SL500 is a two door

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bkk

New Member
Jul 5, 2014
1
4
61
Mr Mercedes is an excellent book. A factual error about the car. The SL500 is a two seater roadster from Mercedes, not a four door. Additionally it is a V8 and not a V12.

I think Mr King was describing the S model and I would guess the 6 liter V12 which I believe goes by the S600 model number. The S class is Mercedes largest sedan, a four door and seems to meet the description in the book.
 

EMTP513

Well-Known Member
Oct 31, 2012
503
1,923
I used to think I was the only one who was nit-picky about his errors. I'll admit I'm finicky about it but my reason has nothing to do with being annoyed that he can't get facts straight. You're supposed to be able to do that when you've never been published (the editor will absolutely refuse to publish it if you don't have every little fact right, and if you DO have it accurate MY editor wanted me to misprint information.)
My reason for being a little too upset that he doesn't always get medical information right has to do with my professional and repeated experiences with people reading books and thinking that's how you handle an emergency that's medical or traumatic in nature.
I don't know WHY people take their information from books when it comes to emergency or first responder assistance but too many of them do. For that reason, I think the information should be as accurate as possible or at least not contain errors so glaring that it could compromise a future patient's life.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
I used to think I was the only one who was nit-picky about his errors. I'll admit I'm finicky about it but my reason has nothing to do with being annoyed that he can't get facts straight. You're supposed to be able to do that when you've never been published (the editor will absolutely refuse to publish it if you don't have every little fact right, and if you DO have it accurate MY editor wanted me to misprint information.)
My reason for being a little too upset that he doesn't always get medical information right has to do with my professional and repeated experiences with people reading books and thinking that's how you handle an emergency that's medical or traumatic in nature.
I don't know WHY people take their information from books when it comes to emergency or first responder assistance but too many of them do. For that reason, I think the information should be as accurate as possible or at least not contain errors so glaring that it could compromise a future patient's life.
...the same could easily be said of the interweb as well...and there are a number of Docs who wouldn't agree over the same diagnosis either...it's not just authors...
 
M

mjs9153

Guest
I used to think I was the only one who was nit-picky about his errors. I'll admit I'm finicky about it but my reason has nothing to do with being annoyed that he can't get facts straight. You're supposed to be able to do that when you've never been published (the editor will absolutely refuse to publish it if you don't have every little fact right, and if you DO have it accurate MY editor wanted me to misprint information.)
My reason for being a little too upset that he doesn't always get medical information right has to do with my professional and repeated experiences with people reading books and thinking that's how you handle an emergency that's medical or traumatic in nature.
I don't know WHY people take their information from books when it comes to emergency or first responder assistance but too many of them do. For that reason, I think the information should be as accurate as possible or at least not contain errors so glaring that it could compromise a future patient's life.
Goldang it,I thought the self amputation was going too easy..gonna have to go back and fix stuff now..thanks for nothing Mr K,that's the last time I use Survivor Type as a surgical guide! :wink-new:
 
M

mjs9153

Guest
...yeah, but it made for a GREAT cookbook!...
and just think..now,gluten free!!
th
 

Neil W

Well-Known Member
May 27, 2008
1,203
2,592
Isle of Wight UK
I think technical errors made in something which is your specialty are always off-putting. If, as a writer, you are a) aware of them and b) able to put them right without damaging your story, then of course you should. But what should you do if you think it doesn't invalidate your story (think of the discussions in Misery about story, and the important factor being whether it works or not)?

I wrote a story in which a child (10 or so) is assaulted - she fears she will be killed, but blacks out and is rescued. The incident is important for a number of reasons, but her character is established as strong-minded and she is able to get past it. The story works really well for most of the people who read it, but I have a friend who is (among other things) a trauma counsellor, and she said it killed the story for her because, from her experience, she knew the child couldn't simply recover in the way I'd written. I'm quite sure she's right, but I'm equally sure that the story works perfectly well for readers who aren't counsellors, and if I have my character undergoing years of trauma counselling, the rest of the story won't work. So I'm not going to rework anything, and I'm afraid my friend will just have to not think very much of that story.

I'm not an expert on cars or firearms or baseball or millions of other stuff, so I have nothing to nitpick over in SK's work, in any case!
 

Kurben

The Fool on the Hill
Apr 12, 2014
9,682
65,192
59
sweden
I do not mind small factual errors. Mostly i don't even recognise them because i'm caught up in the story but sometimes, not in kings books as far as i know, there can be real biggies. And they do disturb me because they take away the illusion of this could really happen that is important.
 

AnnaMarie

Well-Known Member
Feb 16, 2012
7,068
29,564
Other
I don't know WHY people take their information from books when it comes to emergency or first responder assistance but too many of them do. For that reason, I think the information should be as accurate as possible or at least not contain errors so glaring that it could compromise a future patient's life.

I see similar with tv and movies. It's not necessarily people taking medical advice, but often seeing a character with a chronic illness not treating properly but everything turns out fine. And then family/friends think real people should treat the way the character did.

~~~~

I have to admit, reading Mr. Mercedes last night I hit a line that pulled me right out of the story. It was to unrealistic.

Hodges said "Keep your cell phone handy, and it might be wise to program nine-one-one on your speed dial."

A cop would never say that. Many people call 9-1-1 by accident that way, which we can easily get past. But, how many steps to use speed dial? How many buttons 2 or 3? And a number you don't regularly call, you have to stop and think which speed dial number it's listed on. And in the amount of time you are thinking, you could have already dialled those three numbers. That's why emergency is only three numbers, to make it so fast and second nature.

It's not a major error, and someone else saying it wouldn't have bugged me....but a cop (or at least someone who appears to be a smart cop) it pulled me out of the story and slapped me upside the head with a bit of reality.
 

Sundrop

Sunny the Great & Wonderful
Jun 12, 2008
28,520
156,619
I see similar with tv and movies. It's not necessarily people taking medical advice, but often seeing a character with a chronic illness not treating properly but everything turns out fine. And then family/friends think real people should treat the way the character did.

~~~~

I have to admit, reading Mr. Mercedes last night I hit a line that pulled me right out of the story. It was to unrealistic.

Hodges said "Keep your cell phone handy, and it might be wise to program nine-one-one on your speed dial."

A cop would never say that. Many people call 9-1-1 by accident that way, which we can easily get past. But, how many steps to use speed dial? How many buttons 2 or 3? And a number you don't regularly call, you have to stop and think which speed dial number it's listed on. And in the amount of time you are thinking, you could have already dialled those three numbers. That's why emergency is only three numbers, to make it so fast and second nature.

It's not a major error, and someone else saying it wouldn't have bugged me....but a cop (or at least someone who appears to be a smart cop) it pulled me out of the story and slapped me upside the head with a bit of reality.
My smartphone came with 911 already programmed in an emergency queue.....it's a separate list from general contacts.....press one button to dial
 

EMTP513

Well-Known Member
Oct 31, 2012
503
1,923
J.K Rowling said in an interview that she's made mistakes in writing, and you can "ask people who obsess about my books, who will be happy to point out every error she made."
One guy even said that "anybody can write these books and they're not special." Which I thought was a load panther piss but what the hell. He's one of those people who watches someone do something and then says he and everyone else can do it but never tries it to make himself a damn liar.