Tuesday 21 April 2009

The lost symbol

Dan Brown will be publishing his next book on the 15th of september Dan Brown himself has said: "Weaving five years of research into the story's twelve-hour timeframe was an exhilarating challenge." 5 years of research is more time than someone spends researching a phd - so dan browns next book will be better researched than a doctortate study! I dont think anyone will be to accuse him of factual inacuracy when his next novel is published. I cant wait.

13 comments:

Sir-think-A-Lot said...

I'd like to know what school your going to where you can get a PHD. in less than 5 years...

In any case I think I'll be skipping this one, as I'd rather read something with decent writing and characterization.

FiFi said...

Well STAL, a good friend of mine has just started her PHD - she's done 3 years undergraduate, 1 year post-graduate and at the beginning of her fourth year she's started her PHD which, if all goes to plan, she will complete by the end of this year. Granted, she's going on to study further after this, but she'd get her PHD in 5 years.

Its a place called a University, and as we're so clever in England, you can indeed do it in 5 years. I can understand that you yanks would take a bit longer...

FiFi said...

And even if it takes her 2 or more years for her PHD, that part of it won't take 5 years. Note, Mike said its longer than someone takes studying for their PHD, not meaning since starting university doing an undergraduate degree!

Oh never mind, you'll never go there anyway.

Sir-Think-A-Lot said...

And even if it takes her 2 or more years for her PHD, that part of it won't take 5 years. Note, Mike said its longer than someone takes studying for their PHD, not meaning since starting university doing an undergraduate degree!Granted the ammount of time spent on the actual phd is usually less than 5 years. But unless your going to a non-accredied university, an undergraduated degree is a requirment for graduate programs. So I dont think it's all unfair to include the time in undergraduate and masters degree programs in earning a docterate.

Oh never mind, you'll never go there anyway.Thats funny considering that I'm less than a month away from earning my Bachelors degree and am already accepted into a master program.

Anonymous said...

Have you been to university, Fifi? If it wasn't for the fact I don't gamble, I'd bet a lot of money that Fifi has never stepped foot anywhere near a university history department.

Mike is Wright said...

Oh dear, sir think a lot seems to be struggling with logic again. Dan Brown spent years researching the da vinci code which is the equivilant to an undergraduate degree. So the da vinci code plus his latest book equates to the time spent earning a doctorate. Happy now? I bet dan brown has spent longer researching the stuff he writes than STAL has on the dribble he writes.

Sir-Think-A-Lot said...

And yet he STILL doesnt understand things like plot, characterization and engaging writing style.

johnny said...

Is the level of research even close?

Does any of us know anyone that has written a novel and also earned a PhD?

johnny

Sir-Think-A-Lot said...

I know OF a number of writers with phds. But I dont know any of them personally.

johnny said...

yeah, me too...

and we both know people on tweb that claim to have doctorates... but i don't know of any that have written novels with the need for researching so as not to make blunders that would make the story flop.

I'm sure Tom Clancy needed a lot of research for his novels, but were they at a doctorate level? or just military correctness and such?




Clancy was the reason i asked the question... not trying to take away from Mike's fun.

johnny

johnny said...

Happy One Year (and 8 days) Anniversary to Mike's Blog.



johnny

Sir-Think-A-Lot said...

congratsm may your blog continue on for many years.

And on Tom Clancy: I love his novels partly because they have a ring of authenticy that is rare in military based novels. Even the way his characters talk reflects how real people in the military speak.

A lot of that though, could easily have been picked up simply by being in the military. But then again Clancy never was in the service...

I'm not sure how long he spent studying his novels, and I'm also not sure if he has a docterate...

Sir-Think-A-Lot said...

This isnt a book, but I was just reading in Game Informer about how the creators of Assassins Creed studied and learned all about the Crucaides and Templars in order to give the game a realistic feel, and how some of the events they learned about ended up becoming quests in the game. They even had a couple of historians from Notre Dame on hte development team.

I'll look and see if they can find the article online...