Flatland: A Romance Of Many Dimensions (1992) - Plot & Excerpts
Take a classically styled, 19th century satire about Victorian social mores…dress it up in dimensional geometry involving anthropomorphized shapes (e.g., lines, squares, cubes, etc.)…bathe it in the sweet, scented waters of social commentary…and wrap it all around humble, open-minded Square as protagonist. The result is Flatland, a unique “classic” parked at the intersection of a number of different genres, thus pinging the radar of a wider than normal audience to appreciate (or detest) it. Since I’m recommending the book, I’m really hoping for the former, as I do not want to incur a cyber-flogging (or worse) from my fellow “goodreaders.” So...um...math. Let’s get this out of the way right now. As I alluded to in my intro, this book contains MATH. Now I hesitate to even mention that, because of the potential angst that subject causes many of my friends. I certainly don’t want people going all …and dashing away in a panic. Rest easy and increase your calm, the math is very minor. It’s really limited to discussions of geometric figures in the context of how many spatial dimensions they inhabit. Damn, that didn’t sound good either….just trust me, you won’t need a slide rule, an abacus or a lifeline to Stephen Hawking to read the book. However, with that said, while the math is not tricky, some of the concepts can be a little brain twisty to try and visualize. Thus, I want to caution that when you get to the section where a three dimensional “Sphere” is explaining a universe containing only one dimension to our two-dimensional protagonist, you should….IMMEDIATELY…DISCONTINUE…READING…until you have:1. burned some incense, 2. poured a big tumbler of whiskey, and 3. eaten a few “peyote” brownies, because the SHIT is about to get… PLOT SUMMARY: Written in 1884, the story is told by “A. Square,” who lives in Flatland, a world of two-dimensions, which means length and width, but no depth (just like the Kardashians). The men of Flatland are multi-sided polygons, and the more sides an individual has, the greater their social standing. On the other hand, women are all simple lines and have no voice in the governing of the society. Yep...the Flatlanders are chauvinists. The book begins with “A Square” describing his life as part of the “professional class” and providing details on daily life in Flatland. This section serves as a In reality, this is a pretty good satire on Victorian London society, the social caste system and gender inequality. Later, “A Square” dreams of a one-dimensional world called Lineland, where the inhabitants exist as simple points along a straight line, as there is no other width or depth. I seriously hope you have that tumbler of whiskey and some brownies close by because you are going to need them. What follows is a fun, but somewhat confusing discussions during which “A Square” tries to explain the two-dimensional world to the king of Lineland. Eventually, our protagonist wakes up back in Flatland, only to find that he is now being visited by a Sphere from a three-dimensional universe…whiskey…peyote…now. Sphere takes our flatlander on a mind-expanding, eye opening journey to witness the wonders and mysteries of the higher and higher dimensions (3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.). Afterwards, “A Square” returns to Flatland to teach the wonders of such “enlightened” dimensions to his fellow flatlanders, the result of which is……nope…no spoilers here! THOUGHTS:As I sit here, sober and “mostly” peyote free, I think I enjoyed the “ideas and concepts” of the story more than the actual plot. The writing was fine, but nothing that struck me as particularly eloquent. However, I’ve the concepts of the story have stayed with me and I have actually become more appreciative of the material as time has gone by. Overall, I liked the book. I think it’s worth reading, but more for the interesting ideas and mental gymnastics that the narrative puts you through than for the simply enjoyment of the plot. Still, a worthwhile read, and since it’s actually a novella, you can get through it quickly without a large time commitment. 3.0 stars. Recommended!
Flatland is one of those pseudo-scientific novels that has since become a piece of the scientific canon in the same way that Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has; when attempting to explain theoretical physics to a class, and at a dead-end, a professor is most liekly to turn to an analogy from Flatland. Which makes sense. Flatland is the story of A. Square, a resident of the two-dimensional Flatland, and how he comes to understand that there are universes in every dimension. Previous to this, the idea of any universe but his own two-dimensional universe was unthinkable; by the end of the novel, he is positing the existence of a great, infinitely-dimensional being-- god. This is not surprising; Edwin Abbott was a theologist first and foremost. What is surprising is how modern eyes have seen this tale, and it gives us a perspective on the endless debate as to whether the author's belief about his story is the final and "right" one.Abbott meant his book as a treatise on theoretical physics-- if at all-- in only a minor way. According to Abbott himself, his main goal in the writing of Flatland was to produce a kind of "satire of manners" on Victorian England. And, given what little I know of the ways of life in Victorian England, he seems to be right on the money. But what do I know? Abbott's assertion is backed up by the structure of the novel, certainly; the first hundred pages of this small (hundred fifty page) tome are devoted to the customs and mores of Flatland. How stinging a criticism they are of the values and mores of Victorian England is not for me to say. Thus, those of us who are not historians are left with the final fifty pages, and the impact of the first hundred pages upon them (which, aside form the knowledge gained therein, is minimal); and, at least as far as the physicists go, the book has metamorphosed into a trestise on theoretical physics.I'm not a theoretical physicist, either, but I've always been interested in mathematics in a sort of hobbylike way, and the math presented in Flatland is good, solid theory that also happens to be thought-provoking. Seeing how A. Square's realization of how the third dimension works dawns on him, and seeing how Lord Sphere explains the mechanics of the third dimension to A. Square, it is easy to take those arguments and make them to postulate a theoretical fourth dimension (albeit one that is impossible to visualize, at least within the narrow scope of my mathematical knowledge) and its supercubes with sixteen points and eight faces, and the like.The point is, however, we seem to have taken a minor part of the book's appeal to its original audience and made that its full appeal today. We still think it's good (or it wouldn't still be in print a hundred sixteen years after its release, no?), but we think different aspects of it are good. The opinions of the artist have passed on, and the work itself remains in a different perspective.
What do You think about Flatland: A Romance Of Many Dimensions (1992)?
This book is just brilliant. Written by a British mathematician in 1881, it’s a short fantasy novel about life in two dimensions. People in this book live in a two-dimensional world. They're not aware of, or can't even imagine, the third dimension. They have simple geometrical shapes like triangles and squares and other polygons. The higher the number of the sides, the higher the individual is in the social hierarchy. Those who have so many sides that they resemble a circle are priests. The land is ruled by the Chief Circle. Squares are considered middle-class. Triangles are underclass and soldiers. The lowest status is given to women who are just straight lines. I don’t know about the political beliefs of the author. He was either mocking the sexism and the rigid social order of the Victorian Britain, or he was a supreme reactionary. Life in two dimensions has its many challenges. As an example – everyone looks like a straight line. Shapes are recognized only when seen from above – in a 3D world. When you live on a plane and see everything on the plane level, everything is just a straight line. The author goes to some length explaining how people can distinguish shapes (similar to how 3D creatures like ourselves can have 3D vision). Life in Flatland is not as boring as you might think. A lot is going on. There are wars and revolutions too. The story is narrated by a smart Square who is visited by a Sphere from a three-dimensional world. People in Flatland cannot even imagine a third dimension, like we can’t imagine a fourth spatial dimension. Imagine that you’re 2D and a sphere from a 3D space passes through your plane. It is only a point at first, then becomes a circle growing in size, then a circle shrinking in size, until it disappears. All the while, you have no idea where the circle came from and where it went to. A 3D entity can see and touch the inside of your body (from above, but you don’t know what above is). If you’ve locked away things in your 2D safe, the 3D guy can pick them up from there and put them in front of you. There are countless fantastical things that the 3D guy can do in your 2D world – all magic to you! Think of the implications for us if there is a fourth spatial dimension and something comes to us from the 4D space.
—Jafar
"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.[Read this review on my blog]
—Milica Chotra
This book is about math in the same way that Anna Karenina is about a train. Yes, it is written from the first person point of view of a square. The fact that the angles of a polygon's vertexes determine his place in the class structure makes the story no less a criticism of the social divisions of Abbot's day.Abbot uses the mathematical metaphor of dimension to berate his society for a very limited worldview. In doing this he, as so many great minds before him, used math to illustrate his arguments. A great novel, Flatland works on many levels and easily illustrates many complicated points about gender, class, religion, politics, and math. It is a fascinating tale of one square's battle against the rigid lines of stagnant thinking.
—Kathleen
