Equilateral: A NovelEquilateral is an intellectual comedy set just before the turn of the century in Egypt. A British astronomer, Thayer, high on Darwin and other progressive scientists of the age, has come to believe that beings more highly evolved than us are alive on Mars (he has evidence) and that there will be a perfect moment in which we can signal to them that we are here too. He gets the support and funding for a massive project to build the Equilateral, a triangle with sides hundreds of miles long, in the desert of Egypt in time for that perfect window. But as work progresses, the Egyptian workers, less evolved than the British, are also less than cooperative, and a bout of malaria that seems to activate at the worst moments makes it all much more confusing and complex than Thayer ever imagined. We see Thayer also through the eyes of two women--a triangle of another sort--a romantic one that involves a secretary who looks after Thayer but doesn't suffer fools, and Binta, a houseservant he covets but can't communicate with--and through them we catch sight of the depth of self-delusion and the folly of the enterprise. Equilateral is written with a subtle, sly humor, but it's also a model of reserve and historical accuracy; it's about many things, including Empire and colonization and exploration; it's about "the other" and who that other might be. We would like to talk to the stars, and yet we can barely talk to each other. |
Contents
Section 18 | 99 |
Section 19 | 109 |
Section 20 | 117 |
Section 21 | 120 |
Section 22 | 125 |
Section 23 | 132 |
Section 24 | 139 |
Section 25 | 152 |
Section 9 | 46 |
Section 10 | 51 |
Section 11 | 66 |
Section 12 | 68 |
Section 13 | 74 |
Section 14 | 77 |
Section 15 | 81 |
Section 16 | 88 |
Section 17 | 96 |
Section 26 | 159 |
Section 27 | 164 |
Section 28 | 172 |
Section 29 | 178 |
Section 30 | 185 |
Section 31 | 191 |
Section 32 | 197 |
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Common terms and phrases
Allahu Akbar Arab astronomer astronomer’s aware Ballard Ballard says Bedouin beneath Bint Bint’s cable can’t canals celestial completed Concession Concession’s Daoud Pasha day’s dervishes disk distant doesn’t Earth Effendi Egypt Egyptian engineer Equilateral Equilateral’s Europeans excavations eyepiece eyes face fellahin fever figure Flare France-Lanord gazes geometric girl’s gondola hammam he’s head heat Hellas Hellas Basin horizon hundred June 17 June the seventeenth Kalfus Ken Kalfus Khedive Khedive’s labor look Mahdists man’s Mare Australe Mars Martian maximum elongation ment Merrikh miles Miss Keaton morning murmurs never night Nubians observe ofthe once perhaps petroleum pitch factory planet planetary Point A’s policeman Professor Thayer quarters raised remain Sanford seen segment shadows She’s Side AC Sir Harry smile spades speak stands stars surface takes tea room telegraphic telescope tent Thayer and Miss Thayer says there’s they’re thousands tions triangle turns Vertex weeks Western Desert what’s world’s