From: jonesy
Category: Amis
Date: 8/6/99
Time: 12:10:52 PM
Remote Name: 130.159.248.36
Fron London Fields (Chapter 22):
This was the fifth of November. This was Horror day...
Through his porthole Guy could also see both sun and moon, the former discreetly filtered by the treated plastic. Because of the elevation and velocity of this particular observer, the two bodies seemed to be moving towards each other with uncelestial haste ...
Keith nodded as he studied the pork-pie wrapping: the eat by date was placed well into the next millenium. He had a few more scotches and was cheering up enough to make a start at telling the lads about his night with Nick. His stomach still bubbled and spat, noisily rueing that horropie. When everything begsan to go dark ... Through the stained glass they stared, or some of them did, as in perfect parrallax the two white balls conjoined like something unanswerable under the microscope, and the moon began to burn like a little sun.
Which is all very good except that the last total solar eclipse of this century and indeed this millenium will occur on August the 11th. Now call me a pedant if you like but isn't shifting natural events like eclipses around just to add extra significance to the date of Nicola's murder being just a little bit cocky? Or are we supposed to believe, as Amis claims he does in the interview with Self, in parallel universes?
It is also worth noting that according to Government health warnings the treated plastic of an aeroplane window and the stains on a grubby pub window do not provide sufficient protection from the sun's rays and accordingly Guy and Keith should end the novel in casualty being treated for burns to the cornea.