The German author discusses his 2020 novel "The Museum of the World," which has been translated to English, and how the story changes views of colonialism, with journalist Kushanava Choudhury.
About the book:
Bartholomew is an orphan from Bombay. He’s 12 years old and speaks almost as many languages. That is why, in the year 1854, he is hired as a translator by the brothers Schlagintweit from Germany who, with the support of Alexander von Humboldt and the East India Company, embark upon the greatest expedition of their time, which takes them across India and the Himalayas.
But Bartholomew is also pursuing his own agenda: he wants to establish the first museum of his remarkable, complex native land. And for this, he is willing to risk everything – even his life.
Based on the true story of a huge scientific undertaking by three Bavarian brothers, and brilliantly translated by Rekha Kamath Rajan, Christopher Kloeble’s The Museum of the World is a fantastic adventure that will change the way we see the history of colonialism.
Christopher Kloeble is an award-winning scriptwriter and the author of three novels, a short story collection and a memoir. He has taught at Dartmouth College, Georgetown University, Cambridge University and Hong Kong University, among others. His books have been translated into nine languages. He lives in Berlin and New Delhi.
Kushanava Choudhury has worked as a journalist for more than 20 years, and his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Caravan, and The Statesman. He is the author of The Epic City: The World on the Streets of Calcutta, and is currently at work on a book about Kerala inspired by Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. A former student in Princeton’s journalism program, Choudhury also holds a PhD in political theory from Yale.
Co-sponsored with the Princeton German Department and Princeton University Press.
