The Outsider

Rating:
Summary: "The Outsider" is a treasure of erudition.
Review: When I discovered "The Outsider" in May of 1977, I was convinced it was the finest book of its kind. Colin Wilson displayed boldness, originality, and fearlessness in attacking some of the more dubious aesthetic and philosophical ideas of the past hundred years, and establishing his own brand of existentialism which centered on human efforts to become more godlike. Central to Wilson's philosophy is the idea of training the mind to see beyond the "triviality of everydayness," to grasp higher states of consciousness. Wilson's lifelong goal, in all his writings, has been to discover a way for man to will his consciousness to higher levels without the use of artificial stimulants such as sex and drugs and violence. He wrote "The Outsider" to describe man's attempts, through literature, to explore the problem of meaninglessness in everyday existence. His central conflict rested with a respectful but solid refutation of Sartre whom Wilsom considered far too gloomy and negative. But Wilson totally ignores politics and social issues which, of course, Sartre tackles head-on. As I've grown older I've come to recognize that Wilson created in "The Outsider" a philosophy which borders on solipsism and brought navel-gazing to a higher level. Wilson's philsophy is essentially a reaction to forces that prey on all of us. His solution is to concentrate the mind to overcome those forces. Wishful thinking. Most of the world is too hungry and worried about making ends meet to have the luxury of an artistic existence that allows a person to revel in mind games. Most of us have experienced Wilson's descriptions of higher consciousness, such as our feelings at the beginning a vacation or at Christmas. His aim is to invoke that kind of excitement at will. After 40 years of writing books, he is no closer to a solution. He has steadfastly refused to take politics, economics, social, and cultural isues into account, and this would have to be crucial to begin to change our consciousness. Wilson thinks evolution will carry us to a higher level. Someday it may, but as long as most of us are mired inescapably in that "triviality of everydayness," we will have to rely on outside stimulants to raise our consciousness. Still, Wilson's book gives us a key to search ourselves in ways we may not have recognized. Best of all, he reminds us epistemological searchers that there is a whole library of literature out there to guide us on inner journeys. Read the entire "Outside" series. Wilson gets more into sociology in "The Stature of Man," but still he dismisses it too easily.