Pages 295-314

This page-by-page annotation is organized by sections, as delineated by the seven squares (sprockets) which separate each section. The page numbers for this page-by-page annotation are for the original Viking edition (760 pages). Editions by other publishers vary in pagination — the newer Penguin editions are 776 pages; the Bantam edition is 886 pages.

Contributors: Please use a 760-page edition (either the original Viking edition with the orange cover or the Penguin USA edition with the blue cover and rocket diagram — there are plenty on Ebay for around $10) or search the Google edition for the correct page number. Readers: To calculate the Bantam edition use this formula: Bantam page # x 1.165. Before p.50 it's about a page earlier; as you get later in the book, add a page.

Finally, profound thanks to Prof. Don Larsson for providing the foundation for this page-by-page annotation.

Page 297

297.36 Articles of Immachination
As opposed to Articles of Incorporation

Page 298

298.24 Etzel Ölsch
Etzel, or Attila the Hun, is first featured as the agent of destruction in the Nibelungen movie during which Franz Pökler falls asleep (159.19). According to the Duden dictionary of family names, Oelsch is a variant of Oelschner, which refers to various east German placenames of Slavic origin.

Page 299

299.38 Picture the letters SS stretched lengthwise
The tunnels are arranged like a two-dimensional parody of the DNA molecule. The 44 cross-tunnels might suggest the 22 pairs of chromosomes possessed by each individual. Correspondent Debby Katz adds the following comment:

"Cross tunnels suggest often -illustrated base pairings in DNA (adenine-thymine A-T, or cytosine-guanine, C-G) the order of which defines the "sense" of the coded message within the molecule. We human-types possess 23 pairs of chromosomes, not 22. One pair, the X-X or X-Y is, of course, not an identical pairing in the male of the species. But the Y is without a doubt information-holding, as an X-O female (45 chromosomes, missing the second X chromosome) is not a male, but a female with a lot of problems."

Not sure where the idea of the DNA double helix comes from, but it is not supported by the text. If the tunnels resembled a helix, a better metaphor would be a spiral staircase, not a ladder with a slight s-curve. Also, the tunnels are designed with Rocket imagery in mind (DNA is not rocket imagery). No, as the book says, the tunnels are suggestive of the double integral, translating rocket acceleration into a point -- the Brennschluss point. And as noted above, humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, not 22.

Page 300

300.03 Hupla
Or "hoopla," a big fuss.

Page 301

301.38 1000 yards east of Waterloo Station
Coincidence?: About 1000 yards east (actually east-southeast) of Waterloo Station, off Southwark Bridge Road, near its intersection with Southwark Street, is a little cul-de-sac where the rocket might impact. Its name is America Street.

Page 302

302.20-21 a constellation...a 13th sign of the Zodiac named for it
Though probably not intended as such by TRP, there is in fact a 13th Zodiacal constellation named Ophiuchus, formerly Serpentarius, both meaning "the serpent holder," found between Scorpio and Sagittarius. "Of the 13 zodiacal constellations (constellations that contain the Sun during the course of the year), Ophiuchus is the only one not counted as an astrological sign." It is passed over.

Going way off on a limb, Ophiuchus may map to Tchitcherine in that they both handle Snakes and see the lightning of God...

" but they [Ophiuchus and Tchitcherine?] lie so close to Earth that from many places they can't be seen at all, and from different places inside the zone where they can be seen, they fall into completely different patterns..."

Also ties in with the later discussion of the Serpent and Kekule's dream.

Page 306

306.19 hanging by the foot
Note how Slothrop, as he hangs upside down by one foot, momentarily turns into a version of the Tarot card The Hanged Man, which also turns up in his Tarot reading on p. 738.

Page 308

308.8-10 "There he is," in a great roar..."go git him boys!"
Major Marvy at this point and forward resembles the Queen of Hearts in the Alice stories as he chases after Slothrop boisterously yelling, in essence, "Off with his head!"

Page 310

310.06 "Gruss Gott"
Glimpf's greeting to Slothrop makes more sense as explained by Igor Zabel: "'Gruss Gott!' is not 'Great God!' but 'Greet (you) God!' — a very common greeting in Austria, Bavaria and southern Germany, more common, in fact, than 'Good morning'. It should be written with an umlaut (grüss)."

Page 312

312.17 white Stetson
Both Marvy’s dress and speech echo the character of Major Stanley "King" Kong, the bomber pilot played by Slim Pickens in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove (1964).