Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott… I remember a long time ago, in my university undergrad daze, these guys I knew took a philosophy course where they read this book. I overheard what sounded like a great conversation, and they suggested that I should read the book as well. At the time, I didn’t read this since I was easily amused by 3D video games. Years and years later, I colleague of mine had a copy of Flatland on his shelf, and he said that I should read it but I should get my own copy.
I found a copy used for cheap and had it on my shelf for a while. Now because of the ‘rona, I’m trying to eat away at my reading shelf and decided to finally read this. From some of my silly side projects, one could see that I particularly enjoy geometry.
So… I like this book and wish I read it years ago. I’m not going to give a full report on it since has been analyzed countless numbers of times. Its short and has some deep themes, and I wish there were more books with a similar style.
There is a movie out there on youtube for it. I am not sure if I would recommend watching it. The book is short enough, and the movie interpretation didn’t do it for me.
In the future, I’m going to try to find a copy of The Planiverse since one reviewer called it a “tour de force followup” to Flatland. There are a few books in my reading queue right now, but The Planiverse would probably sneak to the front of the line.
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