The book Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions was a short novella written in 1884 by Edwin Abbott. The main protagonist is a square living in a two-dimensional world who describes the world as he sees it. His life is thrown into disarray when a sphere from the “three-dimensional world” visits, as he cannot visualize the third dimension at all. The book is a fascinating read, and if you’re interested I highly recommend The Annotated Flatland version, or you can read it in full online here.
When I read on MetaFilter that Flatland: The Movie was in the works (narrated by Martin Sheen), I was intrigued. After looking at the trailer, I’m not quite sure I’m happy with how they’re treating it, but I guess I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt until I see the actual movie.
