(diaryland) September 20, 2001 - 6:14 p.m.

I�m reading V by Thomas Pynchon and I�m having the time of my life. If I was going to be stupendously clever and patient, I�d probably want to end up writing like that one day. I�m about a third of the way through the book and have come across at least sixty zillion characters so far. There were so many characters, I�d given up reading it about five weeks ago and just started right back at the beginning again this week. I started to get lost for the second time, so I had to go back yet again and write down all the names of the characters and who they were on big yellow pieces of paper. I thought it was safe if I even wrote down the names of the characters who seemed to be very insignificant, as I�d been burnt before. They always maliciously pop up later and become more important.

Still, it�s not quite as confusing for me as a Spike Milligan novel.

What can I say? I have a very bad memory. I�m especially bad at names but OK with faces, but there mostly aren�t any of those in novels.

What can I say? I have a very bad memory. I�m especially bad at names but OK with faeces, but there mostly aren�t any of those in novels.