253 (book)
Encyclopedia
253, or Tube Theatre, is a novel by Geoff Ryman
, originally created as a website in 1996, then published as a paper book titled 253: The Print Remix in 1998. The print version won a Philip K. Dick Award.
train travelling between Embankment
station and Elephant & Castle
on January 11, 1995. The basic structure of the novel is explained in this quote from the foreword:
Each character is introduced in a separate section containing 253 words. The sections give general details and describe the thoughts going through the characters' heads. In the online version, hypertext
links lead to other characters who are nearby or who have some connection to the current character; in the print version, the links are partly replaced by a traditional index
. The reader can proceed from one character to another using these devices or can read the novel in positional order, e.g. from one train car to the next, but there is no overall chronological order except in the final section.
gave the print edition a mixed review, declaring: "Is it worth reading? Definitely. Is it the fiction of the future? I hope not. As a one-off, it's entertaining, and even thought-provoking, but it took me a long time to read, simply because I kept setting it aside after every half-dozen or so entries to read something with a more coherent narrative. Call me old-fashioned, but I doubt I'd try another."
Geoff Ryman
Geoffrey Charles Ryman is a writer of science fiction, fantasy and surrealistic or "slipstream" fiction.Ryman currently lectures in Creative Writing for University of Manchester's English Department. His most recent full-length novel, The King's Last Song, is set in Cambodia, both at the time of...
, originally created as a website in 1996, then published as a paper book titled 253: The Print Remix in 1998. The print version won a Philip K. Dick Award.
Synopsis
It is about the 253 people on a London UndergroundLondon Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
train travelling between Embankment
Embankment tube station
Embankment is a London Underground station in the City of Westminster, known by various names during its history. It is served by the Circle, District, Northern and Bakerloo lines. On the Northern and Bakerloo lines, the station is between Waterloo and Charing Cross stations; on the Circle and...
station and Elephant & Castle
Elephant & Castle tube station
Elephant & Castle tube station is a station on the London Underground system. It is located in the London Borough of Southwark and on the boundary of Travelcard Zone 1 and 2...
on January 11, 1995. The basic structure of the novel is explained in this quote from the foreword:
There are seven carriages on a Bakerloo LineBakerloo LineThe Bakerloo line is a line of the London Underground, coloured brown on the Tube map. It runs partly on the surface and partly at deep level, from Elephant and Castle in the south-east to Harrow & Wealdstone in the north-west of London. The line serves 25 stations, of which 15 are underground...
train, each with 36 seats. A train in which every passenger has a seat will carry 252 people. With the driver, that makes 253.
Each character is introduced in a separate section containing 253 words. The sections give general details and describe the thoughts going through the characters' heads. In the online version, hypertext
Hypertext
Hypertext is text displayed on a computer or other electronic device with references to other text that the reader can immediately access, usually by a mouse click or keypress sequence. Apart from running text, hypertext may contain tables, images and other presentational devices. Hypertext is the...
links lead to other characters who are nearby or who have some connection to the current character; in the print version, the links are partly replaced by a traditional index
Index (publishing)
An index is a list of words or phrases and associated pointers to where useful material relating to that heading can be found in a document...
. The reader can proceed from one character to another using these devices or can read the novel in positional order, e.g. from one train car to the next, but there is no overall chronological order except in the final section.
Interpretations
Ryman states that the meaning of 253 is dramatically changed when read in digital form as opposed to print form. In reading 253 on the internet the links between passengers create and emphasize existing similarities between the passengers. It becomes a text about how intrinsically similar people are. Whereas, in print form 253 is about how different people are. A lack of links between passengers means that the reader must traverse the story linearly, thereby emphasizing the differences between passengers.Reception
Charles de LintCharles de Lint
Charles de Lint is a Canadian fantasy author and folk musician. He is also the chief book critic for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction....
gave the print edition a mixed review, declaring: "Is it worth reading? Definitely. Is it the fiction of the future? I hope not. As a one-off, it's entertaining, and even thought-provoking, but it took me a long time to read, simply because I kept setting it aside after every half-dozen or so entries to read something with a more coherent narrative. Call me old-fashioned, but I doubt I'd try another."
See also
- List of London Underground-related fiction
- Constrained writingConstrained writingConstrained writing is a literary technique in which the writer is bound by some condition that forbids certain things or imposes a pattern.Constraints are very common in poetry, which often requires the writer to use a particular verse form....
- Life: A User's ManualLife: A User's ManualLife A User's Manual is Georges Perec's most famous novel, published in 1978, first translated into English by David Bellos in 1987. Its title page describes it as "novels", in the plural, the reasons for which become apparent on reading...
, a similarly constructed novel by Georges PerecGeorges PerecGeorges Perec was a French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist and essayist. He is a member of the Oulipo group...
, based on an apartment building rather than an underground train
External links
- 253: The Print Remix at Worlds Without End