The Collector of Worlds - Hardcover

Iliya Troyanov

3.45

1,215 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0571236537 ISBN 13: 9780571236534

Publisher: Faber & Faber, 2008

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The Collector of Worlds is a meditation on the extraordinary life of infamous explorer Sir Richard Burton. The first westerner to make the hajj to Mecca, he also discovered the source of the Nile with Speke. His translation of the Arabian Nights is one of the great moments in the encounter between Islam and the West, that scandalised his contemporaries with its salty eroticism. Troyanov's novel does full justice to this great, controversial mediator between cultures. The book imagines his encounter with India as a young officer, and brings to life his trials and travels through the eyes of his Indian servant, the Sharif of Mecca and the former slave who guided Burton to the Nile.

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Product Description:

Sir Richard Burton was the first westerner to make the hajj to Mecca, he also discovered the source of the Nile with Speke. This book imagines his encounter with India as a young officer, and brings to life his trials and travels through the eyes of his Indian servant, the Sharif of Mecca and the former slave who guided Burton to the Nile.

Review:

"There are novels so finely constructed that they propel you back to the beginning at the moment you reach the end. Instead of closing the covers, you return to the first page with fresh eyes. Iliya Troyanov's 'The Collector of Worlds' is a wonderfully sumptuous example."--Boston Globe

"A rounded and satisfying portrait that traditional biography could never match...Troyanov's novel is itself an act of brave exploration, setting out to chart the unknown and unknowable by filling in the blank spaces of Richard Francis Burton."--New York Times Book Review

"Mesmerizing...the perfect present for wannabe explorers."--National Geographic Traveler Online

There are novels so finely constructed that they propel you back to the beginning at the moment you reach the end. Instead of closing the covers, you return to the first page with fresh eyes. Iliya Troyanov s The Collector of Worlds is a wonderfully sumptuous example. --Boston Globe"

I was thrilled by this book. One could compare it to Moby-Dick, narrated in a masterly manner. . . . This is a novel that entertains as well as informs, and this is the best that one could say of any book. --G?nter Grass"

Mesmerizing...the perfect present for wannabe explorers. --National Geographic Traveler Online"

A rounded and satisfying portrait that traditional biography could never match Troyanov s novel is itself an act of brave exploration, setting out to chart the unknown and unknowable by filling in the blank spaces of Richard Francis Burton. --New York Times Book Review"

"I was thrilled by this book. One could compare it to Moby-Dick, narrated in a masterly manner. . . . This is a novel that entertains as well as informs, and this is the best that one could say of any book."--Gunter Grass

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