''253'', or ''Tube Theatre'', is a novel by Canadian writer
Geoff Ryman
Geoffrey Charles Ryman (born 1951) is a Canadian writer of science fiction, fantasy, slipstream and historical fiction.
Biography
Ryman was born in Canada and moved to the United States at age 11. He earned degrees in History and English at UCLA ...
, originally created as a website in 1997,
then published as a print book titled ''253: The Print Remix'' in 1998. The print version won a
Philip K. Dick Award
The Philip K. Dick Award is an American science fiction award given annually at Norwescon and sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and (since 2005) the Philip K. Dick Trust. Named after science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, ...
.
Synopsis
''253'' is about the 253 people on a
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
train travelling between
Embankment
Embankment may refer to:
Geology and geography
* A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea
* Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railwa ...
station and
Elephant & Castle
The Elephant and Castle is an area around a major road junction in London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark. The name also informally refers to much of Walworth and Newington, due to the proximity of the London Underground stati ...
on January 11, 1995. The basic structure of the novel is explained in the foreword:
Each character is introduced in a separate section containing 253 words, which give general details and describe the thoughts going through the characters' heads. In the online version,
hypertext
Hypertext is E-text, text displayed on a computer display or other electronic devices with references (hyperlinks) to other text that the reader can immediately access. Hypertext documents are interconnected by hyperlinks, which are typi ...
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 (or its plural form indices) may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
* Index (''A Certain Magical Index''), a character in the light novel series ''A Certain Magical Index''
* The Index, an item on a Halo megastru ...
. The reader can proceed from one character to another using these devices or can read the novel in positional order, e.g. from one seat and one train car to the next, but there is no overall chronological order except in the final section.
The novel ends with the train crashing.
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 Lint
Charles de Lint (born December 22, 1951) is a Canadian writer of Dutch, Spanish, and Japanese ancestry. He is married to, and plays music with, MaryAnn Harris.
Primarily a writer of fantasy fiction, he has composed works of urban fantasy, cont ...
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."
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
's Mary Glendinning reviewed the print version more favourably as "Gimmicky? Perhaps. Funny, sharp and sad? Yes. Entertaining? Definitely."
See also
*
Constrained writing
Constrained 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.
D ...
*
Electronic literature
Electronic literature or digital literature is a genre of literature encompassing works created exclusively on and for digital devices, such as computers, tablets, and mobile phones. A work of electronic literature can be defined as "a constr ...
*
Hypertext fiction
Hypertext fiction is a genre of electronic literature, characterized by the use of hypertext links that provide a new context for non-linearity in literature and reader interaction. The reader typically chooses links to move from one node of text t ...
* ''
Life: A User's Manual'', a similarly constructed novel by
Georges Perec
Georges Perec (; 7 March 1936 – 3 March 1982) was a French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist, and essayist. He was a member of the Oulipo group. His father died as a soldier early in the Second World War and his mother was killed in the Holoc ...
, based on an apartment building rather than an underground train
*
List of London Underground-related fiction
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
Notes
External links
Hypertext version''253: The Print Remix''at Worlds Without End
{{DEFAULTSORT:253 (Novel)
Novels by Geoff Ryman
1996 British novels
1996 science fiction novels
Novels set on the London Underground
Fiction set in 1995
Flamingo books
Novels set in one day