worth living in'.
