Book Review: Flatland by Edwin Abbott
So my aim this year is to read more. Easy, right? It should be. But as much as I love reading, I've found that over the last couple of years it's become a luxury reserved for holidays or the times when I don't have my phone. So I'm making an active decision to put down my technology and read more.
So my first book of 2020 was Flatlands by Edwin Abbot. This was an attempt to read books surrounding my subjects and academic interests. Usually, I'm much more of a fantasy fictional kind of girl so picking up a math textbook was the opposite of appealing. Flatlands, however, was a perfect balance of fiction and non-fiction. I found myself thinking and questioning the problems that arose in the book more as I read on and found it hard to put down. Reading Flatlands became a habit that I couldn't break and I was disappointed when it ended.
To explain briefly what it's about, this short book explores the idea of different dimensions from the perspective of shapes. Now when I say dimensions I don't mean parallel universes or any Sci-fi nonsense. I mean like 1-Dimensional, 2-Dimensional and 3-Dimensional shapes. The reader is first introduced to flatlands and explore the society lived by 2D shapes, then 1D shapes and finally the teachings of 3D shapes. The worlds are explained in such detail and described so well, you really have a clear picture of the society and the mindset of the narrator. The book is written from the perspective of an inquisitive mathematician which in turn caused me to be more inquisitive whilst reading and also in my studies at school.
I found this a fairly easy read compared to many educational books but I definitely could not skim read it or not give it my full attention. Of course, I recommend this book but only if you have time to read it properly and fully otherwise I think you could get bored with it.
So, to conclude, this was a brilliant first book of the year. I feel like it's put me in a positive mindset towards reading and I'm actually eager to read each night. I also want to read a lot more around my subjects. For example, I've already started reading books surrounding computing and non-fiction is slowly becoming my favourite genre.
I would rate this book 3/5 as it was really interesting and something new but it definitely took a lot of time to finish and fully understand.
So my aim this year is to read more. Easy, right? It should be. But as much as I love reading, I've found that over the last couple of years it's become a luxury reserved for holidays or the times when I don't have my phone. So I'm making an active decision to put down my technology and read more.So my first book of 2020 was Flatlands by Edwin Abbot. This was an attempt to read books surrounding my subjects and academic interests. Usually, I'm much more of a fantasy fictional kind of girl so picking up a math textbook was the opposite of appealing. Flatlands, however, was a perfect balance of fiction and non-fiction. I found myself thinking and questioning the problems that arose in the book more as I read on and found it hard to put down. Reading Flatlands became a habit that I couldn't break and I was disappointed when it ended.
To explain briefly what it's about, this short book explores the idea of different dimensions from the perspective of shapes. Now when I say dimensions I don't mean parallel universes or any Sci-fi nonsense. I mean like 1-Dimensional, 2-Dimensional and 3-Dimensional shapes. The reader is first introduced to flatlands and explore the society lived by 2D shapes, then 1D shapes and finally the teachings of 3D shapes. The worlds are explained in such detail and described so well, you really have a clear picture of the society and the mindset of the narrator. The book is written from the perspective of an inquisitive mathematician which in turn caused me to be more inquisitive whilst reading and also in my studies at school.
I found this a fairly easy read compared to many educational books but I definitely could not skim read it or not give it my full attention. Of course, I recommend this book but only if you have time to read it properly and fully otherwise I think you could get bored with it.
So, to conclude, this was a brilliant first book of the year. I feel like it's put me in a positive mindset towards reading and I'm actually eager to read each night. I also want to read a lot more around my subjects. For example, I've already started reading books surrounding computing and non-fiction is slowly becoming my favourite genre.
I would rate this book 3/5 as it was really interesting and something new but it definitely took a lot of time to finish and fully understand.
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