The Inspiration Behind A MAN OF UNDERSTANDING

Diana Janney describes the inspiration behind her latest novel A Man of Understanding

There are very many different approaches to writing fiction. Some authors will not write a novel until they have decided in advance what the hook will be that draws attention to the book. Others write in the belief that if they keep writing, eventually a hook will emerge, even if they have no idea what that hook will be at the outset. And there are those, like me, who believe that the best hook is the one that is created by strong, compelling characters who have something original and thought-provoking to say, who mesmerise and inspire in such a compelling way that the reader does not want them to disappear from their world.

Of course, it is usually the case that what such characters have to say coincides with what the author knows a lot about and finds intriguing. If an author listens hard to and trusts in their characters, it will not be long before those characters reveal their motivation for existing. As long as an author writes from the heart about what moves, fascinates, intrigues and inspires them, it is highly likely that a strong hook will soon emerge.  

When I chose Mallorca, more specifically the foot of the magnificent Serra de Tramuntana Mountain range, as the principal setting for my latest novel A Man of Understanding, it never occurred to me that the novel’s setting would attract so much attention as a consequence of having selected this beautiful island, which has attracted prominent writers and artists for generations – D.H.Lawrence, Robert Graves, who lived in and is buried in Deia, George Sand and her lover Frederic Chopin who lived in Valldemossa, Joan Miro, who lived and painted in Calamajor, to name a few. Rather, my choice was inspired by my many visits to the island over the last twenty-five years, and a wish to do justice to the spirit of the areas that have given so much to me, to give them something back, to write an ode, if you like, to what the place is capable of inspiring.

When I started to create Horatio R. Hennessy, an enigmatic philosopher-poet who lives in a Finca that he restored himself in a remote part of the island, reminiscent of Deia, it didn’t take long for me to be inspired by the setting into attributing to Horatio a deep knowledge of the arts – poetry, art, music, in particular – and to recognise where the plot was taking me. Here was a fascinating ‘man of many colours’ as he describes himself, an aesthete, a learned philosopher, a published poet, an admirer of great works of art and of the beauty of nature that had drawn him to the island, who had turned his back on the mediocre in favour of an original approach to life. 

But just what would this ‘man of understanding’ in every sense of the word ‘understanding’ have to offer his grandson Blue Ellerton, whom mysteriously he has never met, but who is now to share his life in Mallorca following the sudden death of Blue’s parents in England, the only home that Blue has ever known? My answer came to me swiftly that this strong but fragile, wise but foolish, deep but humorous philosopher-poet could contribute much to a young man grappling to overcome the grief and uncertainty from which he is suffering. Soon, they are experiencing together an aesthetic journey, and learning, through creating poetry together, that this artform frees them both into expressing their fears and questions and emotions in a way that conversation could not achieve.   

Another inspiration behind A Man of Understanding is my background in Philosophy, which I read at University College, London, both as an undergraduate and postgraduate. I chose the subject of Aesthetics for my postgraduate thesis, in particular the eighteenth-century philosophers Immanuel Kant and David Hume, and asked the question, what is the judgment of taste, is it merely subjective and, if so, how are we able to claim that it is true intersubjectively, rather than being a mere personal preference? Of course, this is relevant to a novel about the importance of the arts, and how they ‘move the soul’ as Horatio puts it. I believe that there is a link, too, between philosophy and poetry. As Miro put it, every poet is a philosopher, and many philosophers have a poet’s gifts.

As well as exploring Kant’s and Hume’s theories on Aesthetics, I decided to bring Aristotle’s philosophy into the novel. A reason for this is that Aristotle was orphaned at a young age, just like Blue, and was also brought up to be taught about philosophy and poetry by a relative, his uncle. This gives Blue a connection to a thinker who overcame the loss of his parents to become one of the world’s greatest philosophers.

Blue learns a great deal from Horatio about Aristotle’s views, for instance his theory of perception, colour (when Horatio first changes Blue’s name to Blue), his views on friendship and love, on virtue, through reference to the Golden Mean, on the subject of the age spectrum, significant to them both. I write my novels in such a way that philosophy is accessible, not dry as it can be, so that it comes alive through the characters and their experiences.

In this respect, there is also a connection to Aristotle in that he believed it was crucial that his philosophy was accessible not only to his academic contemporaries but more widely to the general people. With this in mind, he wrote his works in two forms, one academic writings, with philosophical jargon, for other philosophers, the other exoteric writings in dialogue form with strong characters but without the jargon, in the hope that these writings would reach the Greek-speaking world. In other words, Aristotle’s philosophy for the general people was accessible, and like a novel, he relied on strong characters and their dialogue to reach and interest these people.

I have a firm belief that each one of us should explore where our true individual talents lie, in the biblical sense of the ‘parable of the talents’. We need to grow an understanding of who we are, what matters to us, not in order to please or impress others, as Horatio warns Blue, but with a strength of character that allows us to be true to ourselves. In this respect, both Horatio and Blue help each other and have a great deal to learn. 

It is also important to have the right role models. They don’t need to be just the living; we can learn from the works of the dead too. My own life is testimony to the possibility of being inspired by the works of great philosophers now dead, as well as by relatives we never knew. My late father’s father died before I was born, yet much that I have learnt about him has inspired me, and perhaps has even formed part of Horatio’s character.   

I couldn’t end without mentioning the inspiration that has come from the love I have experienced throughout my life, which has influenced me to write about and reflect upon the importance of this virtue in relation to others as well as to the self. For, as Horatio writes to Blue in A Man of Understanding, in answer to Blue’s question as to whether Aristotle would think it is possible to love someone too much:

‘It takes a wise man to be truly loving,

Someone reflective who pursues Virtue,

Who shares his thoughts, discusses with the other,

Who loves himself as much as he loves you.

 

Without self-love man cannot love another

First in himself he must find true virtue

So that he recognises in the other

That very love the friend sees in him too.’

—

Diana Janney is the author of the novels The Choice and The Infinite Wisdom of Harriet Rose, which has been translated into four languages, produced as an audiobook by the BBC, and the film rights were sold. Formerly Diana practised as a barrister in London after having qualified as a solicitor at a leading City of London international law firm. She read Philosophy at University College, London, where she received a First for her Masters thesis on Kant and Hume, and three scholarships. Diana has received international acclaim for her writing, which combines her philosophical knowledge with her wit, poetry and keen observation of human nature. www.dianajanney.com

The People’s Book Prize has announced that COGITO Publishing was chosen as Best Publisher for this year’s awards in recognition of Diana’s novel A Man of Understanding, and the book was named Runner Up for The People’s Book Prize – Fiction 2023.

A MAN OF UNDERSTANDING

It takes a man of understanding to rebuild a shattered soul: a man with a deep grasp of philosophy and poetry, a man who can nurture and inspire an enquiring mind, a man with the wit and humour to bring the world alive. That enigmatic man is Horatio Hennessy. His grandson Blue is that shattered soul.

Following the death of twelve-year-old Blue’s parents, his new home is a Finca in the mountains of Mallorca, with the grandfather he has never met before. But is Horatio up to the challenge, or is he merely trying, through Blue, to make good his past? When secrets are uncovered, will understanding turn to misunderstanding? Will two souls be shattered this time? 

A Man of Understanding is published by COGITO Publishing, in paperback and eBook.

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Category: On Writing