253 by Geoff Ryman

253 began its life as an experimental novel for the internet (the book version is subtitled The Print Remix). It's a novel about the 253 passengers on a London Underground train. It's inventiveness comes from the format, whereby each character is described separately in just 253 words, detailing who they are, what they're doing on the train and what's occupying their thoughts at the time.

It doesn't have a conventional story or plot, but there is a sense of progression within the book. However, the 'story' you get from it depends on what order you choose to read it in. You can choose to read it in a conventional manner, going through each character one by one from number 1 to number 253, just dip in and out at random or follow the links between the different characters and see where that leads you. Some of the characters know each other, some will (or might) get to know each other and others are just travelling on their own, though may have parallels with their fellow travellers, unknown to anyone but us.

Ryman has produced a work that works equally well in both its original electronic and in 'normal' form. 253 works because it's not just an original idea, but in the way that idea has been developed bringing out all the various stories to make you laugh, cry and everything else you might want to do while reading a book. And to save you the trouble of counting this review has 253 words...

---

Want to read another recommendation? Roll the dice and click on the number below, then!