The Collector of Worlds

The fictional account of Sir Richard Francis Burton reads like a cinematic masterpiece. Burton's personality comes alive. He was obsessed with disguises and liked to pose as a Muslim. One of his aliases was Mirza Abdullah from Persia. Against all odds, to survive Burton needed to blend in as a native. He was described a difficult and mysterious yet brilliant. He was a master of various languages. His concubine, Kundalini, wanted to marry him. She told him stories during sex. Troyanov takes three of Burton's best known periods of life: as a British officer in India, Burton's pilgrimage to Mecca, and everyone's favorite game - where does the Nile originate? By fictionalizing Burton's life Troyanov was able to make sweeping statements show more about nineteenth century culture in colonized countries. The varying literary writing styles help to separate Burton's adventures. show less

The challenge of producing fictional biography, as Iliya Troyanov does in this imagined life of Victorian explorer Richard Burton, is how you make your version of an imagined historical figure authentic and valid to the reader. Who in truth can see through Burton's eyes and stand in his shoes? Troyanov turns this issue on its head in imagining Burton's life at three separate points - early in his career in India, when he undertakes the hajj to Mecca and searching for the source of the Nile alongside fellow explorer John Hanning Speke. At every stage of this intricately constructed novel, the author builds a picture of Burton seen through others eyes. In India a former servant Naukaram is telling his story to the letter writer, who in show more turn starts to build his own imaginings around the tale he hears from the servant. After Mecca, Burton's actions and motivations are explored not only through Burton's narrative but through the men who travelled with him and the authorities who were trying to understand how he had slipped into Mecca, and what his purpose might have been. In the final section, we see him reflected through another historical figure Sidi Mubarak Bombay. This kaleidescope of perspectives builds a picture where, like the priest who frames the tale, we never quite grasp the man. For me, this felt appropriate rather than frustrating. I enjoyed the first two sections particularly, though the African element lost its way for me, rather like Burton and Speke's expedition, which left the two men disputing whether the source of the Nile had been found. Although read in translation, the deftness and beauty of the writing came through. This book shows promise and I will be looking out for more of Troyanov's work. show less

When a book opens with a single cinematic sweep, moving from Sir Richard Burton death through the reluctant giving of last rites, to a sharp focus on a burning photograph of the 22-year-old Richard Burton that pulls you into his 1840's Bombay, you know you are in for a treat. This book is The Collector of Worlds by Iliya Troyanov just published in the UK translated by William Hobson but originally published in Germany in 2006. The book is not a Biography, History or a novel but a biographical fiction meaning as the author says that the live and works of Sir Richard Burton inspired him because all

…individual lives are mysterious, particularly those of people one had never met. This Novel is intended as personal approach to a mystery show more rather than as an attempt at definitive revelation.

This approach shapes the unusual structure of the novel. It is divided into three sections: first is Burton's service in India in 1842-49, second is his travels in disguise to Mecca and Medina as a pilgrim on the hajj (1851-53)and concludes with his journey from Zanzibar to Lake Tanganyika in 1858 as he attempted to discover with a fellow explorer the source of the Nile. So we don't know his life before or after this period or even during this period when away from waving the Flag.

In each section, Burton’s reveals his thoughts through a third-person monologue whilst other narrators offer context or even contrasting views. Burton acts as the antagonist to these characters where as his is the culture or landscape of India, Arabia and Africa. In the Indian section, these others are Lahiya, a professional letter-writer, to whom Burton's one-time servant Naukaram goes to have his story written up, in the hope of gaining further employment. It’s soon clear to Lahiya that Naukaram is not telling the whole truth and as we see neither is Burton. In the Arabian section, a script like exchange between various Islamic officials, suggests that he spied on military positions. Perhaps he did, or perhaps they fear the loss of rich pickings as the long slow decline of the Ottoman Empire gave opportunities for the politically unscrupulous. The African section narrator is another historical character Sidi Mubarak Bombay, we meet him as a old man telling stories to his friends and relatives. He was a slave working in India before gaining his freedom and returning to Madagascar and becoming a key figure in most of the big exploratory expeditions of the time into East Africa. Through him, we explore the conflicting motives and styles for the Speke and Burton expedition to find the source of the Nile.

The language is poetic with scene after scene evoked with powerful physical detail and a constant parade of realistic characters from a long faded 19th Century that engage us in both Burton’s life as well as the other narrators. Together each section reveal a complex ambiguous man who loved language, disguises, adventure, learned to love sex, and wanted to understand cultures for the wider benefit of the Empire without perhaps realising the irony that Empires once they see the worth of other cultures the right to rule begins to crumble.

I strongly recommend the book for a highly enjoyable read and an introduction to a man well worth reading and in many ways a man ahead of his time. show less

Reading this book was hard work. Firstly the German writing style is difficult. Secondly there was no drama.
The story gave only a ghostly sketch of Sir Richard Burton, who somehow did not come to life.
No doubt that the man was a fascinating character, a linguist and a traveller who was the first westerner to go on pilgrimage to Mecca. A man who translated the Kamasutra and spoke so many languages, and lived so many different lives.
The book only gives glimpses of his personality through the re-telling of his travels from three different viewpoints: The narrator of the first part is Burton's servant in India, the second part is narrated by officials in the Ottoman empire investigating his trip to the Islamic holy cities and the third show more part is narrated by the African guide who accompanied Burton and Speke on their trip in East Africa to find the source of the Nile.
The effect of this narration is to give the central character a back-seat, so we only get to see him through the eyes of others. This worked partially well in the first part where the servant was reasonably close to Burton, but in the two other parts it gave only a distant picture of the man and his adventure. The descriptions are long and there are pages upon pages of non-events. The book raised more questions about Richard Burton than it answered and I think I will have to meet him again in another biography. show less

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 show more 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.

This review also appears on my literary blog Literary License. show less

A novelisation of the life of the British explorer, rebel, polymath and eccentric, Richard F Burton. It has a very complex structure, basically in three sections detailing Burton's early experiences in India, his Hajj (or pretend Hajj) and some of his journeys to the great lakes of Africa. Each section is at least one story within a story and there it is told with many voices,so many voices that it is a challenge to keep track of who what and when. It was so complex in structure I found it difficult to engage with, no sooner had I got to grips with it the viewpoint and style of writing changed. The first and second sections were, I thought, much better than the third which was a bit of an anticlimax.
Burton's life is fascinating , more show more extraordinary than most novels and I am not sure this book does him justice, although well written the degree of complexity is overwhelming (and I have read a lot of meta fiction).
A decent book that would perhaps have been improved by a simpler structure. show less

The Collector of Worlds is a novel inspired by the life and works of Sir Richard Francis Burton, the notorious nineteenth century English soldier, explorer, writer and translator of works such as The Kama Sutra, The Perfumed Garden and the ten-volume Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night.

The novel begins and ends with Burton’s death: “He died early in the morning before you could tell a black thread from a white.” The young priest, pressured by his bishop and Burton’s wife into administering the Last Rites to the dying man, is uneasy. He senses that something is not right about the situation; he wants to know more about the life of this man and his beliefs. In a way, the reader stands alongside the priest, pondering the myths show more and mysteries that surround the exploits of Richard Francis Burton and, at the end, both priest and reader are left with those mysteries unresolved. The man remains an enigma.

Although Burton is the central figure in the novel and extracts from his own writings are incorporated into the text, we never engage directly with him. The author uses a variety of narrators to reveal some aspect of his behaviour but there is no real insight into his character or beliefs.

The book is divided into three distinct sections, each dealing with a major period in Burton’s life. The first, longest and, for me, best part depicts his time as a young officer in the East India Company, stationed in the remote outpost of Baroda. Boredom and ambition lead Burton to take his natural interest and facility in learning languages to a new and dangerous level; his fluency allows him to disguise himself as an Indian and he becomes a useful spy for the British government.

The narrators in the Indian setting are Burton’s former servant, Naukaram and the professional letter-writer he employs to write down his story. The encounters between the two of them and the flights of fancy employed by both in embellishing the tale are quite humorous and entertaining. These two and Upanishe, Burton’s wise teacher are the best-developed characters in the book.

The second part of the book deals with Burton’s pilgrimage to Mecca, disguised as an Arab. This is probably his most outrageous and dangerous exploit; if his disguise is penetrated he faces certain execution. After successfully completing the Hajj, he returns to England and publishes a book about his adventures and our insight into the affair comes from the imagined investigation by angry and offended Arab officials, who interrogate Burton’s companions who had been completely taken in by his disguise.

The final section is set in East Africa and concerns Burton’s attempt to discover the source of the Nile. The narrator is a former slave, employed as a guide and interpreter on the expedition. His family and friends find his account boring and self-indulgent and they have a point; I found myself skimming the pages in these final chapters.

Burton is a well-known figure in English history but there is no sense of his personality or his ideals in this novel; he isn’t the hero of the story. The book takes us to unexplored and dangerous places but it isn’t a conventional travel book or tale of derring-do. It is difficult to categorise it, although it is an impressive book and one I will return to because of the ideas it explores. It probably belongs in the philosophy rather than the fiction section of the library. It is a timely consideration of the difficulty, perhaps impossibility, of someone fully comprehending another culture. It looks at language, religion, slavery, loyalty, honour, exploitation and many other aspects of human behaviour. It certainly isn’t a light read but it is an enjoyable one. show less