Laura

I listened to a Librovox recording of this on Youtube without any context because it's on the “1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die” list. Little did I know, I'd be listening to an old man read a female POV smut book from the 18th century. I guess I assumed it would be more of a ‘Memoirs of a Geisha' type book.

Obviously there's little substance in the story other than women's vaginas (often described as slits) getting demolished by penises described as battering rams, wonderful machines, stiff staring truncheons, and engines of love-assaults. Super creative choices, to be sure.

The book is definitely on the list due to its cultural significance (as a banned book and first example of pornographic prose) rather than its allure or quality of writing.

A great collection of anecdotes from Lynch, discussing his life, creativity, and TM. You're not really going to learn anything about how YOU can harness your creativity or how to meditate, you're just going to learn how Lynch does and his journey. It's a fun, light read if you love hearing Lynch talk (which I do).

Going to give this one a big YIKES. I'm sure this book was really groundbreaking in 1880, with the rudimentary explanation of alternate dimensions being before its time. That's the only merit I can give this book; it hasn't aged well.

There's no real story, let alone the so-called “Romance of Many Dimensions.” The promised humour was nowhere to be found and the scientific and mathematic logic was lacking, even for a layman of the 21st century. When I wasn't scratching my head at inconsistencies and broken logic, I was rolling my eyes at the misogyny, classism and racism (shapism?)

The author took barely any time explaining the mathematical or scientific rules of the world and instead focused solely on the society of Flatland. He went out of his way to tell readers that he wasn't about to explain how the world works; how they can walk or communicate, what they eat or how their language works. However the author found it important to spend chapters (yes, chapters) explaining that the women in Flatland are mindless, yet somehow overly emotional, beings that could accidentally kill you by walking into you at the wrong angle, and who must use separate doors and hum while they walk.

Promised to be a fun, humourous science fiction classic, got a 2-dimensional dystopian with heavy incel vibes. If you're interested in learning about spatial dimensions, find a 10 minute Youtube video on it and skip this tragedy.