Differently written Hsitorical NOVEL

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	• Triangle: A Novel Katharine Weber Picador, 2007 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 40 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Fascinating and varied

I read this book when it first came out and it is my favorite of Weber's books. I will keep it simple and say that I found the story interesting, the characters entertaining and the history fascinating. I have a weakness for books that jump in time and space and allow you to look for traits and patterns between people in these different times and locations. Triangle does just that. Enjoy!

not equilateral

This novel draws heavily on the facts from the two nonfiction pieces about the Triangle Shirtwaist fire: one work, released around 2003, Traingle: the Fire That Changed America, and an earlier work from the 1960s, The Traingle Shirtwaist Fire.
This fiction piece begins with great promise, letting us "hear" the testimony of the fictional last living survivor of the fire, based on the actual testimony of a young immigrant whose testimony, with its "rehearsed" details, was crucial to the acquittal of the defendants, the factory owners who were sued for having allegedly kept the doors locked and neglecting safety concerns in a "fireproof" building (which is still standing today). But the narrative concerning the survivor's granddaughter is far less compelling, even offputting, with its esoteric and tiresome, though sometimes perhaps unintendedly parodic, details about her husband's music composed according to DNA and protein sequences.
If you've read even a modest number of current historical novels dealing with gender issues, you will no doubt guess the "surprise" ending long before you get there. That doesn't diminish the power of the grandmother's voice in relating it, but that power is simply not matched at all by the accompanying narrative dealing with the historian who wants to get the story and the tedious details of the granddaughter's domestic life. A quick and worthy read, but for the real pathos, read the well-written and carefully researched nonfiction titles, which also contain photos of the victims and the building after the fire.

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Differently written Hsitorical NOVEL

I loved the way this was put together. I was worried the fire would overwhelm the story - but it is bearable. I love the music and science themes. I love the sotry of the relationship between grandmother and granddaughter. I like how it doesn't spell things out - even though I figured out the mystery about 2/3 through. Yes the RZ character is abrasive - but there could be people like that - who can't tell when it might be better to leave things alone.

I liked it. I'm not a litrature critic. i'm a reader who likes historical background.

As an Industrial engineer, I am interested in the growth of unions and OSHA and women's rights and such. just think, Esther was the age of my grt grandmother. brings it closer to home. Thank you ladies (& especially all the Rosies & WACS), for your hard work and sacrifices. It made things possible for me.

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A novella in search of a novel

This is a frustrating book. Parts of it were moving, other parts irritating. The storyline about the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911 was riveting; the mysterious story and character of Esther who survived the fire are engaging, real, and quite poignant. But the contemporary characters and most of those long tangents on music bugged to the point of madness.

Frankly, I think Ms. Weber had enough story for a novella and tried to stretch it to book length with all this other "arty" stuff. Yeah, yeah, it was supposed to be some kind of cockamamie metaphor--I get that. It just didn't work for me and came off as pretentious claptrap, especially in contrast to Esther's powerful story. That has stayed with me. So...this is an excellent novella, but not such a great novel.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

By the time she dies at age 106, Esther Gottesfeld, the last survivor of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, has told the story of that day many times. But her own role remains mysterious: How did she survive? Are the gaps in her story just common mistakes, or has she concealed a secret over the years? As her granddaughter seeks the real story in the present day, a zealous feminist historian bears down on her with her own set of conclusions, and Esther's voice vies with theirs to reveal the full meaning of the tragedy.

A brilliant chronicle of the event that stood for ninety years as New York's most violent disaster, Triangle forces us to consider how we tell our stories, how we hear them, and how history is forged from unverifiable truths.

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