Triangulation

By Phil Whitaker

Book Overview

A sweeping, beautifully told, heartbreaking novel of romance, war and adventure: a British mapmaker looks back on his life and a lost chance for love. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312205996
• ISBN13: 9780312205997
• Release Date: October 1999
• Publisher: Picador USA
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 1.0" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

Makes what would at first seem boring very compelling...

I thought this was a really good read. It reminds me of Ian McEwan's novels (which have received huge acclaim Amsterdam: A Novel), but Triangulation is less heavy handed and more subtle but equally rich in style. I was most struck by how Whitaker takes what would seem on the surface to be a bland central character (a retired cartographer) reminiscing about what, too on the surface, would seem as a bland era (the 1950's) and ends up developing very compelling characters, in a gripping, heart rendering story, that is revealed in what ends up being a rich historical setting. His prose are tight while painting a vivid picture in each scene. There is a sort of humility in the style of writing, perhaps intentional or perhaps not, that works well with central character of the novel... making it seem all the more genuine. I had read the Phoenix House edition that was first published in Great Britain that I bought when stuck in Heathrow airport waiting for a flight back to the States; what a pleasent surprise! A thrilling page turner like Grisham or Le Carre; it is not - but it kept me reading until I reached New York and turning the pages with an interest in the characters and story that stealthily and charmingly grew with each chapter. I am glad that Triangulation got the wider publication I felt it deserved with the US edition.