What do you think?
Rate this book
World, the World
The second part of Norman Lewis's autobiography/travel memoir. In this work, Lewis recalls his time in the Far East, his meeting with Ernest Hemingway, his time in the fishing village of Farol in Spain and an account of a journey with Lord Snowdon.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
24 people are currently reading
190 people want to read
About the author
Norman Lewis
183 books149 followersNorman Lewis was a British writer renowned for his richly detailed travel writing, though his literary output also included twelve novels and several volumes of autobiography. Born in Enfield, Middlesex in 1908 to a Welsh family, Lewis was raised in a household steeped in spiritualism, a belief system embraced by his grieving parents following the deaths of his elder brothers. Despite these early influences, Lewis grew into a skeptic with a deeply observant eye, fascinated by cultures on the margins of the modern world.
His early adulthood was marked by various professions—including wedding photographer, umbrella wholesaler, and even motorcycle racer—before he served in the British Army during World War II. His wartime experiences in Algiers, Tunisia, and especially Naples provided the basis for one of his most celebrated books, Naples '44, widely praised as one of the finest firsthand accounts of the war. His writing blended keen observation with empathy and dry wit, traits that defined all of his travel works.
Lewis had a deep affinity for threatened cultures and traditional ways of life. His travels took him across Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Mediterranean. Among his most important books are A Dragon Apparent, an evocative portrait of French Indochina before the Vietnam War; Golden Earth, on postwar Burma; An Empire of the East, set in Indonesia; and A Goddess in the Stones, about the tribal communities of India. In Sicily, he explored the culture and reach of the Mafia in The Honoured Society and In Sicily, offering insight without sensationalism.
In 1969, his article “Genocide in Brazil,” detailing atrocities committed against Indigenous tribes, led directly to the formation of Survival International, an organization committed to protecting tribal peoples worldwide. Lewis often cited this as the most meaningful achievement of his career, expressing lifelong concern for the destructive influence of missionary activity and modernization on indigenous societies.
Though Lewis also wrote fiction, his literary reputation rests primarily on his travel writing, which was widely admired for its moral clarity, understated style, and commitment to giving voice to overlooked communities. He remained an unshakable realist throughout his life, famously stating, “I do not believe in belief,” though he found deep joy in simply being alive.
Lewis died in 2003 in Essex, survived by his third wife Lesley and their son Gawaine, as well as five other children from previous marriages.
His early adulthood was marked by various professions—including wedding photographer, umbrella wholesaler, and even motorcycle racer—before he served in the British Army during World War II. His wartime experiences in Algiers, Tunisia, and especially Naples provided the basis for one of his most celebrated books, Naples '44, widely praised as one of the finest firsthand accounts of the war. His writing blended keen observation with empathy and dry wit, traits that defined all of his travel works.
Lewis had a deep affinity for threatened cultures and traditional ways of life. His travels took him across Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Mediterranean. Among his most important books are A Dragon Apparent, an evocative portrait of French Indochina before the Vietnam War; Golden Earth, on postwar Burma; An Empire of the East, set in Indonesia; and A Goddess in the Stones, about the tribal communities of India. In Sicily, he explored the culture and reach of the Mafia in The Honoured Society and In Sicily, offering insight without sensationalism.
In 1969, his article “Genocide in Brazil,” detailing atrocities committed against Indigenous tribes, led directly to the formation of Survival International, an organization committed to protecting tribal peoples worldwide. Lewis often cited this as the most meaningful achievement of his career, expressing lifelong concern for the destructive influence of missionary activity and modernization on indigenous societies.
Though Lewis also wrote fiction, his literary reputation rests primarily on his travel writing, which was widely admired for its moral clarity, understated style, and commitment to giving voice to overlooked communities. He remained an unshakable realist throughout his life, famously stating, “I do not believe in belief,” though he found deep joy in simply being alive.
Lewis died in 2003 in Essex, survived by his third wife Lesley and their son Gawaine, as well as five other children from previous marriages.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 16, 2020
The second part of Norman Lewis's autobiography. The first part, 'I Came, I Saw' covers his childhood (mostly) and is one of the funniest books I've ever read.
This one is nowhere near as interesting, and mostly interesting in providing some background to his travel books. As ever, he's particularly incisive when writing about South East Asia, but the rest of the book feels like something written at the request of his publishers. One for the completists.
This one is nowhere near as interesting, and mostly interesting in providing some background to his travel books. As ever, he's particularly incisive when writing about South East Asia, but the rest of the book feels like something written at the request of his publishers. One for the completists.
January 14, 2018
One of the reviews on the cover of Norman Lewis's second volume of memoirs, by Noel Malcolm, says 'One of the greatest - and most unegotistical - travel writers of our age'. I can only agree. Everything I've read by this wonderful writer has conveyed to me a soul of great compassion, reason and humility. Would love to have met him.
Having witnessed, in a small way, the effect of mass tourism on Spain (my aunt owned a camp-site in a small fishing village on the Costa Dorada where we used to spend childhood holidays), I found Chapter Fourteen particularly poignant. Here's a small excerpt: 'In 1950, with the war at an end, Spain was a country drained of resources of every kind. To some extent its culture had been preserved by poverty and isolation, but this, too, began to lose its uniqueness as the great flood of foreigners poured in, exhibiting life-styles so different from those of the Spanish themselves. Most foreigners remained untouched by their brief contact with the Spanish way of life, but the delicate and subtle culture of the host country suffered increasing damage by its exposure to alien customs.'
He goes on to write in a similar vein about the effects on Thailand.
Well worth reading.
Having witnessed, in a small way, the effect of mass tourism on Spain (my aunt owned a camp-site in a small fishing village on the Costa Dorada where we used to spend childhood holidays), I found Chapter Fourteen particularly poignant. Here's a small excerpt: 'In 1950, with the war at an end, Spain was a country drained of resources of every kind. To some extent its culture had been preserved by poverty and isolation, but this, too, began to lose its uniqueness as the great flood of foreigners poured in, exhibiting life-styles so different from those of the Spanish themselves. Most foreigners remained untouched by their brief contact with the Spanish way of life, but the delicate and subtle culture of the host country suffered increasing damage by its exposure to alien customs.'
He goes on to write in a similar vein about the effects on Thailand.
Well worth reading.
December 18, 2014
Superb... Mr Lewis recreates unforgettably a wide panorama of places far from the beaten track, and immortalises people and situations long gone... a most atmospheric read
April 6, 2012
I had a hard time following this book. It could be in part that I've never read any of Lewis's travel pieces so I came to his memoir without any for knowledge of him. While he seems to have lived a very interesting life I just didn't take any pleasure in it as he jumped from subject to subject. I really would have preferred a more logical outline to the book.
July 9, 2014
Exemplary travel writing and memoir.
May 6, 2024
Many of the things I felt missing in Lewis's autobiography, I Came, I Saw, get filled in with this subsequently published memoirs of his, The World, the World. In particular, he goes into great detail about his work with his publisher, Jonathan Cape, and the background to many of the novels and travel books he wrote. Like I Came, I Saw, however, The World is a book of two halves, the first intensely interesting to me and the second seeming to drift off into a list. That first half describes Lewis's time Indochina as well as a return to the area, along with Burma and Thailand, and his experiences in Guatemala. These chapters seem to have more energy than the latter ones, because they're filled with more interesting people. And to be frank, Lewis is at his best when he describes the interaction and intermediation of Europeans and Americans in countries of the Global South. He wouldn't like that, because for much of his later life, he became an advocate for indigenous peoples. Yet I must say that these chapters on forgotten tribal people come across mostly as a list he checks off during The World's latter passages.
To give but a few examples, Lewis achieved fame for his reporting of the exploitation and outright murder of Indians in Brazil. That is included in this memoirs. Still, it comes across almost mechanically. A remote Indian tribe in Mexico makes for better interest, although it too seems to rush past in less than a chapter along the road to the next destination. For Lewis, that turned out to be Peru, a trip he took with Lord Snowden, Princess Margaret's husband, as his photographer. And here Lewis has something to bite into. The story of the annoying and mercurial Tony Snowden avoiding the press and then pouting because of their absence is one of the highlights of the book. It's a devastating portrait of the official member of the Royal Family. And Lewis handles it deftly, on the surface appearing to defend and at times even praise Snowden, even while he eviscerates his character or lack thereof. This is Lewis at his best, cynical behind a mask of "who me?"
Even so, this book seems sour most of the time, especially in contrast to I Came, I Saw, which is so filled with humor it manages to make fun out of World War II. The subject matter, here, turns into something more and more grim. Lewis can't treat the eradication of indigenous people and their customs and culture in a lighthearted way. He doesn't sentimentalize them, either, except in the case of a brief paen to Rigoberta Menchu. It was after the publication of The World that David Stoll's 1999 investigation of Menchu revealed that she had faked and distorted her 1983 biography to fit it more accurately into a Marxist paradigm. I don't know what Lewis, who died in 2003 had to say about that.
At any rate, this remains a much more somber book than that earlier volume of autobiography. And it all turns at the point where Lewis describes moving to his home in Essex. There, he goes on a crusade, deservedly so, against pesticides and the effect on wildlife and natural flora. Yet Essex sounds boring to me. This is the point where The World shifted down a gear or two and became prone to lecturing and hectoring. Not badly, mind you, but enough to take notice.
To give but a few examples, Lewis achieved fame for his reporting of the exploitation and outright murder of Indians in Brazil. That is included in this memoirs. Still, it comes across almost mechanically. A remote Indian tribe in Mexico makes for better interest, although it too seems to rush past in less than a chapter along the road to the next destination. For Lewis, that turned out to be Peru, a trip he took with Lord Snowden, Princess Margaret's husband, as his photographer. And here Lewis has something to bite into. The story of the annoying and mercurial Tony Snowden avoiding the press and then pouting because of their absence is one of the highlights of the book. It's a devastating portrait of the official member of the Royal Family. And Lewis handles it deftly, on the surface appearing to defend and at times even praise Snowden, even while he eviscerates his character or lack thereof. This is Lewis at his best, cynical behind a mask of "who me?"
Even so, this book seems sour most of the time, especially in contrast to I Came, I Saw, which is so filled with humor it manages to make fun out of World War II. The subject matter, here, turns into something more and more grim. Lewis can't treat the eradication of indigenous people and their customs and culture in a lighthearted way. He doesn't sentimentalize them, either, except in the case of a brief paen to Rigoberta Menchu. It was after the publication of The World that David Stoll's 1999 investigation of Menchu revealed that she had faked and distorted her 1983 biography to fit it more accurately into a Marxist paradigm. I don't know what Lewis, who died in 2003 had to say about that.
At any rate, this remains a much more somber book than that earlier volume of autobiography. And it all turns at the point where Lewis describes moving to his home in Essex. There, he goes on a crusade, deservedly so, against pesticides and the effect on wildlife and natural flora. Yet Essex sounds boring to me. This is the point where The World shifted down a gear or two and became prone to lecturing and hectoring. Not badly, mind you, but enough to take notice.
March 29, 2025
Another beauty from Norman Lewis, this time covering his pelerinages from London to Guatemala, Cuba, and Peru, in addition revisiting Vietnam and entering India. Highlights include his personal encounter with Hemingway and his being scouted in the late 1950s to see whether that rascal Fidel in the Sierra Maestre really had a chance.
January 12, 2022
An invigorating read.
Norman Lewis, along with the other Welsh, Jan Morris belong to an inimitable category of travellers and travelogue writers.
Norman Lewis, along with the other Welsh, Jan Morris belong to an inimitable category of travellers and travelogue writers.
March 16, 2012
I think that if you've read Jackdaw Cake, Naples '44, or Voices of the Old Sea, you'll be a bit disappointed by this book. It's a quick gallop through almost 60 years of Lewis's life, and feels as if it was hurriedly put together when a publisher insisted he finish his autobiography. It has its good moments, notably an encounter with Ernest Hemingway in Cuba, but in many places you wish for much more detail rather than a quick scamper over the surface -- whereas in other places he rambles and gives much more detail than you wanted.
Then again he has written about many of these journeys in far more detail in his other books. So I advise reading them instead -- especially the ones I mention above.
Then again he has written about many of these journeys in far more detail in his other books. So I advise reading them instead -- especially the ones I mention above.
August 24, 2011
good, good old boy travel writing
January 13, 2017
startlingly well-written and insightful; this fellow had a wondrous and adventurous life. The beginning was a quicker read, I thought, more humorous and less reflective.
April 13, 2017
This is my first experience of Lewis and I have to say I can't believe I had never come across him before. This collection is bursting with high quality journalism and some dark and disturbing revelations from the Americas, Europe and Asia. The man clearly lived a highly creative and adventurous life in many parts of the world and his passion, knowledge and commitment really comes across in these pages. A fine collection by a fine writer.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews