Marmaduke Pickthall
2 books
- Said cheats, charms, and blunders his way from a Syrian fishing village to Damascus and beyond, a picaresque with no interest in redeeming him. Pickthall knew these streets; the Arab world here is a lived place, not painted scenery.
- An Englishwoman converts and marries into Cairo society, and Pickthall, who became Muslim himself, writes harem life from inside rather than through the keyhole. Unhurried, sympathetic, and more clear-eyed about both cultures than its era usually managed.