(1) The title is a reference to Roland Barthes, the French critic (is that the wrong term to use for him? Probably). The original Japanese title was the name of the 8th volume of his complete works, which outside Japan was published in 3 volumes, with no titles, so I’ve tried to at least keep the spirit of the thing (It’s Volume 8, 1971-1974 for those of you wondering)
(2) He compromised and came to the wedding in “Court Dress” – given we had the reception in Ham House, he fit into the photos we took there better than anyone else.