18 JANUARY 1908, Page 24

The Myopes. By Marmaduke Pickthall. (John Murray. 6s.) —The author

of " SaYd the Fisherman" is decidedly more success- ful,when 'he writes about the East than when he endeavours to describe ordinary English people. It is hardly too much to say that there is 'not a single personage in this book whose portrait ' will strike the reader as being true to life, while the extraordinary lapse from morality of the hero and heroine is an offence both against probability and good taste. People who felt the great charm and insight of "Saul the Fisherman" will be deeply dis- appointed in this book, and it is to be hoped that Mr. Marmaduke Pickthall will return to the description of a world which he really understands.