THE TWO O'CLOCK SUN

An adventure, perched somewhere between the political reality of present day Lebanon and some rather cloudy philosophical ambiguities with an existential ?inge, this follows Martin Clayne who in turn follows Harlow Wilson to the Middle East. To Martin, Harlow is more than a friend-- a visionary activist with a dream of manifest destiny, his own and the Arabs' to be achieved through some sort of Arab unity. In Beirut, both Clayne and Harlow are in contact with a group of young political hotheads whom Harlow is directing toward that end. If Harlow is misguided, the natives are more so, and a protest action against the Premier and the West becomes a ""field day for idiots,"" ends in a riot, bloodshed and Harlow's summary ouster... Lots of local color and the action is clean out; still, the thinking is less so, and at times Harlow, brooding over his arak- the native tipple, is a pretty morose figure given to portentous truths. One of them might apply to the book: ""You may not succeed... but you don't fail.