Dan Brown on new thriller: “Prague is custom-made for Robert Langdon”
The bestselling American author Dan Brown has set his newest thriller in Prague. What drew him to the Czech capital? Which Prague landmarks inspired the plot? What does his writing process look like?
Released on September 9th, The Secret of Secrets is set in the heart of the city, steeped in legends and tales of Prague’s mysteries. Dan Brown - known for The Da Vinci Code, Inferno, or Angels & Demons - brings his iconic character, Professor Robert Langdon, to Prague for a new adventure that delves into questions of consciousness.
Brown spent last week in Prague, launching his book release tour. In an interview on Czech Radio’s programme “Lucie Výborná’s Guest,” he shared why he chose Prague as the setting for his latest novel. Here are some excepts from the interview:
Prague
How much time have you spent in Prague?
“I came many times quietly under the radar in a baseball cap and glasses and walked the city. I think I have probably been here a total of two or three months.
“I remember seeing the dripstone wall at the Waldstein Gardens, which is also in the novel. I went up the Petřín Tower and I knew that I wanted to use it in the book. But then I also saw a mirror maze, and because the themes of the book are consciousness, reflections, and perceptions, I decided that I had to use it. It was wonderful. And of course, the Clementinum - the Baroque library has some secret passageways that are fascinating.
“But there's so much here. I love to use location as a character - and Prague is custom made for Robert Langdon. I happen to think it is one of the - if not the most beautiful city in the world. It is just magical. And ever since the days of Emperor Rudolf II, it has been the mystical capital of Europe. So it was a perfect place for this book.”
I am afraid that after The Secret of Secrets, there will be even more tourists in Prague.
“But The Secret of Secrets takes place in the winter. There’s a line in the novel in which Langdon encourages people not to visit Prague in the summer, but to come in the winter instead. I'm trying to spread out Prague tourism over the whole year. I'm trying to help.”
Themes and consciousness
“By far the most ambitious book I've ever written,” you said. What is the ambition?
“Well, the ambition was to write about human consciousness – a very difficult topic. It's a very ethereal and ephemeral topic. And for me to take something that is that ineffable and to write an urgent, real-world, fast-paced thriller about it - that was the challenge. This book is longer than anything I've ever written. It has more characters. And I feel like it delves into Prague more deeply than any city I've ever written in.
It was a lot of research.”
You mentioned consciousness as a theme of your book. What happens when we die?
“If you had asked me eight years ago, I would have said ‘nothing’ - it's the end, darkness, full stop. You're a computer whose power cable has been cut.
And now, eight years later, after having researched so much and talked to so many people who have had near-death experiences, to scientists, physicists, noeticists, and read everything I can on the topic, I've come out the other side with a much different viewpoint. I have not had a near-death experience or a religious experience. My change of heart and change of mind is really based on the science that is being done in the field.”
Noetics, as I understand it, is not recognized by universities. What kind of science are we talking about?
“That is part of the fun of the book. You have a very well-known neuroscientist who works here in Prague - she's a Czech woman - who argues that this ‘other’ science is pseudoscience. It is not real science. But the reality is that it is absolutely a real science. The notion of the human mind affecting the physical world is known since the double-slit experiment almost a century ago.
And so the real question is: how do we interpret the results? Nobody is saying that these experiments haven't happened and that the results were not puzzling, but people have different ways of interpreting them. And that's part of the fun of the book - you see the two sides arguing as to whose version is correct.”
Robert Langdon
Six to eight years of coexisting with Robert Langdon. What's the relationship between the two of you like?
“He's the man I wish I could be. I live vicariously through him. He has a much more exciting life than I do. He spends his days running around in this beautiful city, and I spend my days sitting at a computer trying to get him out of trouble.
“We share a passion for history and art and symbols and codes and all of that. He's a lot smarter than I am. I've had people say: how can he be smarter? Everything he says, you have to think of. And then I have to explain that if Langdon just glances out the window at the Charles Bridge and gives a perfect spontaneous soliloquy on its history and its importance - that took me many days to research and write.
He's a friend. He's an alter ego.”
The writing process
Do you know how the book will end when you start writing?
“I do, yes.
There's something mathematical, artificial or architectural in having to know where you begin and where you end. And the creativity comes with how to get there. How do you create the worst possible route that poor Robert Langdon can take with the most obstacles, the most twists and turns, the most surprises?”
How do you write? Can I imagine you writing daily?
“I write every day, seven days a week. I write from about four o'clock in the morning until around noon. And then I get some lunch, do some exercise. Then I deal with some of the business of writing, the lawyers and agents and publishers. And then at night, my favourite thing to do is just connect with friends and have dinner.”
What's the secret to everyday writing? Is it discipline, goals, structure?
“I think there are two things. Discipline is definitely very high on the list. And most writers who have been successful don't really have to write anymore to make a living. You have to commit to it and be disciplined. I'm instinctively disciplined – it’s not hard for me. But I think the real key is being able to hit the delete key when things are not working and say: ‘I just wrote something that reads well, but is not right and it's time for me to just delete it.’”
Music
The famous novelist is better known for his writing than his music, but he experimented with the music industry early in his career and continues to compose to this day. In 2020, he released Wild Symphony—a musical portrait of the animal kingdom aimed at a young audience.
Is the process of writing and composing similar?
“They're very similar. You can't write a piece of music or a book without understanding structure. (…) You need to understand dynamics. You can't write three triple forte fast movements in a row, and you can't write three car chases in a row. You need to understand thematic material. In good songs, in good symphonies, in good music, themes sort of come up and fade away at just the right moment. Just as you're starting to forget them, there they are again to remind you that you're in the same piece of music. It’s the same with books. In this novel, there are all sorts of different themes that surface and disappear repetitively throughout the book.”
The future
How many books do you think you will write?
“No idea. As long as the ideas keep coming, I'll keep writing. It's a difficult process, but it's also an enjoyable one. And for example, for this book - I would never have learned as much about Prague and the Czech Republic and consciousness as I have because this book forced me to do it. I might've read a little bit about consciousness or a little bit about Prague, but writing a book. It makes you learn. And I hope the books spark a lot of excitement. It's funny. I just, I just landed at the airport and met the president of the airport, such a nice man. And he said that he was so happy that the airport made so many appearances in the novel. And obviously Prague is a top spot in Europe for tourism. You certainly don't need any promotion whatsoever, but I do hope people start coming in the winter. So your, so your summers are a little easier on you.”
