ladymantis35's review against another edition
1.0
I just read the premise of this book on here and I didn’t even know it was supposed to be a comedy. It wasn’t funny at all. It was quite boring.
kreef's review against another edition
4.0
My full review here: http://newportlibrary.blogspot.com/2013/05/triangle-in-sun.html
berthe33's review against another edition
5.0
An absolute gem! The writing is sublime; a highly intelligent take on the what ifs of late 19th century science.
fictionfan's review against another edition
5.0
Greater than the sum of its parts…
“…red like a pomegranate seed, red like a blood spot on an egg, red like a ladybug, red like a ruby or more specifically a red beryl, red like coral, red like an unripe cherry, red like a Hindu lady’s bindi, red like the eye of a nocturnal predator, red like a fire on a distant shore, the subject of his every dream and his every scientific pursuit.
“Mars,” he says.”
It’s 1894, Mars is about to come into its closest alignment to Earth and Professor Sanford Thayer intends to attract the attention of the Martians. With the support of 900,000 fellahin and financing from the entire Western world, he is excavating a massive equilateral triangle in the desert sands of Egypt and on June 17th, he will turn it into a burning signpost…
This shortish novel took me completely by surprise with its scope and deceptive simplicity, and left me breathless. Not a word is wasted or misplaced as Kalfus plays with early science fiction, empire and colonialism, and the arrogance of science. Sly and subtle humour runs through the book as Kalfus’ present tense narration makes us complicit in the attitudes of the time: the unquestioned superiority of the white man, particularly the Brits, and hence the moral and intellectual inferiority, degeneracy even, of other races; the ascendancy of scientific thought and the belief that scientific advancement equates to moral superiority; the status of women, both ‘white’ and ‘native’. There is another triangle at play here too as Thayer’s emotional entanglements with his secretary and serving maid are played out.
There’s all of that in this book, but most of all there’s a rollicking good sci-fi story in the best tradition of Wells or Wyndham. The scientists have the unshakeable belief that the Martians’ advanced scientific skills (as evidenced by their canal-building) prove that they will be more highly evolved in every way than us and will therefore be a peaceful and civilised race. But we, dear readers, have read the books, seen the films, watched as science gets it wrong sometimes…as the climax approaches, the tension rockets…
Superbly written, the prose is pared back to the bone with every word precisely placed to create an atmospheric, sometimes poetic, and entirely absorbing narrative. Even the geometry becomes magical in this author’s gifted hands as the red planet reprises its eternal sci-fi role as a place of mystery and wonder. An unexpected delight.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
“…red like a pomegranate seed, red like a blood spot on an egg, red like a ladybug, red like a ruby or more specifically a red beryl, red like coral, red like an unripe cherry, red like a Hindu lady’s bindi, red like the eye of a nocturnal predator, red like a fire on a distant shore, the subject of his every dream and his every scientific pursuit.
“Mars,” he says.”
It’s 1894, Mars is about to come into its closest alignment to Earth and Professor Sanford Thayer intends to attract the attention of the Martians. With the support of 900,000 fellahin and financing from the entire Western world, he is excavating a massive equilateral triangle in the desert sands of Egypt and on June 17th, he will turn it into a burning signpost…
This shortish novel took me completely by surprise with its scope and deceptive simplicity, and left me breathless. Not a word is wasted or misplaced as Kalfus plays with early science fiction, empire and colonialism, and the arrogance of science. Sly and subtle humour runs through the book as Kalfus’ present tense narration makes us complicit in the attitudes of the time: the unquestioned superiority of the white man, particularly the Brits, and hence the moral and intellectual inferiority, degeneracy even, of other races; the ascendancy of scientific thought and the belief that scientific advancement equates to moral superiority; the status of women, both ‘white’ and ‘native’. There is another triangle at play here too as Thayer’s emotional entanglements with his secretary and serving maid are played out.
There’s all of that in this book, but most of all there’s a rollicking good sci-fi story in the best tradition of Wells or Wyndham. The scientists have the unshakeable belief that the Martians’ advanced scientific skills (as evidenced by their canal-building) prove that they will be more highly evolved in every way than us and will therefore be a peaceful and civilised race. But we, dear readers, have read the books, seen the films, watched as science gets it wrong sometimes…as the climax approaches, the tension rockets…
Superbly written, the prose is pared back to the bone with every word precisely placed to create an atmospheric, sometimes poetic, and entirely absorbing narrative. Even the geometry becomes magical in this author’s gifted hands as the red planet reprises its eternal sci-fi role as a place of mystery and wonder. An unexpected delight.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
kingtoad's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
runkefer's review against another edition
4.0
Just my kind of book--intelligent and subtle. The gestalt of the book is very quiet, even though momentous, world-changing events are happening. The language is sometimes intricate and lyrical. Most of all, I believe in the obsession of the main character and the devotion of his secretary. A book about the times and places abstraction meets the real world, and what happens when they do.
lizziekam's review against another edition
2.0
I had read and listened to several really gushy reviews of this novel, and being a total space nerd, I was very excited to read this book. But despite it being a short novel (less than 200 pages), it took me a while to slog through it. The premise is in the late 19th century, a sort of crazed genius astronomer somehow secures the massive funding to dig a giant equilateral triangle in the Sahara with the idea to light it on fire as a way of communicating with the intelligent beings he is convinced live on Mars.
I cannot decide if it was the use of the present tense to tell the story or the floridity of the prose, but I felt held at a distance from the characters (especially the two female characters) and the novel just never connected with me. With that said, I am not a reader who insists on finishing every novel I start, but I did not ever choose to abandon it since I was invested enough in the plot to see it through to the end.
I cannot decide if it was the use of the present tense to tell the story or the floridity of the prose, but I felt held at a distance from the characters (especially the two female characters) and the novel just never connected with me. With that said, I am not a reader who insists on finishing every novel I start, but I did not ever choose to abandon it since I was invested enough in the plot to see it through to the end.
melanietownsend's review against another edition
3.0
eh. I'm not sure how this wound up on my "to read" list. Parts of this book were interesting...parts got a little wordy. I never really got into it - didn't connect with any characters.
the book is about the construction of an equilateral triangle in the deserts of Egypt in 1894 as an attempt to communicate with the intelligent life on Mars. Since the science behind this scheme is clearly faulty, it makes the reader wonder, as the protagonist philosophizes about evolution, what other science is erroneous. The theme of the book is explicated on p. 51 when the protagonist is wondering about the existence of a brothel: "In the darkness we speculate. From the darkness we draw hypotheses that conform less to observation than they do to our needs, especially our need for companionship."
The book flap describes it as "irreverent", and I wonder what the person who wrote that found to be irreverent about it. It's also described as "an intellectual comedy", which it may be, but it didn't strike me as such.
the book is about the construction of an equilateral triangle in the deserts of Egypt in 1894 as an attempt to communicate with the intelligent life on Mars. Since the science behind this scheme is clearly faulty, it makes the reader wonder, as the protagonist philosophizes about evolution, what other science is erroneous. The theme of the book is explicated on p. 51 when the protagonist is wondering about the existence of a brothel: "In the darkness we speculate. From the darkness we draw hypotheses that conform less to observation than they do to our needs, especially our need for companionship."
The book flap describes it as "irreverent", and I wonder what the person who wrote that found to be irreverent about it. It's also described as "an intellectual comedy", which it may be, but it didn't strike me as such.
abookishtype's review against another edition
3.0
I usually write my book reviews as soon as I finish the last page, before details fade and I lose the sense of the book. I couldn't do that with Ken Kalfus' Equilateral. I'm still not entirely sure I know what happened in this book. On the one hand, it's another White Man's Folly story of a man who undertakes a massive engineering project in Egypt's Great Sand Sea. On the other, it might also be about a man whose project is the first line of dialogue with the people of Mars...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
meags's review against another edition
1.0
This book was a boring waste of time. I'm glad it was short. I got the recommendation off of NPR and I can't help but feel that the idea that NPR is pretentious is sometimes well deserved, because this fits the bill. The characters and the story are boring, and nothing really happens. It was all ridiculously obscure and long words for no reason other than being "artsy" or "literary". The author should have spent more time thinking up a plot and less browsing his thesaurus.