Flatland: A Forgivably Flat Classic • Hacker News Board

Re: Flatland: A Forgivably Flat Classic

#11

Post by chillitom » Sun, Jan 09, 2011, 10:44 PM UTC

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/201/201-h/201-h.htm -- read the book here.. got to love Gutenberg

Re: Flatland: A Forgivably Flat Classic

#12

Post by igravious » Sun, Jan 09, 2011, 10:50 PM UTC

chillitom wrote: post #11

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/201/201-h/201-h.htm -- read the book here.. got to love Gutenberg

And browsing by author: http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/a#a64

+1 for Gutenberg, best site for brain-food on the net after Wiki P.

Re: Flatland: A Forgivably Flat Classic

#13

Post by crgwbr » Sun, Jan 09, 2011, 11:11 PM UTC

jschuur wrote: post #10

cletus wrote: post #3

Flatland now always reminds me of the Big Bang Theory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmiXemW_oBQ

Figures that Sheldon would consider himself a higher level hexagon. And that he thought Raj should go after a simple line segment.

In Flatland, all women are portrayed as line segments

Re: Flatland: A Forgivably Flat Classic

#14

Post by jschuur » Sun, Jan 09, 2011, 11:23 PM UTC

jschuur wrote: post #10

cletus wrote: post #3

Flatland now always reminds me of the Big Bang Theory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmiXemW_oBQ

Figures that Sheldon would consider himself a higher level hexagon. And that he thought Raj should go after a simple line segment.

I've only seen the movie, in which they're not. Given the Victorian origins of the book though, that makes sense.

Re: Flatland: A Forgivably Flat Classic

#15

Post by jarin » Sun, Jan 09, 2011, 11:50 PM UTC

jschuur wrote: post #8

I recommend the movie too. There's 2 of them, make sure you watch the half hour one with Martin Sheen, Michael York and Kristen Bell: http://www.flatlandthemovie.com The full length 95 minute one is less favorably held.

I just wanted to point out that the mouseover tones on the navigation on that site are great. Is that a pentatonic scale?

Re: Flatland: A Forgivably Flat Classic

#16

Post by kennethn » Mon, Jan 10, 2011, 1:38 AM UTC

I also recommend A.K. Dewdney's The Planiverse, published in 1984. It tells the story of computer science students who communicate with denizens of a 2D world. The diagrams and graphics are delightful.

I read it when it came out (I was 13) and it's one of the reasons I entered computing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Planiverse

Re: Flatland: A Forgivably Flat Classic

#17

Post by _b8r0 » Mon, Jan 10, 2011, 1:47 AM UTC

Another great book from a similar period: The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Pierce - http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/972 - Definitely one to have in the toilet.

Re: Flatland: A Forgivably Flat Classic

#18

Post by sitmack » Mon, Jan 10, 2011, 1:56 AM UTC

kennethn wrote: post #16

I also recommend A.K. Dewdney's The Planiverse, published in 1984. It tells the story of computer science students who communicate with denizens of a 2D world. The diagrams and graphics are delightful. I read it when it came out (I was 13) and it's one of the reasons I entered computing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Planiverse

I have a copy, nicely weird book.

Re: Flatland: A Forgivably Flat Classic

#19

Post by monkeypizza » Mon, Jan 10, 2011, 4:43 AM UTC

seconding dewdney's planiverse. Also, I loved rudy rucker's spaceland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceland_(novel)

Re: Flatland: A Forgivably Flat Classic

#20

Post by mturmon » Mon, Jan 10, 2011, 5:02 AM UTC

I found this book to be quite tedious. The whole class analogy (a satirical story line in which many-sided polygons are regarded as more refined than, say, triangles and squares) was just unbearably long-winded to me. I've read the whole critique so many times before.

And the notion that the reader will appreciate the three-dimensional space we live in (or 4-dimensional space-time, if you're like that) by going through a novella-length treatment of a 2d world...did not work for me, let's just say.

If you like the book, and many do, I'm glad. But it's not unanimous.