In the late nineteenth century, the astronomer Sanford Thayer convinces the international community to support his plan to construct a huge equilateral triangle (300 miles per side) in the Egyptian desert and light it on fire, to telegraph our presence to the canal builders on Mars. He has lofty expectations about communicating with the strange beings on Mars (through geometry), but is having a hard time communicating with his Arab workers and the women who care for him. Nor does he notice the wonders around him here on Earth.
This short novel was enjoyable enough, with its satirical formal writing style. ("The sun's forced march toward its solstice point brings longer days and greater heat... The fellahin demonstrate commensurately amplified lassitude.") It felt thin to me though: its ideas about human ambition and empire building were shown early and didn't have much depth.
I didn't appreciate the book as well as I did the first time I read it. I've freed up some space on my bookshelf.
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