Six Degrees of Separation ~ Knife

Salman Rushdie
"Knife" - 2023

#6Degrees of Separation: 
from Knife (Goodreads) to Murder in Amsterdam

#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here.

The starter book this month is "Knife" by Salman Rushdie. This is one of the books I would love to read but haven't gotten so far, because it's not available in paperback, yet. But I know about the book and it is therefore a little easier to find a  link to further novels.

And this is the description of this novel:

"From internationally renowned writer and Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie, a searing, deeply personal account of enduring—and surviving—an attempt on his life thirty years after the fatwa that was ordered against him

On the morning of August 12, 2022, Salman Rushdie was standing onstage at the Chautauqua Institution, preparing to give a lecture on the importance of keeping writers safe from harm, when a man in black—black clothes, black mask—rushed down the aisle toward him, wielding a knife. His first thought: So it’s you. Here you are.

What followed was a horrific act of violence that shook the literary world and beyond. Now, for the first time, and in unforgettable detail, Rushdie relives the traumatic events of that day and its aftermath, as well as his journey toward physical recovery and the healing that was made possible by the love and support of his wife, Eliza, his family, his army of doctors and physical therapists, and his community of readers worldwide.

Knife is Rushdie at the peak of his powers, writing with urgency, with gravity, with unflinching honesty. It is also a deeply moving reminder of literature’s capacity to make sense of the unthinkable, an intimate and life-affirming meditation on life, loss, love, art—and finding the strength to stand up again."

I will concentrate on books with murder in the title and in the book, some of them are non-fiction, others fiction. And not all of them end with a dead person.

I start with one of the best crime stories ever written.

Christie, Agatha "Murder on the Orient Express" (Hercule Poirot #10) - 1934
We all know the brilliant author and if we haven't read the book, we will have seen one of the numerous films they made about it. It's all about revenge, and I think in this case, we can all understand the killers.

Johnson, Maureen; Cooper, Jay "Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village" - 2021
If, like me, you like to watch the British crime series "Midsomer Murders", the title jumps right into your eyes.

Osman, Richard "The Thursday Murder Club" - 2020

Even though I'm not much into murder mystery, I just love Richard Osman's wit. 

No matter what kind of book you like to read to entertain yourself (for me, they have to be funny), this is the one. Enjoy.

Poe, Edgar Allan "The Murders in the Rue Morgue and other stories" - 1841
Dark, gruesome, abysmal, that's what I read somewhere about the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. This was not my kind of book but it fitted into the scheme.

Scott, Mary; West, Joyce "The Mangrove Murder" (Inspector Wright #3) - 1964
The people in this story are just as charming as everyone in Mary Scott's other books, well, except for the killer, of course. But other than that, we read about people who live in New Zealand at a time when life was still very different from today.

Buruma, Ian "Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance" (NL: Dood van en gezonde roker) - 2006

Murder in Amsterdam. Not any murder. The murder of a director, a public figure. Why? He made a movie not everyone agreed with. He made a movie about the Muslim faith.

* * *

There is quite a good connection between the first and the last degree. In both cases, a maniac tries to assassinate another human being because of their religion and political engagement. In the last book, he is even successful.

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