Museum of the World

Good book to read with Indian history linked

Christopher Kloeble’s Museum of the World is a brilliant blend of fact and fiction based on the expedition of the three Schlagintweit brothers who explored India in the mid-1800s. The Bavarian brothers — Hermann, Adolf and Robert explored the country with the twelve year old orphan boy Bartholomew who travelled the length and breadth of the three year long expedition with them. This book captures their adventures and experiences through the young lad’s perspective. Bartholomew is a sharp, witty and keen observer of his experiences, a character who wishes to set up a museum of his own which displays valuable objects. He also possesses great linguistic abilities by being fluent in multiple languages such Hindi, English, German, Gujarati, Punjabi while polishing his fluency in Bavarian making him end up as a translator for the three brothers. The expedition undertaken by them in collaboration with The East India Company gives the reader a picture of the land’s reality during the times of the Raj. The reality of being made to feel “native” and to accept the unfair rule of the “firangis” with clear descriptions of the time and importance of India and Indians is discovered through the course of the book. The Museum of the World is descriptive, quirky, empathetic yet tender in its portayal of the colonial times and it’s experience from the perspective of a young boy. Special mention to the wonderful translation from German to English by Rekha Kamath Rajan, this book holds the essence and delivers the intent of the premise effectively. Verdict: Impressive and Engrossing, do give it a read!

The central character is a poor version of Kipling s Kim. Briefly it's a cock and bull story...to use a colourful epithet for 'rubbish'. Bought it after reading an undeserved favourable review

I loved it, poignant and compelling, semi poetic but witty language, gripping narration of this adventure story hooked you till the end.