bookishkylie 's review for:

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

4.0

adventurous funny reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions is a satire using the laws of mathematics (specifically geometry and it’s properties in 1, 2, and 3 dimensional spaces) to comment on various aspects of Victorian society. Despite this being written in the 1800s, there are many parts that feel relevant today. Though perhaps not in the way the author had originally intended. 

One thing that filled my math nerd heart with glee was all the geometric drawings throughout the book. The concept of flatland was a little mind bending at first but once I understood it was fun to visualize in my mind how the people of Flatland would live. The book is written from the perspective of the Square, a respectable middle-class lawyer and mathematician in Flatland. In Flatland, men are 2-dimensional shapes from a lowly isosceles triangle to the revered Circles, while women are 1-dimensional lines. 

I’ve seen many people critique this book for blatant misogyny. Though there is misogyny displayed in the book, it is antithetical to Flatland’s core message. Abbott’s preface included in the second and revised edition states, “[The Square] was writing as a Historian, he has identified himself (perhaps too closely) with the views generally adopted by Flatland and (as he has been informed) even by Spaceland, Historians; in whose pages (until very recent times) the destinies of Women and of the masses of mankind have seldom been deemed worthy of mention and never of careful consideration.” This preface shows me that the Square is an unreliable narrator and sexism, and classism, he describes is meant to parallel and critique the Victorian social hierarchy. 

This particular dialogue between the Sphere and the Square is further evidence: 

Sphere: “This omnividence, as you call it-it is not a common word in Spaceland-does it make you more just, more merciful, less selfish, more loving? Not in the least. Then how does it make you more divine?” 

Square: "More merciful, more loving!" But these are the qualities of women! And we know that a Circle is a higher Being than a Straight Line, in so far as knowledge and wisdom are more to be esteemed than mere affection. 

Sphere: “It is not for me to classify human faculties according to merit. Yet many of the best and wisest in Spaceland think more of the affections than of the understand, more of your despised Straight Lines than of your belauded Circles.” 

The Spheres home country of Spaceland is implied to be significantly more evolved than Flatland. In addition, this book certainly makes a statement on the influence of knowledge and how authoritarian governments seek to control who has access to this knowledge, including women’s education. While this book does not resolve woman’s rights in Flatland, neither are any of the other multitude of issues raised. 

It’s been a minute since I have actually finished a piece of classic literature, and while this 96 page book took me over 300 days to finish (I started it and didn’t pick it back up until MONTHS later), I am so happy I did! I feel much more motivated to read more classic works of literature now that I feel the dopamine boost of finishing one :)