The Magnum Society: Author's Perspective
My latest novel The Magnum Society is a romantic comedy as well as a stinging satire on 21st century society’s glaring incapacity to renew and reinvent itself as a society. I never aimed to write a political novel, but every time I made a tour d’horizon of different nations around the Western world, I could only wonder at the obtuse antagonism and rampant paranoia in both political tone and content. When some complained about “populism,” others grumbled about “identity politics” or “political correctness;” when electorates were asked to partake in referenda in many countries, they either voted “No” or “Leave,” or they opted for national or regional independence: “Just leave us alone.” Some of them even wanted to build walls. The examples abound. All you have to do is check the daily news and you will not get disappointed; or maybe you will.
My first reaction to the events of the last couple of years in Western politics, across the field, was to write an academic book on the current political aberrations. However, I realised such a project would collide with my other academic work, so I eventually decided to reserve my political and social analyses for the relevant genre, political science, and instead opted for an artistic and literary solution. It dawned upon me that the satirical novel would be a more dynamic genre to describe the current confusion and sense of drift in society. Generally, the novel gives the author more freedom of scope in the form of poetic license and allows for a larger blend of characters within a confined space controlled by the author. So far so good.
When it came to the character gallery, I dug up a couple of right ones, real originals, who lead lonely, casual lives, utterly disillusioned with their contemporaries. Apart from one: Dan, the Danish photographer who ekes out a modest living by taking pictures for glossy international magazines. The Photographer, the ultimate visualiser, plays an eye-opening role, particularly in his friendship with John Simmonds, the key character. Right from the start Dan serves as the connecting thread for the entire plot, seeing, reporting, taking pictures at the crucial moments. He also plays the role of silent witness, just being there, observing and recording, without interfering.
I never wanted to write a cynical satire, so the character gallery had to be as nuanced and authentic as possible. Roughly, the main characters fall within three groups: the Magnum Society’s original founders, idealist members of an intellectual elite who tries to regain control, in vain, losing out to the second, larger group of cynical financial wizards, firmly in power when our story begins; the third group only slowly begins to form during an increasingly bitter power struggle between, on the one hand, fierce and dominant female executive members and their male supporters, who include John Simmonds, and, on the other, the intellectually shallow financial establishment in power.
By a mysterious string of events which involves the original Society founder, an odd sociology professor from Columbia University, New York, the fierce feminist businesswomen and leading femeconomy investors end up taking full control of the Magnum Society and during this process miraculously discover the old humanist and intellectual ideals on which the Society was originally founded.
Although this process towards enlightened values and principles, such as equality and female empowerment, is a slow and hard-won struggle, their triumph both renews and restores the Magnum Society to its original purpose: promoting progressive values such as human rights, equality and humanitarianism.
Naturally, in depicting the Magnum Society’s dramatic transformation towards the better, I have tried hard to avoid the shrill and shallow cynicism of our time as well as the sanctimonious claptrap of contrived academic humanism that usually follows in its wake and I sincerely hope I have succeeded in steering clear of both extremes by letting the leading characters grow with their Society as they discover a world of grand ideals while allowing a mild irony subtly to suffuse the narration from beginning to end.
Finally, combining romantic comedy with social satire is a delicate balancing act, particularly when burning passion suddenly erupts in rather mature people. I have deliberately aimed to tone down the hot emotions by using discreet irony and so creating space for the satire to play out. I think I have succeeded in striking the right balance between the two genres but of course only the readers can be the true judge of that. I can only hope readers will appreciate this rather exotic mix of genres and perhaps find inspiration and comfort in the way the Magnum Society ultimately, against all odds, manages to improve and renew itself. Maybe this world of ours is not so bad after all? I hope you will all enjoy The Magnum Society.
From the front back cover:
John Simmonds, an innocent loner and Bostonian divorcee in his mid-forties, cast adrift, one day bumps into an interesting photographer, Dan. The two men immediately get along and a lasting friendship forms between them. Dan tells John about an opulent Society of elitist highflyers he does occasional jobs for, a Society he thinks might help spice up John’s dreary life. So he invites John to the Magnum Society’s grandiose Hamburg Event.
From the moment the extravagant party erupts, John’s life takes a piquant and dramatic turn: a dominant executive lady seduces him and, as he enters into a hot lasting relationship with her, he soon becomes a first-hand witness to a bitter power struggle at the Magnum Society’s top.
When his lady and future wife instigates a fierce feminist takeover of the Society, aiming to promote female leadership and womanomics, he decides to support her fully, only to find himself at the epicentre of an earth-shattering gender revolution.
Steen Alexander
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