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A review by catmcso
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
2.5 stars, I liked the last quarter of the book when we meet the sphere. There were some very impactful passages about the denial of the N+1th dimension by the “solids” in the Nth dimension. I know the first three quarters of the book worth of definitions were necessary to build to those moments. And I don’t even really mind mathematical definitions as content!
HOWEVER!
Flatland was an incredibly chauvinist society. To me, the misogyny didn’t serve to amplify the satire. It seemed like just misogyny for misogyny’s sake. I read that Abbott was a leader for women’s education, but he explains in the book that the argument for educating women is only so men are not forced to talk down to women (and therefore dim their own male intellect). Maybe that’s part of the satire too! And it all went over my head! /s But…it really negatively affected how I felt about the novella.
Also, seems like an awful waste to setup 80 pages of math definitions, to only let the reader play in the world for the remaining 50.
HOWEVER!
Flatland was an incredibly chauvinist society. To me, the misogyny didn’t serve to amplify the satire. It seemed like just misogyny for misogyny’s sake. I read that Abbott was a leader for women’s education, but he explains in the book that the argument for educating women is only so men are not forced to talk down to women (and therefore dim their own male intellect). Maybe that’s part of the satire too! And it all went over my head! /s But…it really negatively affected how I felt about the novella.
Also, seems like an awful waste to setup 80 pages of math definitions, to only let the reader play in the world for the remaining 50.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny