The Books in My Life [Paperback]

Colin Wilson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1998

Wilson, who shares his home with over 20,000 books, pinpoints the books that have made a difference in his life and challenged him to learn.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing Company (August 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571741119
• ISBN-13: 978-1571741110
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #987,130 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Educational..., December 27, 2000

By 

Crystal Eitle (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Books in My Life (Paperback)

...without being pedantic. In "The Books in My Life", Colin Wilson gives a highly personal, semi-autobiographical account of the books that have influenced him most throughout his life. As such, this is not a dry survey of "great books" (although some classics are mentioned), but rather an account of how the literature he encountered during his youth shaped the philosophy of the man who at the age of 24 would break into literary fame with "The Outsider", his first book. The first chapter, "The Truth About Wilson", doesn't refer to Colin Wilson, but rather to a serialized adventure story he read in a boys' magazine when he was about ten. The next chapter deals with Tom Sawyer, which he was assigned to read in school. One of the great things about this book is that Wilson is not afraid to express his own opinions on the "classics" of literature. For example, he says that while he found Tom Sawyer riveting, Huckleberry Finn--Mark Twain's supposed "masterpiece"--was a great disappointment to him, as a boy and also when he returned to it as an adult.

He discusses the influence on his life of Dostoevsky, William and Henry James, Plato, Joyce, and Sartre, but also Sherlock Holmes and Shaw. He also discusses relatively unknown authors such as David Lindsay, who wrote "A Voyage to Arcturus", and the Russians Leonid Andreyev and Mikhail Artsybashev.

The common thread running through "The Books in My Life" is how each of these books inspired his belief that humans can be greater than they usually are, or lended support to his philosophy of the Outsider, or gave an example of what happens when authors fail to grasp the significance of what they themselves are writing and then sink into despair.

This is an interesting book that will get you to think about the books that have shaped your own life.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Autobiography Through Bibliography, May 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Books in My Life (Paperback)

This is an introduction to the books that most shaped Colin Wilson's ideas. And it is somewhat surprising - not every book on this list is an "outsider" book. One of the interesting things about this book is that it is autobiography through bibliography. Wilson chronologically traces his personal development and the development of his thought through the books that most influenced him - from his earliest experience with reading to the present. And some of the choices-like Edgar Rice Burroughs and Arthur Conan Doyle--are surprising.

Also interesting is Wilson's defense of his various tastes. It's a rare treat when someone shares their person aesthetic preferences, and Wilson, as a lifetime reader, does this well. For one example, he describes how his former love for G.B. Shaw's plays faded as he got older.

For fans of Wilson, this is a welcome insight to how his ideas developed.

26 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great books need more thought, August 14, 2001

By 

Stephen Dick (Muncie, IN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Books in My Life (Paperback)

CW wrote "The Books in My Life" when he was 66 or 67 years old. I got the feeling while reading it that he chose books and authors not necessarily because they were favorites but to illustrate his "new existentialism" philosophy. I've been reading Wilson for nearly a quarter of a century and I'm afraid he's reached the intellectual cul-de-sac that he so admonishes in others (particularly Sartre). I've always liked Wilson's aggressive style, the confidence in his ideas, his wide array of interests and his erudition. When I began reading CW I searched out the authors he wrote about. Sartre, Camus, Dostoevsky, Shaw, Huysmans, Hemingway, Mann, ad infinitum (I don't have the time to read as he does). Very few of them had CW's fundamentally optimistic approach to life. When the authors told their tales, filled with heroism, morbidity, intelligence and stupidity, and took them to honest conclusions, CW wagged his finger and said "tut, tut." Where is the positive payoff for all the preceding misery, he wondered. He's like the man who will put up with two hours of wretchedness in a film as long as there is an upbeat, life-affirming ending. CW bases his literary criticism on "peak experiences" (Maslow) and "absurd good news" (Chesterton), brief snippets of insight we all get from time to time where our senses amplify what is in front of us and we see things differently. CW maintains we see new meanings this way. But a rose is still a rose after all. As an analogy (and Wilson loves analogies), it's like a boy who digs in his yard and finds a gold coin. He thinks, if I dig up my whole yard think of all the gold coins I will find. What if I dig up my whole neighborhood? An adult would tell the boy, if you dig up your whole yard, all your apt to find are a few bottle caps and tin cans. Therein lies the central problem with CW's philosophy: He takes the exception as the rule. He says everyday consciousness is a liar but there is no lie about it. What is deceiving is the "peak experience" which is no more than a mirage, an oasis surely to vanish upon analysis. Great literature is not conceived toward optimism. It seeks to reflect reality, warts and all. Most people's lives are not full of giddy, holiday consciousness (especially in the 20th century where most of Wilson's examples come from), but we all have our moments. But the author who concentrates on these moments above all others is being deceitful and shallow and taking the easy way out. I take particular umbrage with CW's assault on Sartre. CW considers him a gloomy pessimist but Sartre actually believed in something (the Resistance, leftist ideals, man as a useless passion) and wrote a blueprint for a generation that succeeding generations can learn from. Wilson is an armchair quarterback who hurls criticism at every play but has never played the game. In all my readings of CW (and it's most of his work), I've never seen him indicate a belief in anything except his solipsism. History will always accord writers like Sartre a better reputation simply because they stood for something. I think the central point CW is missing is hope. Hope gives us our optimism, allows us to go on despite the "triviality of everydayness. Wilson talks about crises and past moments as triggering "peak experiences." But what good are they? The only meaning they supply is based on relief or nostalgia. True meaning is going to come from projecting our hope toward the future and building on it. When we understand what we've become and work toward it, we've put meaning in our lives and everything around us. Also, and this is crucial, CW totally ignores outside factors such as politics, economics and culture (and the writers he dissects always take these into consideration, especially Sartre) and concentrates solely on the individual pursuit of meaning (be it sex, the occult, crime, whatever). But hope has to include us all. What is the point of a bunch of people running around having "peak experiences?" Sure, they may find more meaning in a garden or auto or an animal, but what's the point when a billion people are worried about their next meal? Wilson claims these "peak experiences" will be the next step in human evolution. If that's true, we're in for a shallow future(and the present is pretty shallow). I say the next step is a social evolution. I don't think CW has ever mentioned the political philosopher John Rawls. He should read Rawls' "A Theory of Justice" and imagine, if he can, a soietal "peak experience" where meaning comes from service and cooperation. Now that would be a quantum leap in evolution. I don't have the space to go into more detail, but I'd like to hear from anyone about this. I'd like to hear from CW too. I have no idea how to contact him. I don't miss reading him but I've learned over the years that he's missing a lot. Reach me at [e-mail]