The Collector of Worlds: A Novel of Sir Richard Francis Burton

by Ilija Trojanow

Book Overview

"Iliya Troyanov has turned Burton's unbelievable life into believable fiction, achieving a rounded and satisfying portrait that traditional biography could never match." -- New York Times Book Review The Collector of Worlds is a fictionalized account of the infamous life and times of Sir Richard Francis Burton--the British colonial officer stationed in India who made the Haj to Mecca, discovered the source of the Nile, spoke twenty-nine languages,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061351938
• ISBN13: 9780061351938
• Release Date: March 2009
• Publisher: Ecco Press
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The Collector of Worlds: A Novel of Sir Richard Burton

This was an excellent selection! Burton was truly a universal man, and the book read like the wind! Great book! Burton is known for his exotic travel adventures all over the world in the 19th century, and was a linguist who spoke 29 languages! He also wrote a great quantity of books, which have been read by interested people everywhere.

Highly recommended

And what a great book it is. Or rather 3 books. One covers Richard Burton's time in India, told through both his own voice and that of his servant. Another is the story of his secret Hajj, told through his own voice and the voice of the Turkish authorities investigation of the incident. And a third is his trip to Lake Tanganyika, also through the voice of his guide. All of these disonant voices, with very different experiences, world views and contexts, Troyanov gets absolutely right. The India book is perhaps most convincing - especially as Burton struggles to understand the culture, prides himself on having understandings his fellow British officers do not, but yet totally misinterprets his relationship with his Indian lover A fabulous book, highly recommended

A new approach without ethnocentric views!

Some readers who write literature reviews may not agree with my opinion, but this novel is one of the very few books written with a culture-free ethnocentrism, although persons of different cultures are in an intensified cross-cultural communication in this novel. For example just compare this novel with Winter in Majorca of George Sand, then you find out, what I mean with literature-ethnocentrism. Although ethnocentrism could be explained as a Linguistic Phenomena, I did not discover any kind of ethnocentrism, although I read this book in German, English and in Russian!

A thoroughly delightful, and transporting, reading experience

4.5 out of 5: The Collector of Worlds tracks infamous explorer Sir Richard Burton on three of his journeys: his adventures in India as a young British officer, his hajj to Mecca disguised as a doctor from India, and his cross-continent trek to discover the source of the Nile deep within Africa. Each segment of Burton's story is its own well-crafted narrative filled with interesting characters and detailed settings, making this book more like three novellas than a single, integrated novel. In each story, Burton's adventures unfold from the perspective of outside observers, most often those who accompanied him in his travels. This brilliant construct preserves all the awe and mystery that surrounds this eccentric individual. Part old-fashioned adventure tale, part travelogue, part biography, part history, The Collector of Worlds is a rich cabinet of curiosities. Trayanov's lush prose--and William Hobson's able translation--infuse this novel with vibrancy and sensuality. Each of the exotic locales visited by Burton comes alive on the page, like this street scene in Bombay: "Stuffed to bursting, the city let out a belch from time to time. Everything smelled as if it was being eaten away by gastric juices. Figures lay by the roadside in the last throes of a fitful, half-digested sleep. A spoon sliced through the flesh of an overripe papaya; feet sweated coriander on their way back from market." Or this description of the deserts of central Africa: "Above them, veils of cloud twine across the highest vault of heaven, far too high for any prayers to reach, while here below everything is scorched by an invisible furnace. This country is a beggar ... with jaundiced skin and jutting ribs streaked with dried-up watercourses, the scars left by the floods that last its helpless body year after year." Trayanov's lyrical prose and Burton's old-fashioned and exotic adventures combine to create a thoroughly delightful, and transporting, reading experience.

terrific biographical fiction

amateur anthropologist. He learns two local languages so that he can intermingle with the natives more freely; this enhances his work as an espionage agent and his passion as an anthropologist, but especially with courtesan Kundalini. When his military career ends due to a report on brothel use by the army, he leaves India. He uses his ability to speak Hindustani and Gujarati to masquerade as an Indian doctor on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Sir Richard and John Speke journey to explore the Nile. They meet many tribes as they travel from one lake to another with Sir Richard marveling at each culture while John loathes the savage beasts as much as he detests his disgusting companion. This is a terrific biographical fictional account that brings to life the three prime Burton adventures. Amazingly in spite of Burton starring in each, they are radically different as if there are three well written novellas connected by the brazen hero. His India escapade is highlighted more by Kundalini than Burton as she fosters his interest in Eastern philosophy, religion, folk stories, and exotic sex. His Saudi saga provides vivid insight into an illegal pilgrimage to Mecca, but it is Burton's daring masquerade that hooks the audience. Finally, the contrast between the two explorers is wider than the width of the continent yet it is the deep look at the tribes that will fascinate fans. Using real correspondence, events, places and people, Iliya Troyanov provides an excellent nineteenth century tale based on the real world adventures of Sir Richard Burton. Harriet Klausner