- Hardcover: 272 pages
- Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson (13 May 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1861590806
- ISBN-13: 978-1861590800
- Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 14 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,507,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
In Triangulation, his second novel, Phil Whitaker straddles 30 years and two continents, linking the seemingly incongruous through the lives of three people. Told through correspondence, clippings, and straight narration, the novel tells of the meeting of John, Lawrence and Helen at what was then the Directorate of Overseas Surveys at the end of the 1950s. Each is very different, embodying within the fabric of their personalities some of the moral, sexual and social changes that were taking place at a point in history characterised by flux. The security and orderliness of the maps that form the centre of their lives are contrasted with the events taking place around them, whether it's passion hiding within the dusty archives of the Directorate, or the political turmoil of a country at the heart of an Africa on the brink of independence. The triangulation of the title refers both to the eternal linking of the relationships that carry the novel, and to a method that allows a surveyor to chart and understand the land ahead of him. This process can be elating, sometimes destroying, but, as with life itself, it is relentless. Whitaker has written a poignant novel brimming with pathos, and a gentle understanding of a withering age and the apparent sureties that held its philosophies together. Triangulation will definitely ensure that his is a name that will be heard more often. --Natasha Billing
Product Description
It is the late-1950s. In the newly renamed Directorate of Overseas Surveys, three young people's lives entwine: the stalwart, conventional John; the brilliant, flawed Laurence; and Helen, a young woman escaping her rural upbringing and hungry for adventure.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Triangulation is a quietly heartbreaking, quietly stunning book which tells the deeply moving story of three friends and their tangled passions. With a surety of touch, and a remarkable empathy for his characters, Whitaker takes us on a journey through such strange territories as 1950s Britain, the dusty halls of the Civil Service, the uncharted landscapes of Africa and, most of all, the complexities of love.
Whitaker writes with real clarity and precision, painting a wonderfully vivid portrait of Britain in the fifties, as well as delivering a thrilling account of Africa at that time. At the centre of the book is John Hopkins, a somewhat grey and cold-hearted little man, who reveals himself to be the unwitting catalyst for a series of events that changes forever the lives of his friends. While Hopkins remains relatively unchanged as a person over forty years, it is his coolness and attention to detail that allows us to become fully immersed in this fascinating and poignant story.
With Triangulation Whitaker has written a book that is rich with the profundity of life, longing and love. It is a novel that lingers long after reading the final page, and is one that should be read again and again. I cannot recommend it too highly.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A beautifully crafted and truly believable story of love, trust and betrayal linking the three main characters' lives. Once again Phil Whitaker has created a novel that genuinely captures the feel of a time and place, whether in this instance it be 1950's London or expeditionary Africa. Well recommended.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
After publication of his first book, ECLIPSE OF THE SUN, the Daily Telegraph dubbed Phil Whitaker a writer to watch. TRIANGULATION, his second effort, definitely answers their praise. This is, quite simply, a brilliant novel.
Set primarily in the late 1950's, against the backdrop of a crumbling Empire, TRIANGULATION maps the lives of three individuals -- John, Helen and Laurence -- who are inextricably bound to one another by matters of love, jealousy and circumstance. Their relationship mirrors a society in flux, where nothing can be as it was and nothing is as it seems.
Whitaker's style is at once intricate and remarkably accessible. The plot unfolds with a measured delicacy, combining recollection and traditional narrative with epistolary and reportage techniques. His description of the English civil service -- the protagonists are employed by the Directorate of Overseas Surveys -- and London of the fifties are astoundingly evocative. And the depictions of the uncharted African interior, frankly, thrill. But more so than these, it is the poignant tale of unrequited love at the heart of this novel that fascinates.
TRIANGULATION is a wonderful book, and Whitaker a gifted writer. He is definitely an author on the rise, and rather than watched, he should simply be read!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
One of the best books I've read (and re-read)
It was one of my new year resolutions to start writing appreciative Amazon reviews for books I've enjoyed... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Lisbeth Davies
Dear John,
Triangulation tells the story of John Hopkins, and how he started his job as a Civil Servant - Assistant Map Curator - at the Directorate of Overseas Surveys, in 1957. Read more
Published on 7 July 2009 by Four Violets
Good read if you were British
I bought this book in the airport on my way back to America. My British friend recommended the book but I could not get myself involved in the story. Read more
Published on 25 July 2000
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