• Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions

  • By: Edwin Abbott
  • Narrated by: Alan Munro
  • Length: 4 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (536 ratings)

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Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions  By  cover art

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions

By: Edwin Abbott
Narrated by: Alan Munro
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Publisher's summary

Abbott used the fictional two-dimensional world of Flatland to offer pointed observations on the social hierarchy of Victorian culture. However, the novella's more enduring contribution is its examination of dimensions, for which the novella is still popular amongst mathematics, physics, and computer science students. Several films have been made from the story, including a feature film in 2007 called Flatland. Other efforts have been short or experimental films, including one narrated by Dudley Moore and a short film with Martin Sheen titled Flatland: The Movie.

Public Domain (P)2012 Trout Lake Media

What listeners say about Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Upward, not Northward

I give Abbott props for prophetically working out some of the fundamentals of the fourth dimension and dimensional progression 30 years prior to Einstein's general theory of relativity. As a satire, however, while it loosely follows a very Swiftian formulation (Flatland = England; Lineland = Lilliput; Spaceland = Brobdingnag), it isn't as well developed as Gulliver's Travels.

Still, Abbott plays a very significant role in the development of science fiction as a reasonable way to address and criticize current social problems. Abbott wrote the novella Flatland during a period of women's suffrage and a rigid class-based hierarchy. In someways, that makes Flatland as relevant, revolutionary and prophetic a piece today as it was when published in 1884.

My biggest critique of the narration is that Alan Munro would occasionally stumble when presented with mathematical expressions like 3² (three to the second power) 3³ (three to the third power). He would simply read these as thirty-two or thirty-three. Since I was reading along with the book, I saw the error, but if I was only listening, it would have been a little confusing.

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33 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Story, Terrible Narrator

What made the experience of listening to Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions the most enjoyable?

The story is fantastic! I love stories which expand the imagination and encourage the reader to consider the world from different perspectives.

What other book might you compare Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions to and why?

It may seem strange, but I couldn't help thinking of Lewis' "The Great Divorce" because both books encourage on to stretch the imagination and consider possibilities from perspectives not usually presented. It's as if the authors have found new scenic overlooks which offer the viewer a new and greater perspective.

Would you be willing to try another one of Alan Munro’s performances?

His voice is pleasant, but I found it frustrating to hear him say "thirty-two" or "thirty-three" when he should have said, "three squared" and "three cubed". He didn't know how to read mathematical notation.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Great story, but I'd try a different narrator.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

32 and omniscience

This story is good. Problem is, the narrator doesn't know how to pronounce a lot of the words, and it gets distracting. surprising to say the least for an audible production. for example, omniscience was said as "omni-science" and "3 squared" was read as 32. Find a different version if you can.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Not what I expected

I can definitely appreciate the uniqueness of this book as well as the attention to detail and effort Edwin Abbott put forth when imagining Flatland. I was more interested in the actual physics of the 2D universe than I was the rest of the story, but overall I'm glad I bought it.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

awful narrater and recording - great story

narrater has a very deep voice and reads at very uneven speed, constant pauses.
that plus the old outdated vocabulary make it hard to follow and enjoy the story.
i wished there was a more modern adaptation of this almost 200 year old masterpiece...

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Flatland a romantic nothing

The Boring

This was just boring and somewhat bizarre, nothing interesting or intriguing, nothing but nonsense about how circles and stuff can't see each other on a flat surface and it's a no no either way.... just boring.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Trippy but a great brain teaser

It was confusing at first but the book does a great job demonstrating these weird and abstract ideas.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Very interesting

Would recommend to read if you find mathematics interesting does show its age, however. Product of its times.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Sloooooooooooowww

3/4 of this book is extremely boring. The narrators extra long pauses and monotonous performance don't do it any favors.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

X1.3 to x1.5 speed makes the narration easier

The narrator isn’t great but I do love this book. Its very consciousness expanding. Next I’d read “how to build a time machine.”

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