Charles Bailey
Triangle Love
Equilateral
By Ken Kalfus
Bloomsbury 207pp £12.99
The laws of physics, as far as we can tell, are universal – so alien life would also abide by mathematical rules such as Pythagoras’s Theorem. This is the underlying rationale of Ken Kalfus’s new novel, Equilateral, in which arrogant British Empire types attempt to open up communication with Martians (they are convinced of their existence) by signalling to them across space with a giant burning equilateral triangle. The largest civil engineering project the world has ever seen, carved into Egypt’s western desert, the triangle of perfect dimensions is designed to provide Martian astronomers with evidence that intelligent life exists on Earth. Predictably, things don’t quite pan out – giving rise to a series of philosophical questions about just how intelligent human civilisation really is.
Appropriately, it is in the post-Darwinian world of the 1890s that astronomer Professor Sanford Thayer and his assistant, Miss Keaton, begin work on the triangle. For him, it is representative of humanity’s highly evolved faculties of ingenuity and intelligence. But Kalfus deftly toys with the symbolism of the vast project
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Knowledge of Sufism increased markedly with the publication in 1964 of The Sufis, by Idries Shah. Nowadays his writings, much like his father’s, are dismissed for their Orientalism and inaccuracy.
@fitzmorrissey investigates who the Shahs really were.
Fitzroy Morrissey - Sufism Goes West
Fitzroy Morrissey: Sufism Goes West - Empire’s Son, Empire’s Orphan: The Fantastical Lives of Ikbal and Idries Shah by Nile Green
literaryreview.co.uk
Rats have plagued cities for centuries. But in Baltimore, researchers alighted on one surprising solution to the problem of rat infestation: more rats.
@WillWiles looks at what lessons can be learned from rat ecosystems – for both rats and humans.
Will Wiles - Puss Gets the Boot
Will Wiles: Puss Gets the Boot - Rat City: Overcrowding and Urban Derangement in the Rodent Universes of John B ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Twisters features destructive tempests and blockbuster action sequences.
@JonathanRomney asks what the real danger is in Lee Isaac Chung's disaster movie.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/eyes-of-the-storm