Reviews

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott

chloekg's review

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5.0

"My life got flipped turned upside, and I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there, I'll tell you how I became the prince in a town full of two-dimensional beings who cannot perceive, and therefore imagine, the fullness of greater dimensions."

novembergem's review

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5.0

This unassuming little book changed the way I view the world.

msewidan's review against another edition

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5.0

قلما تجد رواية تجعلك تفكر كالكتب الفكرية, هى برأيى عمل منتهى العبقرية والابداع
هل تجبرنا رؤيتنا المحدودة على انكار حقائق ؟
غرور الانسان جعله ينصب جهله والذى يراه علمه كصنم يعبده بدون أى تفكير او تحرر فكرى لدراسته.
واحد من الكتب اللى تغير قارئها وعقله بعد قرائتها.
كانت مملة فى الاولى ولكنها عبقرية فيما بعد

harrythesequel's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

anauxx's review against another edition

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inspiring reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

lethaltouch's review

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challenging informative reflective fast-paced
  • Loveable characters? No

3.0

In terms of physics and geometry, this book was an interesting read. Specifically, the parts where
the main character addresses the point and line world and is then expected to acknowledge the 3rd dimension
I found intriguing and were compelling to read, especially noting that the thoughts of higher dimensions were being thought about even in the 19th century. I thought this aspect was written and conveyed pretty well for its time and served its purpose. The philosophical nature of the plot for the main character I also thought interesting considering
the stark change in the circle's life and worldview and how he coped with the new information
.

In terms of the political aspect, even if written for satirical purposes and the era of the book's release kept in mind, the continued belittling of the female characters is hard to read and unpalatable especially considering the detail went into. The class separation and social commentary was unexpected but again most likely is to reflect the society of Abbott. I thought the writing of it was fine and served the purpose to demonstrate the nonsensical nature of the barriers between the shapes.

Overall, it was a good read and felt an even better one the longer it went without mentioning the fragility and inferiority of the women.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

hotatemaguro's review

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reflective medium-paced

3.0

thesofakillers's review against another edition

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4.0

05/05/14
I have finished the book
Page 160
Review
Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott was an extremely interesting book to read. It provided me with abundantly compelling thoughts that few books that I have read before have ever managed to match. The book though, like most books, is not perfect and is constellated with various flaws, which although minor, were enough to detract a bit from the overall experience.

The first and probably most negligible fault is the fact that the book, being written in 1884, is written in a somewhat more archaic manner. Although the author can't be blamed for this issue, as it makes sense for him to write in the style of his time, it is still an issue for more modern readers, who will struggle with understanding and thus read the book at a slower pace.
Speaking of pace, the book is very oddly paced. This can probably be justified by the fact that the book is in truth not a novel, but rather more of a "satirical novella" as defined by Wikipedia, which doesn't revolve around its protagonist's Adventure so to teach its audience, but rather revolves around its protagonists experiences and thoughts so to have its audience think. What I mean by this is that this isn't your typical "quest" book, and thus conventional plot characteristics aren't present. Having said that, what renders the odd pace of the book an issue, is the fact that it is excruciatingly boring for the first 96 pages, which are actually more than half the book. In these first 96 pages, which serve as a massive (and almost useless, in my opinion) intro, Edwin A. Abbott passes his time describing the world of Flatland, the two-dimensional universe where most of the book is set in. Although this is needed for later on in the book, the author goes way too much into detail with this, turning these first 96 pages into a very boring tirade of details, interrupted every now and then by some somewhat comical satire directed to human society and politics.

At the page turn though, Flatland becomes, as mentioned, abundantly compelling. The main topic that the book tackles is "how would inhabitants from different dimensions interact with each other and explain their dimensions to each other?" To do this, of course, the book must first explain the concept of having multiple dimensions, such as having a multiverse. It does this magnificently by dumbing the concept down by looking at two- and one-dimensional universes, which surprisingly works perfectly thus rendering the whole concept easy to understand by the audience. Once it has gotten that out of the way, the question itself is artfully tackled, with simple examples and through various ways such as tackling it mathematically with patterns, or visually with diagrams present in the book. What renders the book so interesting is the fact that everything it presents in these last 64 pages is not only fully graspable, but can also be applied to our world: What would it be like for us to be visited by a being from the fourth dimension? What if that is the explanation for all things that we deem supernatural? How would we able to understand what that being is trying to tell us, if we have absolutely no experience in four-dimensional concepts? The being would have to explain everything from ground up, like teaching calculus to a baby or something of the sort. These are the type of thoughts that rushed through my head as I read the last 64 pages of Flatland, and I must say, are the thoughts that made this book worth the read. The book truly has the potential to change your view on the world, universe, multiverse or whatever you want to call it that you live in, as long as you are willing to delve into it with an open mind.

In conclusion, Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott was very insightful read which most definitely has the potential to affect the readers view on the world, both in terms of physics through the interesting interactions found in the last 64 pages, but also in terms of politics and society through the satire found in the mostly boring first 96 pages. It is for these reasons that, despite the boring details and other issues faced in the beginning, I would give the book 4.2 stars out of 5. A very interesting read.

This is book 4
page 60
After these first pages of the book, I can say that I'm eager to see what it has to offer. This is because, I really haven't seen that much. I had heard of this book several times on reddit.com, reading that it would blow my mind, or at least, leave me thinking about things. So far the book has done neither since it hasn't really done much at all. The first 15 pages or so were spent with various introductions and prefaces not written by the author, and the remaining 45 pages were spent laying out the book's setting by describing the inhabitants, the housing, and generally life in Flatland. I'm actually suspecting that I'm not done reading the intro part. Regardless of the fact that nothing has really happened, what I have read of the book was well crafted and left me interested. It's cool to see how Edwin Abbott Abbott describes life in this dimension different from ours, a dimension in 2D instead of 3D. As for things I wasn't pleased with, I didn't like how the intro and preface, that I thought I would read before the book since they are situated before the book, ended up spoiling parts of the story. I feel like they would've functioned better as postface and outro for example. I'm also somewhat worried by the fact that in a 130-page book, I'm halfway through and still nothing has really happened. I hope that the remaining pages will be enough for the author to effectively delivering his message and ideas. So far, decent book.

jerrysideburns's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

alexdonnachie's review

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3.0

Very cute