Some men and women have such a profound and lasting effect on literature and popular culture that they make the rest of us look as though we've spent our lives chasing our tails. One such bigger-than-life individual was the English explorer, linguist, translator and diplomat Richard Francis Burton.
Burton's spectacularly perilous, intellectually sublime and occasionally scandalous achievements made him renowned throughout 19th century Europe. He not only entertained generations of Western readers, but also gave them what was for many their first detailed glimpse of Middle Eastern, African and Asian cultures, with regard to topics including Islamic mystical poetry and Indian sexual practices. Among his extraordinary exploits are: being the first non-Muslim European to make the sacred pilgrimage to Mecca; writing a 1,000-page bestseller about this adventure; two groundbreaking explorations of East Africa; and translating "The Thousand and One Nights" and the "Kama Sutra."
Given that his exploits made him hugely famous in his time and that fascination with his protean personality continues today, it's surprising that Bulgarian-born German writer Iliya Troyanov is the first author to try his hand at a biographical novel. Unfortunately, the results are unlikely to please either Burton enthusiasts or general readers. Though Troyanov proves himself an able researcher, "The Collector of Worlds" fails to bring the reader anywhere close to his protagonist's mind or heart -- to give us any insights into his motivations, passions, astonishing linguistic talents or personal demons. And although Troyanov writes in an opening statement that he has included an "occasional direct quotation" from his subject, he fails to give any indication when the words are Burton's and not his own, giving readers the errant impression that many observations are his when they are, in fact, Burton's.
The novel is divided into three sections: the first chronicles Burton's service in India during the 1840s; the second, his pilgrimage while disguised as a Persian dervish to Mecca and Medina (1851-53); the third, his first journey to East Africa (1858). Each section is told from Burton's perspective -- largely in a staid, gentlemanly third person -- and at least one alternating voice, a technique that provides the reader with dissonant views of the same events. In the Indian section, this second perspective is provided by Burton's illiterate servant, Naukaram. In the second, Troyanov gives the cross-narration to various Ottoman officials. In the third, the alternative voice is furnished by Sidi Mubarak Bombay, a former African slave who becomes an assistant to Burton and his travel partner, John Hanning Speke.
