Pages 226-236

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 228

Miss Borgesius is still active on the program, and Mr. Duncan Sandys is having all his questions answered.
Putting them in the same sentence is a fine example of Pynchonesque intuition; in 2000 Duncan Sandys was revealed as the "headless man" involved in a decades-old sex scandal. In 1963 photos emerged of the Duchess of Argyll performing fellatio on him, while a third person, identified as Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., was masturbating and making Polaroid snaps. And yes, there is a von Braun connection.

Page 229

229.23

From overhead, from a German camera-angle
The German, or Dutch, or Batman angle is actually a tilted camera-angle. "From overhead" implies a German bomber's (or rocket's) view.

Page 232

Although Weisenburger cites Fu Manchu stories as a source for this item, it is more clearly being used simply to inflict pain in the ritual between Katje and the Brigadier. Malacca canes are thick, with a knob at one end. They are sometimes used in sado-masochistic settings such as the one here.