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Finnish authors abroad
Finnish authors abroad
The Wanderer continues the story of Mikael Karvajalka navigating the turbulent world of the 16th century Europe and Middle East. Mikael converts from Christianity to Islam, finally rising to a prominent position in the court of Suleiman the Magnificent in Istanbul.
After the Sack of Rome, as recounted in The Adventurer, Mikael and his steadfast companion Antti embark on a pilgrimage from Venice to the Holy Land. The pilgrim ship is hijacked by Muslim pirates and seized. The companions escape death by renouncing their Christian religion and embracing Islam. Mikael and Antti, despite their nominal status as the sultan’s slaves, ascend to positions of high esteem and respect. Mikael becomes an authorized physician who goes by the name Mikael el-Hakim.
In The Wanderer, Mika Waltari delves into a hitherto unfamiliar cultural sphere of the Islamic world of North Africa and Istanbul. Algiers, Constantinople, Aleppo and Baghdad emerge in all their splendour, depravity and frivolity offering a vivid backdrop for exploring the protagonist’s cultural immersion and the journey of his transformation.
The Wanderer is a masterpiece that seamlessly combines historical detail to vivid, sweeping storytelling.
Mika Waltari was awarded Finland’s State Prize for Literature for The Wanderer in 1950.
The Wanderer was published in the U.K. with the title The Sultan’s Renegade.
Prizes and nominations
The winner of Finland’s State Prize for Literature, 1950
Mika Waltari (1908-1979) is the most popular 20th century Finnish writer who is best known for his magnum opus The Egyptian. Over a career that spanned five decades, Waltari published well over 100 works, of which hundreds of translations have been made. His works include at least 30 novels, 20 plays and 15 novellas, as well as short stories, poems, screenplays and essays. In 1957 he was appointed to the Academy of Finland, having previously won the state literature award five times. Waltari’s works have been translated into over 40 languages.
The Adventurer, 1948
The Wanderer, 1949
Finnish PDF
English synopsis
English abridged translation
German full translation
Croatian (A3DATA 1999)
Czech (Hejkal 2002, 2020)
Dutch (Holkema 1952)
Danish (Sesam 1951 / Odense 1982)
English (UK: G. P. Putnam’s 1951; US: Putnam’s 1951)
Estonian (Varrak 2023)
French (Olivier Orban 1985 / Le Jardin des Livres 2004)
German (Paul Neff Verlag 1988 / Kuebler Verlag 2012; 2020)
Greek (Cactus 1989 / Kalentis 1989; 2015; 2023)
Hungarian (Europa 1967 & 1997)
Icelandic (Odds Björnssona 1961)
Italian (Garzanti 1953)
Lithuanian (Tyto Alba 2006)
Polish (ISKRY 1983 / Ksiaznica 1997 & 2015 / Aleksandria Media, audio, 2024)
Portuguese, Brazilian (Merito 1959)
Russian (Eksmo 1996)
Spanish (Cumbre 1952 / Exhito 1962 / Plaza & Janes 1975 / Edhasa 2005, 2016, 2021)
Swedish (Schildt 1951 / Wahlström & Widstrand 2003)
Turkish (Bilge Kultur 2006)
“A complex plot, with successive interlocking episodes, this adds up to another picaresque romantic adventure novel which those who enjoyed its predecessors will claim as their own.” – Kirkus Review
