253 characters, 253 words for each of them (+the titles, ads and footnotes (misleading and untrue)), set in a London Underground train on the 11th January 1995 coming to the end of the line.

Interesting to say the least. And it works. (As a book.)

It is morning. Most of the people are going to work, some of the are going nowhere special. Some of the stories, or characters, are linked into beautiful (or not so) chains by acquaintance/geography/random occurrences/most anything, some of them are "loners". Like in life. Some of them are quite uninteresting, some of them are unbelievably interesting. Or just unbelievable. Like in life. Some of them are just jokes, good or bad, some are heart breakers. Variety, variation,

I am a curious person. I look at other people on the underground (even though the one in my home town is quite pathetic one-liner) or bus, wondering and pondering what is going on in their minds and in their lives. I talk with them if they do. And once in a while even if they don't. So, I guess one could say I belong to the target population for this book.

This is a book of many ways. The stories in the book are ordered according to the sitting order, which is not, however, the optimal reading order. Following the links (the internet version helps here--I found it easier and more convenient to read near a computer and check the links with it, even though I was reading the printed edition) and going back and forth in the book makes it even more interesting, and there is not only one right order: skip one link or choose one before the other and you've got a different book.

Actually I am not even sure I read all of the 253 "stories"--but I did read quite a few of them more than once, so I think that makes it even and I can say I've read the book--so unordered was my reading. Once or twice I followed a link to a section of the book I thought I had read to find out I had not. ( )

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. ( )

Esential reading for Bakerloo line afficianados

"A Bakerloo line tube train with no one standing and no empty seats carries 252 passengers. The driver makes 253."
Each person on the train has a page of the book devoted to them and in 253 words you find out all about their thoughts and lives and how each of the passengers lives link up with each other.
If you are the type of person who when travelling on public transport spends their time wondering about the lives of your fellow passengers then you will really enjoy this unusual novel by Geoff Ryman. 253 started off on the Internet before being published on paper. Ryman has created a snapshot of modern London, and as you know that the train is hurtling towards a derailment you can’t help wondering who will live and who will die. ( )

http://spwebdesign.livejournal.com/51... ( )