Flatland

A Romance of Many Dimensions

By: Edwin A. Abbott

Narrated by: Patrick Frederic

Length: 3 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Flatland, like our own world, is on the verge of the millenium. 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?

©1884 Edwin A. Abbott
(P)2001 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The best introduction one can find into the manner of perceiving dimensions." —Isaac Asimov

"At once a classic of science fiction, a playful brainteaser about geometry, a pointed satire of Victorian manners—and, finally, a strangely compelling argument about reason, faith, and the greatest mysteries of the universe.” —The Wall Street Journal

Loved all the concepts of this book

After hearing dozens of recommendations for this book I sought it out.
I was not dissapointed.

The books concepts and mathematical principles are interesting, educating and suprisingly entertaining. I loved the descriptions of the character's worlds and had no trouble turing my mind around the concepts existing in worlds with different numbers of dimensions.

The story is well told through a character that is easy to believe and ,if not have empathy towards, understand their plight.

The story was over well before I wanted it to but I suppose that only so many concetps may be put forth in a book like this before the author believes he may be overindulging or submitting their readers to a deluge of too many principles.

Highly recommended for those who wish to understand when physicists sometimes claim the existance of other dimensions which we cannot perceive and who wish to know how this can be.

Great Book for Fantasy Writers

This book offers one of the best explanations I have ever heard on dimensions. If you are a fantasy writer and want to know the difference between dimensions and universes, get this book. The story itself isn't all that compelling, but it is entertaining enough.

Dated but so fun.

Set yourself in a mood to be amused by old-fashioned sensibilities and smile as you listen to a fun description of social norms in the 2D world.

Amazing

I was amazed that anyone could write a story about a square that would have the same level of suspense as the greatest dramas.

I was more amazed at all of the implicit social and religious commentary that could be crammed into a story without diverting attention from the plot.

Finally, I was supremely amazed that all of this was written over a century ago, while it reads like it was written yesterday... or tomorrow.

An exhaustive allegory for culture and perspective

the performance is very mechanical, but fitting. The thing a seemingly indulgent way to create a culture with echoes of our own. Eventually this pays off. The exposition showing tangible problems in a very abstract setting.

Revolutionary Thought About Dimensions

Skip the first part of it, which is a thinly veiled discussion of the Victorian era. However, the book gets exponentially more interesting once the various dimensional worlds collide. This is a revoluationary view of the dimensions. It also serves as a basic framework for beginning to think about what the fourth dimension is like, and how we can recognize its characteristics before we actually figure it out.

Interesting...

Flatland is certainly interesting. I love the idea of creatures in multiple dimensions, even if the story is a bit flat. It's really more of an exercise in 2 to 4 dimensional thinking. The story itself is humorous, at least it tries to be, but the narration is not particularly inspiring. If I wasn't interested in geometry, I wouldn't have gotten past the first hour. (I want to try out Flatterland, but no Audible currently exists.)

A Very Christian Book

Another review calls this a masterpiece of science, and yet the author clearly intended it to be a parable of religion, not unlike C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia.

As a Mormon, this book reminds me a great deal of the experiences of the American prophet Joseph Smith, but could just as well relate to Paul the Apostle or to Moses.

A beautiful book that somehow ties all faith and the limits of science and perception together in a graceful knot or bow.

must hear!

fascinating journey into the world of 2D and 1D. old-fashioned language, very compelling content. couldn't stop this one before its end.

good, but Sphereland is better

I wish there was an audiobook version of Sphereland. Flatland is the classic book on this subject and is quite enjoyable to listen to. But, in my opinion, Sphereland has less discussion of the social structure of flatland and spends more time enlightening the reader about how we can think of four dimensions in our three dimensional world.