Pages 610-616

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 611

611.33 Molotov isn’t telling Vishinsky
Echoes the capitalist slogan, "Macy's doesn’t tell Gimbel's," referring to the rival New York department stores.

Page 615

615.06 Sir Marcus Scammony
Scammony refers to the medicinal resins derived from the roots of certain plants, or to the plant itself. The word also suggests "scam," or "trickery," "con job."

615.12-13 O-or how about mixing in something that will actually dissolve in the rain?
Evokes the 1952 British film The Man in the White Suit in which Alec Guinness plays a scientist who invents a suit that won’t soil or wear out. It does, however, dissolve in the rain.