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    Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
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    Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
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    Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
    Audiobook (abridged)3 hours

    Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions

    Written by Edwin A. Abbott

    Narrated by Patrick Frederic

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Flatland is on the verge of the millennium. On the last day of the year 1999, a Square-hitherto undistinguished from the other shapes of his two-dimensional world-receives the Gospel of Three Dimensions, revealed to that world's flat inhabitants only once every a thousand years. Transformed by a truth he is unable to conceal, he is promptly condemned as a heretic. His poignant tale is itself a multi-dimensional creation, for it is not only a challenge to our most basic perceptions of everyday reality, but a sharp social satire and an illuminating mathematical treatise as well.

    In the tradition of fantasy and social satire that includes Gulliver's Travels, Alice in Wonderland, and Animal Farm, Abbott pokes fun at the rigid class structure and concern for appearances of his Victorian society even as he poses an underlying question that is as provoking today as it was a century ago. Could we and everything we see around us be only a cross section for worlds of higher dimensions?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateFeb 5, 2001
    ISBN9780739300701

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    Reviews for Flatland

    4/5

    1,614 ratings87 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      The life and times of a nobleman in 2d, a very interesting view of how dimensions work and how life could work out in a flat sheet
    • 5/5
      As one interested in mathematics in sci-fi, this book has been on my to read list for some time. I’m glad I finally got around to reading it. It is unique and a bit difficult to describe. Partly it is a satire of English culture in 1884. Partly it is anthropomorphizing geometric figures, with surprisingly convincing results. That’s the sci-fi, Abbott’s imagined universe. But basically it is a very clever mathematical proof of the existence of God. Having recently read Frankenstein, I was delighted at the main character’s, A. Square, description of himself as “a second Prometheus.”
    • 3/5
      It was a fun re-read, I read it first about 100 years ago while in high school. Published in 1884, it usually gets categorized as Science Fiction, but it’s a social satire that skewers Victorian mores, especially how women were viewed by that society. And it examines dimensions. The main character is a 2 dimensional square who has a glimpse of the 3rd dimension, which sets him thinking in a new way.

      It’s a pleasant little story.
    • 3/5
      Very strange, unique, and interesting.
    • 1/5
      I suspect it's an effect of this book having been written in the 1880's with language having changed quite a bit in the intervening time, but I found this book completely impenetrable - I only made it through 17 pages before giving up. Quite disappointing, as I was looking forward to it and was expecting it to be interesting.
    • 4/5
      A book that will challenge you to think about dimensions in a simple and surprising way.
    • 3/5
      Deservedly a classic of popular mathematics, Flatland makes the problem of multiple dimensions into a comprehensible adventure of sorts. It's a great concept and something everyone should read about at some point.

      However, there are much better books today from which you could learn the basics of Flatland. Being a product of the late 19th century, the book is saddled with stuffy, annoying prose; outdated and distracting satire; and only a marginally interesting "plot".

      If you've heard about the book in the context of a work which covered the same ideas of how to think about dimensionality and other presumably unthinkable concepts, you can probably skip Flatland, as not much else about it is worthwhile.
    • 4/5
      A prolix quadrilateral named A. Square explains how things are done in Flatland, a two dimensional space where one's role in society is determined by the number of sides one has. Isosceles triangles are at the bottom of the rigid hierarchy and circles (which are regarded as having a large number of "sides") are at the top. Women, who are lines (or, more accurately, very thin parallelograms) are beneath contempt. Square also describes his visions of Lineland and Pointland, and his experiences learning from a mysterious being (a Sphere) about three-dimensional Spaceland. When he tries to share his newfound knowledge of multiple dimensions with the inhabitants of Flatland, he finds that he is treated as a heretic.As prior commentators on Flatland have observed, the book combines geometric observations with a satire on Victorian ideas of social hierarchy. I found this novella to be surprisingly entertaining and on-target, even for me as a non-geometrically inclined reader.
    • 3/5
      A two-dimensional being records his journeys throughout various dimensions.Given his experience with the line I would have thought he would be more open to the possibility of a 3rd dimension.
    • 2/5
      Having read the "unofficial sequel" Flatterland before, I was a bit disappointed by the very low amounts of science and mathematics in this book. But, on the other hand, it verges more towards philosophy and sociology. If you always keep in mind when this book was written, it serves as a nice satire of the thinking in that time (and even present thinking in some cases).Don't read this book for the plot, because it is very thin, but this is not really a big issue in this case.The book loses a star because of the frankly horrible "Preface to the second edition" where the author (sorry, the editor who speaks for the anonymous square who wrote the book) tries to answer to some of the criticisms he received - by denouncing some of the very ideas of the book and apparently failing to see the newly opened possibilities for satire.
    • 3/5
      This slim book is a book of geometry made simple, in a sort of Sophie’s World style, but it’s a lot more than that. While the story is about an inhabitant of a 2 dimensional universe (A Square is what he goes by) who is shown how a one dimensional and a non-dimensional world would work, and then shown the 3 dimensional world of solids, it’s also a social satire. Written during the Victorian era, he mocks the class system & government through is description of 2-D Flatland. The author has been called a misogynist, but I’m not sure if he really was, or if he was satirizing the view, commonly held in his day, of women as emotional, brainless idiots. Given that he also describes military men as stupid and violent, and has the Square hold the upper classes (the more oblique your angles, the higher your class- circles are the top caste) in unwonted awe, I’m going to guess that the misogyny was part of the satire. The actual purpose of the book seems to be to get people’s heads around the idea of a 4th dimension. I’m not sure he accomplished that, but it was a good read and not dated by being over a hundred years old.
    • 5/5
      A story told using simple geometry, brilliant! This is a journey of a 2D man into a 3D world and conveys much of the firm arrogance of Victorian society towards its scientific views, where to interrupt the set way of scientific thinking at that time, was tantamount to heresy. Perhaps not quite as an accessible subject as Alice in Wonderland, but this a fable of the same proprtions - elightening us to endless worlds of possibilities.
    • 4/5
      This was fascinating.
    • 2/5
      Quite disappointed. Clever analog with Math? Sure. Any productive suggestion? No. Cynism is not the answer, curiosity and compassion are. But then, it's written from 135 years ago. Society progresses, human evolves. We are currently in the best zeitgeist on human period. The function of cynism declines.
    • 4/5
      Incredible premise of actual life in two dimensions. It would be good to have the mathematical skills to totally comprehend the entire document.For those of us with somewhat lesser statistical brains than Stephen Hawking, it does get very boring. A kid's edition would be welcome!
    • 5/5
      A story told using simple geometry, brilliant! This is a journey of a 2D man into a 3D world and conveys much of the firm arrogance of Victorian society towards its scientific views, where to interrupt the set way of scientific thinking at that time, was tantamount to heresy. Perhaps not quite as an accessible subject as Alice in Wonderland, but this a fable of the same proprtions - elightening us to endless worlds of possibilities.
    • 3/5
      An amusing and petite (82 pp)mathematical fantasy written over a century ago, Flatland proves to be a gentle social satire a la Gulliver's Travels that doesn't quite manage to rise above the sexism and classism of its time (even while poking fun at such social prejudices). Flatland's Gulliver is a Professional Man Square (for comparison, Middle Class Men are Equilateral Triangles, all Women are Straight Lines & Lower Class Males are Isosceles Triangles of varying angles, the more acute, the lower the class) in a two-dimensional world where the ultimate goal is to engender a Circle. He visits the one-dimensional world of the line in a dream, the no-dimensional world of the point in his imagination and the three-dimensional world of the cube and the sphere with the assistance of a guide from Spaceland. He is ultimately imprisoned (what else could be his fate?) as a heretic (his heresy, the news of 3-dimensional Space).
    • 4/5
      A satire of Victorian cultural norms, it's the story of a denizen of a two dimensional world, a square by the name A. Square. The first half skewers the class system and the deplorable condition of women. Going into this book, I thought it was only a satire of the class system, so I initially believed the misogyny was merely background noise. After a few pages though, it became so outrageous that I realized it was also satirical. Bravo, M Abbot. At the end there's some stuff about art, science, and individual expression, but I'm not sure how successful that was/is.The second half concerns A Square's dream of a one dimensional world, and a forced journey to 3D world wherein he can see the nature of his own world. This forms the background into some pointed questions about political authority and religious veracity, especially when Square attempts to get a 3D Sphere to contemplate a 4th dimension. It's a bit forced, and is less satire and more questioning, but I think it still works.4 stars oc, 3.5 for the book, and an extra .5 because my copy smells fantastic.
    • 4/5
      This classic should be a must-read! Need I say more?
    • 5/5
      Truly brilliant. I've always had a fascination with theories of dimensions and to see this sense of science blended in with fiction that provokes the mind is nothing short of ingenious.A Square speaks mainly of his home in Flatland, a two dimensional world, that is ruled by a monarchy of oppressive circles and a hierarchy of shapes with Isosceles triangles and women (who are straight lines or very thin parallelograms)being at the bottom.A Square also talks about his experiences in visions of Pointland, Lineland, and Spaceland, our three dimensional world, and his concept of infinite dimensions that even the most advanced Sphere can not comprehend.Very thought provoking, smart, and imaginative. This may be a more difficult read from some but for those with a love of dimensional thought, it's an absolute must read.
    • 4/5
      This is a very original book, where you will think in geometric figures at every line. It also sounds quite modern even if it was written in 1884. Its satirical tone makes it a priceless reading jewel and I would certainly recommend it.
    • 3/5
      In Flatland, Edwin A. Abbot uses fiction to provide a unique understanding of dimensions. Rather than start with a three-dimensional subject and descend "downward," he starts in the "middle," with a two-dimensional square in Flatland that first visits a one-dimensional world called Lineland before "ascending" to the three-dimensional world of Spaceland. Abbot's narrative technique is quite effective in setting up his explanation of spatial geometry, though the first part of his story suffers from many of the biases and prejudices of his day. The first half of the book, and much of the second half, is replete with blatant misogyny and an approving portrayal of eugenics. Though Abbot's work plays a significant role in speculative fiction, he could not escape the views of his own time even as he invented new worlds. This work will interest fans of speculative fiction and those looking at the history of science fiction, but is unpalatable to modern sensibilities.
    • 1/5
      Summary: A mathematical love story (seriously) filled with dimensions that I think I'm just not bright enough to understand!
    • 4/5
      "Flatland" is a mathematical satire and religious allegory, written in the shape of the memoirs of A Square, an inhabitant of a two-dimensional world, who had visited other lands - Pointland, Lineland and Spaceland - and gained invaluable insights into the structure of the Universe. Though these journeys and dreams/visions sound like a religious experience (and Edwin Abbott himself was a theologian), the main goal of "Flatland" - to make us think outside the observable world and imagine new dimensions, dimensions we can't perceive - is not necessarily religious in nature. This Square hopes that his account "may stir up a race of rebels who shall refuse to be confined to limited Dimensionality": "like a second Prometheus, I will endure this and worse, if by any means I may arouse in the interiors of Plane and Solid Humanity a spirit of Rebellion against the Conceit which would limit our Dimensions to Two or Three or any number short of Infinity." I thought this was quite interesting and nicely done. Also, in the first part of the book, Abbott cleverly uses geometrical concepts to criticize his own society (e.g. social stratification is depicted as hierarchy of geometric figures). It was fun.Bear in mind that "Flatland" was written in the 19th century, and if you like math, social critique and enjoy pondering the nature of the Universe (or Multiverse) - you'll like this book. A religious person might experience it on a different level, but I guess they'd like it as well.
    • 4/5
      A wonderful mixture of science fiction and satire
    • 5/5
      Absolutely brilliant - a true masterpiece. The premise is so simple - just the basics of elementary school mathematics. Abbott makes characters out of basic shapes with such diversity and far reaching social commentaries that are as relevant today as it was in the time in which he wrote it.
    • 5/5
      From the Introduction:Here is a stirring adventure in pure mathematics, a fantasy of strange spaces peopled by geometric figures; geometric figures that think and speak and have all too human emotions. This is no trifling tale of science fiction. Its aim is to instruct, and it is written with subtle artistry...
    • 4/5
      This is a short late 19th century concept novel, based on the imaginary thoughts of an inhabitant (a Square) of a land of two dimensions and the conversations he has with the Sphere, a being from Spaceland, a world of three dimensions. Lineland and Pointland also make appearances. I appreciated the author's intent in trying to show how the concept of dimension entirely governs one's notion of the universe; at the same time, I was amused by how the author's natural assumptions of nineteenth century middle class life governed even these other dimensional worlds; so, the Square's household (his wife is a line, his sons pentagons and his grandsons hexagons) has servants (triangles) and there is a criminal underclass of isosceles triangles. Even Lineland has a King. Pointland is (naturally) just a single being unaware of the existence of any other being. Simultaneously interesting and amusing little book.
    • 2/5
      I heard the audio book of Flatland and I found it very basic in terms of Geometry. I did like the author's creativity in creating the 1- and 2-dimensional world.
    • 5/5
      One of the most important book I've ever read. It was written a long time ago but still remains one of the best mind stretching ways to open you mind up to understanding the dimensionality of reality. The implications are not merely scientific. The theological implications are significant as well. For instance, if God exists outside of the dimension of time (I believe he is both within and without) then for Him there is no predestination or foreknowledge. Only knowledge of all things.

      I am adding this note on this book in Jan 2011. I read this book in 2003 (borrowed from Jonathan Jessup) and it is still shaping the way I see the world. I need to re-read for a refresher. :)