**I have now officially renamed it "A Gassy Obese Boy's Saga".
The palindrome was checked on 24th October 2001 and found to contain a few errors, all due to careless keying in rather than errors in the original composition. The emendments have been made and it is now safe to say the whole thing is a true palindrome.
It is arranged in sections (corresponding to the original sheets of A4 it was handwritten on) divided by asterisks. Each of these sections is an exact reversal of another section except for the middle section which is itself a palindrome. Do you understand?
In order to see the corresponding passage (reversal) of the text you are currently on, click on the asterisks (*****).
The middle of the palindrome is the "o" of the word "SENSUOUSNESS". This word along with the phrase it is in is capitalised in the text.
*For a palindrome which does claim a coherent theme, see Tips to no devil.
Writing long palindromes is not difficult; getting them to make sense, however, is a whole different matter.
There are (at least) two different ways of composing palindromes. You can start in the middle and work out both ways or start at the beginning and end and work towards a middle. This one started in the middle.
Cheating. You might say anything goes in a palindrome, however, I would suggest the following to be unacceptable: misspelling, random use of letters as initials, making up words, use of any very obscure or foreign-language words, names or place names out of context. May I plead guilty to the following cheats which you may find in the text:
Niger-an. The accepted adjective derived from the African Republic of Niger is Nigeri; however, since -an is a regular formation and it is in context (Niamey is the capital of Niger) I feel it is acceptable.
Ovate/rogate. Most dictionaries will tell you that these words do not exist as verbs. They must therefore be regarded as "back-formations" from the nouns "ovation" (applause)and "rogation" (religious petition)respectively. Hence: I ovate - I applaud; I rogate - I petition.
Obscure words. Compared to some palindromes that you see, I like to feel that there are very few obscure words here. O.K. esparto, tyro/tiro, tenrec, etc. you don't use every day.
Personal names. I've tried to keep these to a minimum, but they're unavovoidable, especially Beryl and Edna to whom I dedicate the palindrome.
If you are not familiar with the British Isles you may find some of the references and turns of phrase difficult to follow. Here is a short glossary:
"A" Level/"O" Level: Academic Qualifications.
Gob: mouth.
p: official abbreviation of pence (100 p=?).
Dosh:Money.
C.I.D.:Criminal Investigation Department.
S.A.S.:Special Air Service.
R.U.C.:Royal Ulster Constabulary.
Fauna
One of the delightful aspects of a long palindrome is the active part that animals can take in the proceedings. Oh yes, there are plenty of cats, dogs and rats, but also voles, moles, a weasel, the odd ferret and otter.
Indeed animal life from every continent in the world is represented in the palindrome. Australia is well represented, with a few emus, a wallaby and even a kangaroo. From Africa we have lions and a gorilla, from Asia yaks etc.
Whole family of some species are busy too: sheep, ewes and rams; foxes and cubs.
The palindrome contains every letter except "Q". (In that sense it is also a lipogram, but as an example of a lipogram it is spectacularly poor.) Q is not impossible to fit into a palindrome but its scope is very limited and the results disappointing ("Dam I made. Q.E.D. Am I mad?";"Tar cots, Iraq aristocrat!" - See what I mean?)
I am currently working on a "translation" of the palindrome for those sceptics who don't believe it makes sense.
To The Big One___________________________________________________________________