Haha, yes! I needed all this extra hints to fully dive into the story and thought the other readers would also appreciate this. The printed version should eventually have an appendix, too.
Regarding the book, I‘ve just read a short summary and it really sounds extra bizarre, which is totally my cup of tea ;-)
The way to do it is to make a whole new book of literary analysis :)
I think you should dig into Banks, and the first book is a good place to start.