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253
A cult classic in the making. 253 is the novel about everyone you’ve ever met and wished you hadn’t or wished you could again.252 passengers and one driver on the London Underground. They all have their own personal histories, their own thoughts about themselves and their travelling neighbours. And they all have one page devoted to them.Some characters are tragic, some are inspiring, some are mad/proud/foolish/infuriating (delete where appropriate) and some are just like the person near you right now. You’ll meet Estelle who’s fallen madly in love with Saddam Hussein; James, who anaesthetises sick gorillas for a living; and Who?, a character that doesn’t know where, or what, on earth he is. It’s a seven-and-a-half minute journey between Embankment and the Elephant & Castle. It’s the journey of 253 lifetimes…This is the full text of the celebrated interactive novel that startled the Web when it first went on line. Only it can’t crash, the downloading time is quicker and you can read it on the Tube, the train, the bus,, the plane, by foot – even by car, so long as you’re not driving.
364 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1998
56 people are currently reading
2383 people want to read
About the author
Geoff Ryman
97 books207 followersGeoffrey Charles Ryman (born 1951) is a writer of science fiction, fantasy and slipstream fiction. He was born in Canada, and has lived most of his life in England.
His science fiction and fantasy works include The Warrior Who Carried Life (1985), the novella The Unconquered Country (1986) (winner of the British Science Fiction Award and the World Fantasy Award), and The Child Garden (1989) (winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the Campbell Award). Subsequent fiction works include Was (1992), Lust (2001), and Air (2005) (winner of the James Tiptree, Jr. Award, the British Science Fiction Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and on the short list for the Nebula Award).
His science fiction and fantasy works include The Warrior Who Carried Life (1985), the novella The Unconquered Country (1986) (winner of the British Science Fiction Award and the World Fantasy Award), and The Child Garden (1989) (winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the Campbell Award). Subsequent fiction works include Was (1992), Lust (2001), and Air (2005) (winner of the James Tiptree, Jr. Award, the British Science Fiction Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and on the short list for the Nebula Award).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews
September 21, 2013
This was tedious postmodern whatever who cares "experimental" crap of the worst sort.
Although I would like to make it clear that I think the author was, is, and always will be a really nice person.
This book was so grindingly obvious in all its techniques and the "shock ending" was telegraphed so far in advance a person in a deep coma would have sussed it by page three if their loved one had started reading it to them. Actually, it would have cured the person in the deep coma, because they would have woken up and yelled "please stop reading, please, I'll do anything, just stop".
But as I say, the author is a really really sweet natured person who as I understand is very kind to little children and dogs, but not in a creepy way, in a good way.
I really hated this thing.
But the author is one of my favourite human beings. And yours too.
This review was only about the book.
Licensed by Paul Bryant under
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
Although I would like to make it clear that I think the author was, is, and always will be a really nice person.
This book was so grindingly obvious in all its techniques and the "shock ending" was telegraphed so far in advance a person in a deep coma would have sussed it by page three if their loved one had started reading it to them. Actually, it would have cured the person in the deep coma, because they would have woken up and yelled "please stop reading, please, I'll do anything, just stop".
But as I say, the author is a really really sweet natured person who as I understand is very kind to little children and dogs, but not in a creepy way, in a good way.
I really hated this thing.
But the author is one of my favourite human beings. And yours too.
This review was only about the book.
Licensed by Paul Bryant under
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
January 16, 2012
The first and biggest thing you need to know about this book is that you shouldn't buy it, or borrow it, or look for it at your local library. You should read it online at ryman-novel.com. This was the original format in which it was published, and it really isn't the same without the hyperlinks.
The second thing you should know is what you're getting into. The majority of the novel consists of 253 character descriptions, each one 253 words long. If this sounds terribly precious, well, it is, but it's also much more promising than it might seem at first glance. It also contains quite a few footnotes, at least one of which is a short story unto itself (so be sure to click on all the links!), and an ending.
253 does not have one single story, but neither does it have 253. Each character (a passenger on a London Underground train) has their own subjectivity, their own strange and complicated life situation. Some of these are touching, some compelling, some fascinating, some incredibly disturbing. Some come in neatly self-contained pairs, while some are interlinked across cars and pages to form larger stories: of a failed life seen from different angles, of a frightening government conspiracy, of the soullessness of the modern corporate world. Also of stranger things; while most of the material draws its strength from its solid believability, from our sense that yes, people are like that, there are a few that reach beyond that to tell a story that might have come out of Murakami or Gaiman. It is in the nature of the project that these characters are no more or less important than the rest of the passengers.
In a cast of 253 characters, you can't expect to like every one of them, and it's sometimes the least likeable characters who end up being the most significant to the storyline (if you consider the "storyline" to be the thing that begins with the first passenger and ends at the ending). However, on the way there, you will almost certainly encounter a person or two or three who will stick in your mind long after the end of the line. Ultimately, the novel balances delicately between the two grand accomplishments of creating 253 individual people, and weaving 253 253-word character descriptions into a single story - but it's in the process of that balancing act that it truly shines.
The second thing you should know is what you're getting into. The majority of the novel consists of 253 character descriptions, each one 253 words long. If this sounds terribly precious, well, it is, but it's also much more promising than it might seem at first glance. It also contains quite a few footnotes, at least one of which is a short story unto itself (so be sure to click on all the links!), and an ending.
253 does not have one single story, but neither does it have 253. Each character (a passenger on a London Underground train) has their own subjectivity, their own strange and complicated life situation. Some of these are touching, some compelling, some fascinating, some incredibly disturbing. Some come in neatly self-contained pairs, while some are interlinked across cars and pages to form larger stories: of a failed life seen from different angles, of a frightening government conspiracy, of the soullessness of the modern corporate world. Also of stranger things; while most of the material draws its strength from its solid believability, from our sense that yes, people are like that, there are a few that reach beyond that to tell a story that might have come out of Murakami or Gaiman. It is in the nature of the project that these characters are no more or less important than the rest of the passengers.
In a cast of 253 characters, you can't expect to like every one of them, and it's sometimes the least likeable characters who end up being the most significant to the storyline (if you consider the "storyline" to be the thing that begins with the first passenger and ends at the ending). However, on the way there, you will almost certainly encounter a person or two or three who will stick in your mind long after the end of the line. Ultimately, the novel balances delicately between the two grand accomplishments of creating 253 individual people, and weaving 253 253-word character descriptions into a single story - but it's in the process of that balancing act that it truly shines.
September 23, 2014
On 02:53 on the 25th of March, it so happened that there were exactly 253 people in the world reading Geoff Ryman's novel. For 253 seconds, each of them [Get on with it - Ed]. Oh yes. Here are some of their stories.
4. KEITH PERZ
Keith, a graceless, limp-haired student, lives in Seattle, WA. He is writing a dissertation on 253. His girlfriend, Miranda, had suggested the idea to him a few weeks ago, and he gratefully accepted.
Now Miranda has just left him, and he's stuck. The dissertation is due tomorrow. Keith is in the middle of a paragraph that starts like this:
The rest of this review is available elsewhere (the location cannot be given for Goodreads policy reasons)
4. KEITH PERZ
Keith, a graceless, limp-haired student, lives in Seattle, WA. He is writing a dissertation on 253. His girlfriend, Miranda, had suggested the idea to him a few weeks ago, and he gratefully accepted.
Now Miranda has just left him, and he's stuck. The dissertation is due tomorrow. Keith is in the middle of a paragraph that starts like this:
A normal novel is structured along the temporal dimension; the author takes a small number of people, and follows their evolution through an extended period of time. Ryman, in contrast, asks why a novel cannot be structured along the dimension of space; he takes a small number of minutes, and traces the evolution of an extended set of people through that interval. The point, one realises at the end,Keith is unable to finish the sentence: no words come to him. He wonders whether Miranda intentionally sold him an impossible topic, and is suddenly convinced she has done so. He begins to weep.
The rest of this review is available elsewhere (the location cannot be given for Goodreads policy reasons)
May 30, 2019
Este libro me llamó la atención por su argumento y estructura, que me parecieron de lo más original: un tren en Londres, 7 vagones, 36 personas por vagón, que conforman 253 personajes (36 pasajeros por vagón, más el conductor). Cada personaje tiene su propia página, en la que se detallan tres apartados: ‘Apariencia’, ‘Datos personales’ y ‘Lo que hace o piensa’. Además, cada página contiene exactamente 253 palabras. Y para rematar, cada historia transcurre en lo que serían 7 minutos de viaje en metro. Por lo tanto, estamos ante una novela realmente atípica, compuesta, podríamos decir, de 253 micro relatos.
Explicado así, parecería que ’253’ sea un mero experimento conceptual, una novela posmoderna más. Pero ’253’ no es una novela de género. Sí, la estructura es atípica, pero según vas leyendo personajes, y te vas adentrando, adaptando al esquema, en tu cabeza se va conformando en un todo que va adquiriendo sentido. En un principio, esta novela nació para ser leída en formato digital a través de Internet, haciendo uso de hipervínculos. Esto se pierde en el formato en papel, ya que la novela se lee de forma lineal; si bien es cierto que durante su lectura vas avanzando o retrocediendo cuando se hace mención a tal o cuál pasajero, o cuando uno de los pasajeros se fija o habla con otro pasajero.
Ryman realiza un gran esfuerzo para que la novela no se haga pesada ni parezca forzada. Son muchos los personajes e historias, con sorpresa añadida, y es como si Ryman por un momento te diese la oportunidad se observar un pequeñísimo fragmento de sus existencias. A destacar también el humor negro del autor, presente sobre todo en las notas a pie de página y en los anuncios que hacen de introducción a cada vagón. Todo esto, hace que ’253’ se una lectura más que recomendable, siempre que se esté dispuesto a entrar en el juego que propone Ryman.
Explicado así, parecería que ’253’ sea un mero experimento conceptual, una novela posmoderna más. Pero ’253’ no es una novela de género. Sí, la estructura es atípica, pero según vas leyendo personajes, y te vas adentrando, adaptando al esquema, en tu cabeza se va conformando en un todo que va adquiriendo sentido. En un principio, esta novela nació para ser leída en formato digital a través de Internet, haciendo uso de hipervínculos. Esto se pierde en el formato en papel, ya que la novela se lee de forma lineal; si bien es cierto que durante su lectura vas avanzando o retrocediendo cuando se hace mención a tal o cuál pasajero, o cuando uno de los pasajeros se fija o habla con otro pasajero.
Ryman realiza un gran esfuerzo para que la novela no se haga pesada ni parezca forzada. Son muchos los personajes e historias, con sorpresa añadida, y es como si Ryman por un momento te diese la oportunidad se observar un pequeñísimo fragmento de sus existencias. A destacar también el humor negro del autor, presente sobre todo en las notas a pie de página y en los anuncios que hacen de introducción a cada vagón. Todo esto, hace que ’253’ se una lectura más que recomendable, siempre que se esté dispuesto a entrar en el juego que propone Ryman.
April 12, 2009
This is 253 one-page descriptions, each 253 words long, of 253 London Underground passengers riding between three stops. Which sounds like some kind of workshop exercise taken to mad extremes. I was given this book by my friend Charlie years ago but posponed reading it because it seemed too show-offy and empty of an idea. I was wrong. 253 is great writing, but also something more: a vibrant portrait of mid-ninties London humanity. By the time it's over, all 253 stories have added up to a touching epitaph to humble, unknown lives.
The language is gorgeous and clever, and it's one of those perfect next-to-toilet books that can be read in little sips or long slurps. In fact, it's probably perfect for public transit.
FWIW, this book was originally released in a deeply inter-indexed online format. You can read that online version for free here:
http://www.ryman-novel.com/
It was a clever and ambitious idea for a certain moment in Internet history, and I'm sure lots of people loved it that way. (Maybe the techie fanbase explains why this book is so often erroneously categorized "science-fiction". It's so not.)
But I've tried reading non-linear fiction enough times to know that I want to read every damn page, and the easiest way to do that is to start on page 1 and progress forward, linearly. So I recommend the paper version. It's easier on the eyes and carpal tunnels, has a smaller carbon footprint, and is enhanced with some excellent snarky advertisements -- as well as a bunch of grumpy footnotes about places the author hates, but you can skip those. Just like he skipped my entire home state. Sigh.
The language is gorgeous and clever, and it's one of those perfect next-to-toilet books that can be read in little sips or long slurps. In fact, it's probably perfect for public transit.
FWIW, this book was originally released in a deeply inter-indexed online format. You can read that online version for free here:
http://www.ryman-novel.com/
It was a clever and ambitious idea for a certain moment in Internet history, and I'm sure lots of people loved it that way. (Maybe the techie fanbase explains why this book is so often erroneously categorized "science-fiction". It's so not.)
But I've tried reading non-linear fiction enough times to know that I want to read every damn page, and the easiest way to do that is to start on page 1 and progress forward, linearly. So I recommend the paper version. It's easier on the eyes and carpal tunnels, has a smaller carbon footprint, and is enhanced with some excellent snarky advertisements -- as well as a bunch of grumpy footnotes about places the author hates, but you can skip those. Just like he skipped my entire home state. Sigh.
January 8, 2018
253 words each about 253 passengers on a London subway train, and the entire novel takes place in seven minutes. I'm normally skeptical of novels with too much cleverness, but somehow he made this one work. It's human and touching and funny and very much set in 1995.
June 4, 2010
An infuriating read. The general premise is intriguing, as I have often wondered what people are thinking about on public transport. However the book is mess because of several key failings:
1. Although each page of 253 characters makes for a relatively quick read in theory, in practice (for me anyway), trying to remember how the characters from different carriages link together meant that I was constantly tracking back and forth through the pages trying to jog my memory. Very irritating and made the whole reading experience for me very disjointed
2. Almost every character appeared to have been pondering some huge life changing event. I realise that for the purposes of the story, having 253 people thinking about their shopping or just reading a book wouldn't really work, but are we really to believe all these passengers were having these life affirming/changing thoughts inbetween Waterloo and Elephant & Castle on the same train? Nonsense
3. The footnotes were written in a style that attempted a form of self-referential humour but just ended up being annoying. If your concept is to write a novel based around the number 253, it seems like cheating when footnotes are added to some pages to give more of a background. Then in other instances the footnotes seem like little in-jokes that just aren't funny. And don't even mention the banal "footnote" about William Blake. I actually skipped it, as it seemed totally superfluous.
4. I understand the adverts were trying to add to the feel of a tube journey, but again they seemed like huge in-jokes that I wasn't in on.
5. Is it likely that an underground train at rush hour would be populated with so many people who have significant relationships? I find that highly unlikely
The concept of this book really excited me, and I expected to shoot through it given how it was structured. However, it took me so long to finish because of the constant flicking back and forth, that by the time of the conclusion, I'd lost interest in any of the fates of the characters
Maybe that was the point: a snapshot of 253 lives on one page will always leave you feeling as if you don't really these people, which I suppose it was happens on public transport. You see people for 10 minutes at a time and can only form opinions based on that short time frame. For me however, its didn't work as a cohesive novel at all
1. Although each page of 253 characters makes for a relatively quick read in theory, in practice (for me anyway), trying to remember how the characters from different carriages link together meant that I was constantly tracking back and forth through the pages trying to jog my memory. Very irritating and made the whole reading experience for me very disjointed
2. Almost every character appeared to have been pondering some huge life changing event. I realise that for the purposes of the story, having 253 people thinking about their shopping or just reading a book wouldn't really work, but are we really to believe all these passengers were having these life affirming/changing thoughts inbetween Waterloo and Elephant & Castle on the same train? Nonsense
3. The footnotes were written in a style that attempted a form of self-referential humour but just ended up being annoying. If your concept is to write a novel based around the number 253, it seems like cheating when footnotes are added to some pages to give more of a background. Then in other instances the footnotes seem like little in-jokes that just aren't funny. And don't even mention the banal "footnote" about William Blake. I actually skipped it, as it seemed totally superfluous.
4. I understand the adverts were trying to add to the feel of a tube journey, but again they seemed like huge in-jokes that I wasn't in on.
5. Is it likely that an underground train at rush hour would be populated with so many people who have significant relationships? I find that highly unlikely
The concept of this book really excited me, and I expected to shoot through it given how it was structured. However, it took me so long to finish because of the constant flicking back and forth, that by the time of the conclusion, I'd lost interest in any of the fates of the characters
Maybe that was the point: a snapshot of 253 lives on one page will always leave you feeling as if you don't really these people, which I suppose it was happens on public transport. You see people for 10 minutes at a time and can only form opinions based on that short time frame. For me however, its didn't work as a cohesive novel at all
March 23, 2017
Loved it. 253 passengers & 253 words about each. A writing exercise extended!
September 9, 2017
253-word character descriptions about 253 different people all taking a 7 minute journey on a London tube on January 11th 1995 (Fun fact: I was born two days after that date - therefore, most of the cultural references go right over my head)
All I would say about this book is it is stylistically more delightful more than providing an easy, fun, fulfilling read.
All I would say about this book is it is stylistically more delightful more than providing an easy, fun, fulfilling read.
February 6, 2017
This is absolutely awful. If I could give it negative stars I would, -3 stars to this. It's a good concept that is executed terribly. Each person on this train has their own page long story, but each person is boring, I forgot half the stories a second after reading them and the other half barely even went in. This was fairly progressive in several ways and honestly offensive in many others. I know that there should be separation of the author from the text, but honestly, I felt genuinely sick reading this. The book seems massively in favour of immigration painting characters from other countries in a wonderful and sympathetic note. However, there were some massive problems mostly concerning women being abused, it also managed to demonise any woman who was sexual in any way. I don't mean to tell Ryman how to write, but women do not think how he thinks they do.
Basically the whole book pissed me off, and I didn't even finish it. There is a section at the end that tells you briefly what happens when people get off the train, and I read about the characters I knew about, but frankly I just really didn't care.
This was the most boring book I've ever read, had he picked a select few characters and made longer stories out of it and explored them more it could have been great, but no. He had to attempt some experimental bullshit that destroyed some perfectly good stories.
I could complain a lot more, but frankly, I want to be done with this book
Basically the whole book pissed me off, and I didn't even finish it. There is a section at the end that tells you briefly what happens when people get off the train, and I read about the characters I knew about, but frankly I just really didn't care.
This was the most boring book I've ever read, had he picked a select few characters and made longer stories out of it and explored them more it could have been great, but no. He had to attempt some experimental bullshit that destroyed some perfectly good stories.
I could complain a lot more, but frankly, I want to be done with this book
July 28, 2016
I first encountered this book back in the late 90s not long after it was published. One of my then 6th form A-Level Literature students lent me their copy after raving about it, but I had to return it before I'd really started it (*Note to Self* Never borrow books)
Over the years it has popped into my head on several occasions and I was always intrigued by the premis and concept behind it. So, when I saw it in a local oxfam bookshop it was an impulsive "must buy" and an easy "must finally properly read".
The concept is STILL great, and despite no real narrative (it claims itself to be the brief story of 253 different lives) it is incredibly engaging. Despite each character's "limited" appearance their stories are cleverly written and in turn funny, moving, thought provoking and inspired.
A post-reading thought which struck me is how fascinating it is to note that not one of the 253 characters even glances at a mobile phone during their tube journey. Does this make a book a little outdated or quaintly antiquated within a mere couple of decades? Or does it make it worthy of a re-read and serve as an interesting socio-anthropological study of the seismic changes in human behaviour in terms of recent history?
Over the years it has popped into my head on several occasions and I was always intrigued by the premis and concept behind it. So, when I saw it in a local oxfam bookshop it was an impulsive "must buy" and an easy "must finally properly read".
The concept is STILL great, and despite no real narrative (it claims itself to be the brief story of 253 different lives) it is incredibly engaging. Despite each character's "limited" appearance their stories are cleverly written and in turn funny, moving, thought provoking and inspired.
A post-reading thought which struck me is how fascinating it is to note that not one of the 253 characters even glances at a mobile phone during their tube journey. Does this make a book a little outdated or quaintly antiquated within a mere couple of decades? Or does it make it worthy of a re-read and serve as an interesting socio-anthropological study of the seismic changes in human behaviour in terms of recent history?
August 3, 2021
Really great idea and complex in the sense that it's actually quite simple but no one else has thought of it. You could read this from all different angles and really spend time with it, so it's great value for money because I'm sure it's worth a reread.. and I'm definitely interested in checking out the original web version. As a first read I can't rate it as being amazingly good, because I pressure myself to try and get through books quickly, so I've likely missed lots of easter eggs and hidden connections.
February 24, 2018
Quirky, original, well thought-out and as engaging as you want it to be.
April 15, 2019
On paper 253 sounds like it’s been written just for me. Its location (the southern end of the Bakerloo Line) and its premise (people-watching on the tube) are indeed right up my street (literally, since I live at the end of that line). And on whole I did enjoy it. Ryan’s book is sufficiently vivacious and inventive to keep the reader interested in what could otherwise become very monotonous very quickly.
This is quite an atypical book, an experimental one. Written originally for the web, there is no central character and virtually no plot, even if Ryan does add an element of suspenseful and at time poignant anticipation in the second half. Instead we get a series of vignettes, quick sketches and insights into a varied bunch of characters. The limitation of 253 words per portrait means that the reader’s curiosity is often frustrated.
And when the end of the line and a quick-fire revisiting of some of the people we’ve just met arrive, we end up not being quite sure who Ryan is referring to. In short 253 is a little too clever for its own good and is ultimately not entirely successful as a piece of writing, however original it is.
NB: As a regular on the journey described in the book, I noticed a few mistakes or inaccuracies:
- Certain Bakerloo Line carriages have, in their middle section, a different arrangement of seats to the one used by Ryan here. Rather than facing each other they arrange in four set of little booths perpendicular to the alignment of the car. These can sit 16 passengers in total. Four more than Ryan budgets for that part of the carriage.
- Page 304, we are told that passenger 223 got on at Kilburn. The Bakerloo Line doesn’t got to Kilburn station (It does go to Kilburn Park Station though).
- I doubt a Bakerloo line train would be fully occupied on that section of the line, going south, even at rush hour.
This is quite an atypical book, an experimental one. Written originally for the web, there is no central character and virtually no plot, even if Ryan does add an element of suspenseful and at time poignant anticipation in the second half. Instead we get a series of vignettes, quick sketches and insights into a varied bunch of characters. The limitation of 253 words per portrait means that the reader’s curiosity is often frustrated.
And when the end of the line and a quick-fire revisiting of some of the people we’ve just met arrive, we end up not being quite sure who Ryan is referring to. In short 253 is a little too clever for its own good and is ultimately not entirely successful as a piece of writing, however original it is.
NB: As a regular on the journey described in the book, I noticed a few mistakes or inaccuracies:
- Certain Bakerloo Line carriages have, in their middle section, a different arrangement of seats to the one used by Ryan here. Rather than facing each other they arrange in four set of little booths perpendicular to the alignment of the car. These can sit 16 passengers in total. Four more than Ryan budgets for that part of the carriage.
- Page 304, we are told that passenger 223 got on at Kilburn. The Bakerloo Line doesn’t got to Kilburn station (It does go to Kilburn Park Station though).
- I doubt a Bakerloo line train would be fully occupied on that section of the line, going south, even at rush hour.
August 31, 2024
I'll confess that this book bored me to no end. Forewarned is forearmed I guess. Anyway, I found the whole concept of this book pretty innovative and groundbreaking. The humour sense displayed here is as deadpan and hilarious. Besides, I wish I could expand on the life of one of these characters. Sadly I am no Nosy Parker
January 22, 2014
So I'm reading a bunch of interactive fiction these days, and 253 was recommended to me as an early example of hypertext.
The conceit is relatively clever, and some of the character descriptions are good--I enjoyed the pigeon, the fanfic writer, and the snuggler--but overall I don't get any sense that these individual moments are leading up to anything. The event of the train crash was pretty boring, despite being foreshadowed. There were so many characters that I couldn't remember any of them well enough to care if they lived or died. The closest I came to that were the moments when people got off the train at the last minute or unexpectedly, and knowing those random choices saved their lives.
Furthermore, I found the book to have some racist elements--probably unconscious and unintentional, but they weighed down my enjoyment nonetheless. It seemed like any black, Asian, or Indian character was far more likely to be a criminal, a drug addict, or a prostitute. This was especially noticeable in the first third of the book, so that I kept cringing as I waited for the next one. Plus, no character of colour was unmarked by racial appearance or attributes, while all the white characters were. Whiteness was invisible. And immigrants were marked heavily, as well: I know Britain is a land of immigrants, and it's likely that many people on the train would be immigrants, but is no one of Asian or Indian descent allowed to simply be from Britain? It just seemed to be this reoccurring motif that Ryman couldn't help but perpetuate. Not to mention, I can only remember one gay character, and he was depicted as non-consensually snogging his neighbour when he realized they were going to die. Just...something to think about, Geoff, okay?
The footnotes were too cutesy for my taste. The one about a time-travelling poet was probably the best of them. The others were too self-aware, too "look at me and what I'm doing, aren't I clever". In theory I like the idea of the footnotes, but the execution was missing something. The same goes for the inter-car advertisements and the front and end matter.
There were bright spots in this book. As I say, some characters really did hit the 'poignant' note, and hit it well. Others were funny. Others were just well-done vignettes. I would probably read and enjoy a full story about many of these characters. But while I got the point of the structure, it only made the book a long slog for me. Maybe it's meant to be sipped like liqueur rather than eaten like a meal--you should dip in and out, go and come back, follow the links rather than read it front-to-back. So my engagement may have been lacking as well.
Anyway, as far as books that I'm being asked to read for the diss, this one didn't come close to the best.
The conceit is relatively clever, and some of the character descriptions are good--I enjoyed the pigeon, the fanfic writer, and the snuggler--but overall I don't get any sense that these individual moments are leading up to anything. The event of the train crash was pretty boring, despite being foreshadowed. There were so many characters that I couldn't remember any of them well enough to care if they lived or died. The closest I came to that were the moments when people got off the train at the last minute or unexpectedly, and knowing those random choices saved their lives.
Furthermore, I found the book to have some racist elements--probably unconscious and unintentional, but they weighed down my enjoyment nonetheless. It seemed like any black, Asian, or Indian character was far more likely to be a criminal, a drug addict, or a prostitute. This was especially noticeable in the first third of the book, so that I kept cringing as I waited for the next one. Plus, no character of colour was unmarked by racial appearance or attributes, while all the white characters were. Whiteness was invisible. And immigrants were marked heavily, as well: I know Britain is a land of immigrants, and it's likely that many people on the train would be immigrants, but is no one of Asian or Indian descent allowed to simply be from Britain? It just seemed to be this reoccurring motif that Ryman couldn't help but perpetuate. Not to mention, I can only remember one gay character, and he was depicted as non-consensually snogging his neighbour when he realized they were going to die. Just...something to think about, Geoff, okay?
The footnotes were too cutesy for my taste. The one about a time-travelling poet was probably the best of them. The others were too self-aware, too "look at me and what I'm doing, aren't I clever". In theory I like the idea of the footnotes, but the execution was missing something. The same goes for the inter-car advertisements and the front and end matter.
There were bright spots in this book. As I say, some characters really did hit the 'poignant' note, and hit it well. Others were funny. Others were just well-done vignettes. I would probably read and enjoy a full story about many of these characters. But while I got the point of the structure, it only made the book a long slog for me. Maybe it's meant to be sipped like liqueur rather than eaten like a meal--you should dip in and out, go and come back, follow the links rather than read it front-to-back. So my engagement may have been lacking as well.
Anyway, as far as books that I'm being asked to read for the diss, this one didn't come close to the best.
June 5, 2007
I can't even begin to speak coherently about this book. It's an experimental novel: 253 portraits of 253 passengers on a London tube train that's about to crash. Ryman gives the reader brief insights into these ordinary people's lives, some of which are interconnected, some of which are funny, tragic, etc. Ryman himself is a passenger; so's a pigeon. And some of the people live, and some of them die. Part of the interest, one would think, would be to see who falls into which category when you reach the end, but actually I found that after absorbing so many histories in a relatively short amount of time (about a week, interspersed with other reading) I couldn't always remember who was who, who did what, said what, thought what. The deaths seemed pointless and arbitrary—which, of course, they were.
None of the above is meant to be a criticism; as an experiment, this one is, in my opinion, radically successful, as it never seems gimmicky, and is consistently fascinating. Yet one gets the feeling that it's probably not at its best in bound book form; as much as I disdain e-books in favor of something I can actually hold in my hand, can smell and feel, I think this may have been more effective as an interactive experience on the web, because then you could click back and forth between the various passengers and better experience how they're related (not to mention who lives and who dies). Luckily, it seems that the website is still operational, so you can check it out for yourselves: [http://www.ryman-novel.com/]
None of the above is meant to be a criticism; as an experiment, this one is, in my opinion, radically successful, as it never seems gimmicky, and is consistently fascinating. Yet one gets the feeling that it's probably not at its best in bound book form; as much as I disdain e-books in favor of something I can actually hold in my hand, can smell and feel, I think this may have been more effective as an interactive experience on the web, because then you could click back and forth between the various passengers and better experience how they're related (not to mention who lives and who dies). Luckily, it seems that the website is still operational, so you can check it out for yourselves: [http://www.ryman-novel.com/]
March 26, 2015
This tightly structured, interactive fiction (1) zooms in a cross-section of Londoners riding a tube train to Waterloo station, a journey of 7 1/2 minutes. With deadpan wit and a zany kind of meticulous detail, GR manages, between the lines and en passent (2) to deliver a devastating social critique.(3)His bleak vision is softened somewhat by his love of humanity (he could be faking this) and his sound belief in instant karma. Even the adverts contribute to the fun.
footnotes: 1) 253 is a fascinating,compelling and haunting book that first seems like a joke but quickly becomes addictive. It is an attentive look at the modern situation.
2) the footnotes are droll masterpieces of varying irrelevancy and truth.
3) If you in a phase of terminal disinterest in life, have never taken a sociology course or ridden on public transportation, this book may not capture your fancy. Even some intelligent people have dismissed it out of hand.
I imagine that GR had as much fun creating his characters and their fates, as I did reading about them. Encoded in the fiction, he makes an appearance and reveals a tragic real-life connection.
You will be happy you read this book. It may just give you some things to think about.
footnotes: 1) 253 is a fascinating,compelling and haunting book that first seems like a joke but quickly becomes addictive. It is an attentive look at the modern situation.
2) the footnotes are droll masterpieces of varying irrelevancy and truth.
3) If you in a phase of terminal disinterest in life, have never taken a sociology course or ridden on public transportation, this book may not capture your fancy. Even some intelligent people have dismissed it out of hand.
I imagine that GR had as much fun creating his characters and their fates, as I did reading about them. Encoded in the fiction, he makes an appearance and reveals a tragic real-life connection.
You will be happy you read this book. It may just give you some things to think about.
April 15, 2023
The idea behind this book is really interesting, but the execution left a bit to be desired, in my opinion. 253 characters, all sitting on a train in London between three different stops, who are described in 253 words each (minus footnotes), many linked together by familial, personal, and professional relationships. The idea behind it is intriguing, but as a reading experience, it was meh.
I tried reading this in its original format, on the website http://www.253novel.com/, but I quickly decided that I would prefer reading this on paper, because the endless clicking around wasn't quite doing it for me. However, other reviewers have mentioned how the experience is completely different with the physical book - the clickable hyperlinks that take you from one passenger to another, all down the length of the train, aren't marked out in the book. Some of the more obvious connections are pointed out (interpersonal relationships, for example), but the only way for you to know that the author meant for us to take note of the (otherwise unconnected) folks reading the Financial Times is to look at the index at the back of the book. While I did flip around when it was obvious that other passengers completed a little story of sorts, the more happenstance connections passed me by. On the one hand, that's quite different from the original web version of the book, but on the other hand... I don't really care that three different people were reading the same newspaper on the train, you know?
I could forgive most of the format's sins, because I still find the concept itself interesting. The character studies themselves, though... I didn't like them all that much. While there were enough interesting ideas and moments to get me to finish the book, a lot of the characters felt flat. I wasn't the comfiest with the way many of the immigrants and non-English folks were portrayed, and it did really bother me that white Englishness was the default, and that the non-white characters had their race, nationality, and appearance pointed out while English passengers were never described as "white" or "English." A lot of characters have their stories end with a Big Decision having just been made, and while that might make their stories more compelling, it did make the entire book feel more artificial.
Overall, an interesting book. Not a book I'd necessarily recommend, but I'm glad I gave it a try.
I tried reading this in its original format, on the website http://www.253novel.com/, but I quickly decided that I would prefer reading this on paper, because the endless clicking around wasn't quite doing it for me. However, other reviewers have mentioned how the experience is completely different with the physical book - the clickable hyperlinks that take you from one passenger to another, all down the length of the train, aren't marked out in the book. Some of the more obvious connections are pointed out (interpersonal relationships, for example), but the only way for you to know that the author meant for us to take note of the (otherwise unconnected) folks reading the Financial Times is to look at the index at the back of the book. While I did flip around when it was obvious that other passengers completed a little story of sorts, the more happenstance connections passed me by. On the one hand, that's quite different from the original web version of the book, but on the other hand... I don't really care that three different people were reading the same newspaper on the train, you know?
I could forgive most of the format's sins, because I still find the concept itself interesting. The character studies themselves, though... I didn't like them all that much. While there were enough interesting ideas and moments to get me to finish the book, a lot of the characters felt flat. I wasn't the comfiest with the way many of the immigrants and non-English folks were portrayed, and it did really bother me that white Englishness was the default, and that the non-white characters had their race, nationality, and appearance pointed out while English passengers were never described as "white" or "English." A lot of characters have their stories end with a Big Decision having just been made, and while that might make their stories more compelling, it did make the entire book feel more artificial.
Overall, an interesting book. Not a book I'd necessarily recommend, but I'm glad I gave it a try.
June 1, 2023
I liked what this novel did with its structure and I kinda wish there was more fiction that tried to do something along these lines; it’s very ambitious, and I like the threads that criss-cross through the work. Having said that, the nature of the work means that telling a story is not really the focus of the exercise, and so the work can only stand on its characters and its setting. The setting is not SFnal, and so the characters are the driver. Some are very good, and some are less compelling; all in all I’m not sure I’d recommend this to a friend, but I’m very glad I read it.
July 21, 2025
Not a massive fan of this book, very interesting concept but I had to drag myself through it
March 4, 2012
253 no es una novela al uso. El planteamiento es simple: en la introducción, leemos que “Un tren de metro consta únicamente de siete vagones. ¿Por qué? El número parece raro. Ocho sería más redondo, más cómodo. Tal vez sea un siete para la buena suerte.
Cada uno de los vagones consta de 36 asientos, lo cual significa que la ocupación ideal de un tren que no estuviera atestado ni perturbadoramente vacío sería de 252 pasajeros, más el conductor. Esto daría un total de 253 personas.”
En una sola página, en exactamente 253 palabras, se describe a cada persona, en tres secciones: datos personales, apariencia y qué hace o piensa. Cada página es una historia. Y la historia tiene lugar en los siete minutos y medio que dura un trayecto entre las estaciones de Embankment y Elephant & Castle, de la línea de Bakerloo. Son las últimas cuatro estaciones de la línea marrón.
Tras haber acabado el libro, la sensación es extraña. ¿Me he leído una novela? ¿Me he leído un taco de fichas de personaje de un juego de rol 
? Es realmente curioso. Al empezar a leer, uno piensa que se va a aburrir como una ostra. “Joé, 253 fichas hablando de 253 personas distintas, cada una con sus neuras, problemas e intenciones. Pues vaya”. Sin embargo, en cuanto nos adentramos en el segundo vagón, empezamos a descubrir las relaciones entre los pasajeros. Una persona del quinto vagón está amenazada de muerte por otra del primero, que la está siguiendo. Dos compañeros de oficina viajan en asientos diferentes del mismo vagón y aún no se han visto. Alguien ama a otra persona. Alguien es el jefe de otra persona. Alguien intenta no vomitar porque va al trabajo sin dormir tras una juerga considerable. No lo consigue. A alguien un borracho de mierda le vomita encima. Alguien se parte de risa cuando un pobre borracho no puede evitar mancharle los zapatos a una chica guapísima. El mismo hecho lo vemos a través de varias personas. Cada una lo interpreta a su manera. Es realmente curioso. A medida que vamos progresando en la lectura vamos descubriendo más y más coincidencias, por otro lado inevitables.
Personaje tras personaje capturamos una instantánea de la gente. Hay de todo. Gente feliz (los menos), gente enferma, gente preocupada, gente que ha dejado de luchar, gente que no se cosca ni del nodo, perdonen la expresión, gente que ni siquiera es gente y que se ha metido en el metro por error… Y en sus relaciones vemos que surge algo más grande que las propias descripciones, quizás el verdadero motivo de la novela.
Mención especial merece la traductora, que ha tenido que transformar un texto inglés de 253 palabras en uno en castellano con 253 palabras. ¡Y lo ha tenido que hacer 253 veces seguidas! Cualquiera que haya traducido alguna vez sabe que el castellano tiende a salir más largo que el inglés para decir lo mismo. Parafraseando a Jean-François Revel: “El inglés yuxtapone, el español subordina”. Y eso se nota, se lo garantizo. Ha debido de ser un trabajo titánico. En alguna ocasión aislada nos chirría la gramática: “Aquí debería haber un artículo”. Pero enseguida comprendemos el porqué de su ausencia, y entendemos perfectamente que no haya habido otra manera de encajar el texto en el corsé de las 253 palabras. Sin embargo, cada vez que aparece una nota al pie comienza así: “Otra últil e instructiva nota de 253″. Hubo una errata y un copiapega considerable en todas las notas al pie. O eso o yo me he perdido algo.
Al final, la experiencia es curiosa. Es como hacerle una foto telepática al metro. O algo así.
253 es la versión en papel de 253 
, la página web. La ventaja de la página web frente al libro es que cada vez que alguien está relacionado con otra persona aparece un enlace que de inmediato nos lleva allá. En el libro leemos “Martha es la secretaria de John McCallaghan” (nombres al azar). Y nos suena vagamente el tal John, pero si queremos volver a él tenemos que ir al final del libro y localizar lenta y dolorosamente su número de pasajero. Porque los personajes ni siquiera están ordenados alfabéticamente, sino por lugares de trabajo o palabras clave. Hay cosas que un libro no puede hacer todavía. También hay una lista de relaciones entre personajes, en un par de páginas, pero no es lo mismo.
Resumiendo, que es un libro raro. Lo cual no quiere decir que sea malo, ni mucho menos. Mi nota: interesante.
April 2, 2013
Mind the gap.
What they said.
What they said.
September 13, 2011
A possible cult classic in the making – only time will tell on that though. I was given this as a birthday present from a friend and was dubious at first as there really isn’t a basic plot or much to keep the attention span going, but once I started reading it I realised I was very much mistaken. This book taps in perfectly into my voyeuristic nature.
Ryman gives us a snapshot of each passenger on a seven and a half minute journey on a tube train. Each character is described by their outward appearance, who they actually are, and what they are thinking and doing at that point. Sounds dull but it really isn’t. I love to people watch, it completely fascinates me, and I often wonder who these people are or where they are scurrying off to in such a hurry. This book gives you all that.
This is realism at its literary finest. Each character is believable and entertaining (or horrifying) in their own way, and I liked how there are links between many of them, some without even knowing about it.
This is an excellent concept for a novel and the writing style is remarkable, however, I felt it kind of tapered off towards the end as it was rushing towards the dramatic conclusion (yes, there is some drama and action in this book).
I enjoyed reading this, I thought it was unique and fun, and I would certainly recommend it.
Ryman gives us a snapshot of each passenger on a seven and a half minute journey on a tube train. Each character is described by their outward appearance, who they actually are, and what they are thinking and doing at that point. Sounds dull but it really isn’t. I love to people watch, it completely fascinates me, and I often wonder who these people are or where they are scurrying off to in such a hurry. This book gives you all that.
This is realism at its literary finest. Each character is believable and entertaining (or horrifying) in their own way, and I liked how there are links between many of them, some without even knowing about it.
This is an excellent concept for a novel and the writing style is remarkable, however, I felt it kind of tapered off towards the end as it was rushing towards the dramatic conclusion (yes, there is some drama and action in this book).
I enjoyed reading this, I thought it was unique and fun, and I would certainly recommend it.
August 25, 2021
There are 253 passengers on a seven car Tube train that is about to crash. Every person, along with their thoughts and actions on their brief train ride (and including footnotes explaining their direct and/or indirect relationships with other people on the train), is described in exactly 253 words each.
While on the surface this may sound like nothing more than a mildly interesting experiment in constrained writing, the book manages to reach a deeper meaning than you would expect. Whether you read the book from beginning to or flip around to random parts at your leisure, the overall effect is the same; allowing you to freeze a moment in time and examine the lives and deaths of 253 people with more in common than they will ever truly realize. Contrasting and comparing their personalities and motivations affords the reader an almost God-like chance to examine the fantastic and mundane worlds of a train full of strangers as an intrinsic whole.
But don't let that scare you away. If you rather enjoy as a distraction rather than a perceptions-enhancing experience, it easily works on that level as well. No matter how you attack 253, it remains a truly unique book in both structure and subject matter, and equally enjoyable whether read in short bursts or cover to cover.
While on the surface this may sound like nothing more than a mildly interesting experiment in constrained writing, the book manages to reach a deeper meaning than you would expect. Whether you read the book from beginning to or flip around to random parts at your leisure, the overall effect is the same; allowing you to freeze a moment in time and examine the lives and deaths of 253 people with more in common than they will ever truly realize. Contrasting and comparing their personalities and motivations affords the reader an almost God-like chance to examine the fantastic and mundane worlds of a train full of strangers as an intrinsic whole.
But don't let that scare you away. If you rather enjoy as a distraction rather than a perceptions-enhancing experience, it easily works on that level as well. No matter how you attack 253, it remains a truly unique book in both structure and subject matter, and equally enjoyable whether read in short bursts or cover to cover.
August 10, 2009
This is a book-ization of what was originally a web hypertext novel. It makes great toilet or before bed or when you just have a moment reading, as it consists of 253 one page descriptions of passengers on a london underground train in the mid nineties.
That's a lot of characters. For the most part they are interesting, and an overarching narrative slowly appears. Not that the narrative is that strong, but it does add a bit.
This book does lose something compared to the hypertext, as many characters are linked in interesting ways.
Ryman is a very strong author if not always upbeat, and the stories together are fascinating slices of life that together do a great job of depicting mid 90's London.
That's a lot of characters. For the most part they are interesting, and an overarching narrative slowly appears. Not that the narrative is that strong, but it does add a bit.
This book does lose something compared to the hypertext, as many characters are linked in interesting ways.
Ryman is a very strong author if not always upbeat, and the stories together are fascinating slices of life that together do a great job of depicting mid 90's London.
March 31, 2017
This appears to have begun life as an internet experiment in the (relatively) early days of the World Wide Web. I wasn't entirely taken with it at first, since it seemed to be nothing more than a set of character sketches, which to begin with were enjoyable enough, but nothing particularly special. I found myself appreciating it more and more as I continued, however; the novel exists in the links between - the interactions, the relationships, the coincidences, the misunderstandings, the chance encounters. It builds as it goes. I don't think this is a book that's for everybody, but in the end, I liked it quite a bit.
July 6, 2016
This is an interesting novel from the early days of the internet, though it doesn't lose anything in print.
The character portraits are pretty amazing because not one of them feels repetitive, predictable, formulaic or lacking in detail - over 253 characters this is quite an imaginative feat.
The story takes on a feeling of the mundane within the epic as the story progresses.
it does feel quite 90s but that doesn't mean it's aged badly.
I'm interested to read Rymans's novel the Child Garden which I also have, to see how his writing changes in a more conventional story.
The character portraits are pretty amazing because not one of them feels repetitive, predictable, formulaic or lacking in detail - over 253 characters this is quite an imaginative feat.
The story takes on a feeling of the mundane within the epic as the story progresses.
it does feel quite 90s but that doesn't mean it's aged badly.
I'm interested to read Rymans's novel the Child Garden which I also have, to see how his writing changes in a more conventional story.
July 2, 2019
I'd give it 2 1/2 if I could... It was a clever idea... 253 characters each with a 253-word story travelling on an Underground train. And well executed within its strict parameters.
I love character-driven books. The trouble I found with this was although there were compelling characters... they were only with you for 253 words. And because I wasn't emotionally ready to meet the next one(!) I'd read the next page and have no idea what I'd just read. It made me desperate to finish it so I could get stuck into a novel in order to spend 1000s of words with the same characters.
(Sorry)
I love character-driven books. The trouble I found with this was although there were compelling characters... they were only with you for 253 words. And because I wasn't emotionally ready to meet the next one(!) I'd read the next page and have no idea what I'd just read. It made me desperate to finish it so I could get stuck into a novel in order to spend 1000s of words with the same characters.
(Sorry)
July 9, 2016
This book is essentially 253 linked pieces of flash fiction detailing the 253 interweaving lives of 253 people riding on a train in London one morning in 1995. I wasn't sure whether or not I would survive this particular gimmick, but about 1/4 of the way in I started to hit my groove in the story and, ultimately, I found the experience of reading this unusual novel (?) compelling and emotionally satisfying.
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