“One obvious criticism may be made in conclusion,—that the author has fallen deeply beneath the sway of Meredithian formula, without, however, lapsing into the obscurity of his great exemplar.”
| + − | Spec. 99: 574. O. 19, ’07. 690w. |
Hichens, Robert Smythe. Barbary sheep: a novel. †$1.25. Harper.
7–24588.
A slight story steeped in the atmosphere, the mystery, the fascination of the Algerian desert. An English nobleman falls in with the whims of his wife who must be amused and takes her to the edge of the Algerian desert. While he hunts Barbary sheep, she succumbs to the wiles of an Arab army officer who practices his hypnotic arts upon her. It is a daring bit of romantic color that Mr. Hichens flings upon his canvas.
“It is merely a small thing supremely well done.” Edward Clark Marsh.
| + + | Bookm. 26: 167. O. ’07. 1240w. | |
| Ind. 63: 939. O. 17, ’07. 500w. |
“As for the style and proportions of the narrative. they suggest ... a distinct advance in the art of the novelist. The purple passages of description are few and not over-long; and there is a general abstention from ‘piling on the agony.’”
| + − | Nation. 85: 211. S. 5, ’07. 300w. |