The collector of worlds
By: Iliya Troyanov ; translated by William Hobson
Contributors: Hobson, Will
Edition: 1st pbk. ed.
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Published: 2009
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 454
ISBN-13: 9780571236541
Subjects: Explorers; Fiction
Work titles: Weltensammler
Description: "This fictionalized account imagines the life of Sir Richard Francis Burton - a nineteenth-century British colonial officer with a rare ability to assimilate into indigenous cultures. Burton's obsessive traveling took him from England to British India, Arabia, and on a quest for the source of the Nile River in Africa. He learned more than twenty languages, translated The Arabian Nights and the Kama Sutra, and took part in the pilgrimage to Mecca, in addition to writing several travel books."

This novel tells the story of Burton's adventures in British West India, his experience on the hajj to Mecca, and his exploration of East Africa. In each section, perspective shifts between Burton and the voices of those men he encounters along the way: his Indian servant tells the stories of his travails with Burton to a scribe; the qadi, the governor, and the shari in Mecca investigate Burton's hajj; and Sidi Mubarak Bombay, his African guide, shares his story with friends in Zanzibar. The concentric narratives examine the underbelly of colonialism while offering a breathtaking tour of the nineteenth century's most stunning landscapes.
Notes: Translated from the German.