“Mr. Pickthall rouses our interest and respect; he is as yet without that last touch of inspiration, which rouses enthusiastic conviction.”
+ – Acad. 71: 311. S. 29, ’06. 220w.
“Our only objections are that Mr. Pickthall is at times too resolutely Oriental for the ordinary reader to follow him easily, and that he would gain occasionally by straightforward narrative where facts are conveyed by brief allusion only.”
+ – Ath. 1906, 2: 297. S. 15. 720w.
“He has failed to breathe into his characters the breath of life.”
+ – Lit. D. 33: 686. N. 10, ’06. 130w.
“‘Saïd the fisherman,’ it is true remains his masterpiece, but ‘The house of Islam’ has very great merits.”
+ Lond. Times. 5: 322. S. 21, ’06. 290w.
“The geography, architecture, and figures are in admirable proportion: the characters stand out and live; the style is swift, pictorial, and amiably cynical, fitting its theme.”