GRGR23 (1) - The Holy Centre Approaches

[Seb Thirlway]

First of all, many apologies for the delay in posting this

...financial crisis, sudden need to move three van-loads of stuff
300 miles south, unknown insect that left my arm swollen to twice
its size (in London!) and some beer in a pub in Limehouse...

This is divided nicely into two sections

1.  Peenemunde - yep, THAT Peenemunde (505-518)
2.  Enzian gets too far into the Text but comes out again.
(518-525)

GRGR23-1.  So what happens here?

GRGR23

Slothrop, Klaus Narrisch, Otto Gnahb, Otto’s recent girlfriend,
other dancing girls, a pit band covering a whole spectrum of
alcoholic stupor and a troupe of performing chimpanzees are
onshore and on the loose at Peenemunde, as evening falls.
(work with me on this...)
Well I’ll assume that everyone’s read up to here and has some
idea what this bunch are all doing here.  How much idea do they
have?
The plan is to rescue Der Springer from the clutches of Major
Zhdaev, who’s just taken Gerhard away for a friendly chat
(involving that Sodium Amytal, as it turns out).  Who cares?
Narrisch does, and for some reason Frau Gnahb cares enough to
come up with this hair-brained plan in the first place: Tough
Shit, Narrisch and Otto are to sneak ashore while the
woman-hungry barbarian Russians are distracted by hardly-clad
girls, peripatetic musicians and vomiting chimpanzees.  So far so
good – they’re ashore.  What about Slothrop?  There doesn’t seem
to be much left of him
 like the musicians and girls, he was
booked for this gig and here it is, no take it or leave it as
Frau Gnahb has just barrelled off into the sunset, to return to
pick them up later.
A plan is hatched: the girls distract the Russians who are
guarding the main assembly building, while Slothrop and Narrisch
sneak in via a pumphouse, meeting little resistance, find der
Springer (who’s flying high on Amytal) and start hauling him out
of there.  On the way they bump into Zhdaev and who else but
Slothrop’s old acquaintance Tchitcherine.  Thanks to some neat
swapping of clothes and lip-synching Slothrop passes himself off
as Tchitcherine well enough to put off the guards.  Outside they
rejoin Otto, the musicians and the girls.  Frau Gnahb finally
arrives just as the hunt is closing in on them, and they leave in
the by-now usual cloud of spray – all except Narrisch, who in
spite of Slothrop’s concern (concern?  what?) insists on staying
behind with three guns to make a heroic last stand.

W-what?  A heroic last stand?  Narrisch can't even quite take
that seriously, though he relishes it with some help from
memories of John Dillinger.  Sure Narrisch will be all right: the
guns probably aren't even loaded.


Seb Thirlway
seb at thirlway.demon.co.uk