Customer Reviews

The Books in My Life

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...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.

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.

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 stephenjdick@hotmail.com

Since this is a book obviously aimed at Colin Wilson fans I'll get straight to the chase:
In a work such as this one would expect several things. First and foremost, that it would be a seriously bulky book. Afterall, this is C.Wilson we're dealing with here, a man with a 20.000 book library in his house and one of the most prolific modern writers. In a book where he's discussing the most influential books in his life, you'd expect something like a 700-1000 page mammoth, ranging from his teenagehood up until now. Instead, we get a rather "lazy" 300 page offer where mostly literature is presented and to a lesser extend some philosophy.

That's strange considering that for the better part of the last decade C.Wilson has been investigating such intriguing areas as the paranormal, the occult and the possibility of alien existence or activity. In these topics Wilson has done some of his very best work, and I'm sure i don't stand alone with this opinion. Yet, there's nothing to be seen in "The Books in My Life" about all that. I, for one, was expecting a big part of the book dedicated to these areas with an appropriate bibliography accompanying it. I was dissapointed that all this was ommited, but it's also obvious that this was a choice C.Wilson made, allthough I'm not at all convinced about the logic behind it. Unless of course there is a "part 2" of this book to follow, focusing only on the latter stage of his research and works. I'm very curious about it all.

Strictly speaking about this book, I wasn't exactly thrilled even though C.Wilson is my favorite author and researcher. First of all he mentions several authors who -he himself admits- play no role anymore in his life and haven't done so in many years. I fail to see the point in mentioning them then especially when he does so at length. I would understand it had he devoted references to them, but whole chapters just to dismiss them?

Then again, and this i found even more odd, the type of literature that he discusses struck me as shallow. I had the belief (or call it illusion if you like) that in C.Wilson's influences I'd discover some majorly iconoclastic literature. To be fair, i did discover some but in painfully small dosages. The rest came across to me as books I wouldn't be interested in, as they seem to be works that deal with things most people are concerned with in their teenage years. And not very good books at that either as Wilson himself says too.

I remained with the feeling that Wilson used the theme of "the books I've read" only to bring forward (not for the first time) his agenda of steering our conciousness or moods. Now, that is a damn interesting agenda and certainly one worth devoting many years into perfecting as an "inner skill". Speaking of that, i think that some reviewers may (I'm not 100% sure myself) have misunderstood Wilson as a professional optimist exactly because of this agenda of his, which can be easy to miscomprehend.

Wilson doesn't see the world as a very rosy one and this is very apparent for anyone that has read his previous books. What he suggests is that by achieving a large degree of control over our consciousness we thereby affect our outlook on the world especially when one keeps in mind that reality is subjective. Surely, and one reviewer who tackles this is certainly right, Wilson doesn't seem to take into consideration all the "outside" factors such as politics and economics that deeply affect our lives. I tend to think that Wilson doesn't have complete answers so he decides to go for what he's sure about, leaving out those areas that would complicate the question. That, and I'd readily agree with other reviewers here, makes his overall arguments weak or ambiguous. The main body of his agenda though (consciousness steering) still maintains its intrigue. It has to be processed in a more detailed analysis though, and it needs to incorporate more factors that are definitely important before it can shape up into something more accurate and "realistic".

Generally speaking, simply because i enjoy reading C.Wilson i found the book pretty good at parts but mostly because of positive bias on my part. Other parts were (shockingly) boring and others had me searching for the significance.
As i said in the beginning: he "needs" to offer us a part II, where he talks about books that have driven him to the research he's undertook the last 10 years. Now, that would be way more interesting. With an agenda (which we all anyway have) or without it...

i found this book in a used book store, simply because of the title. that's the best $5.00 i have ever paid.

there are 20 some episodes, covering the books Wilson read. from easy detective story to difficult phylosophy works. it shows how can reading build a man, and it makes me want to read all the books he read, to see whether i agree with his comments or not.

I feel Wilson's positive philosophy from the first page to the end, though his comments (especially the one on Joyce) is debatable, but his optimism makes life shining. He reads every joyful drop of life from books, even from the books by the gloomy existmentists. He makes reading and meditation no more a depressing process.

i wish i could find this book 10 years earlier, and start to read all the books he covered in this book.

first of all, i love colin wilson's work and recommend that everyone buy this and read it whenever they have the chance. it is vivid, extremely well written, and (most likely)creates in the reader that incredible and inspiring enthusiasm for ideas that wilson has. actually, i would say that his work has serious philosophical value and should be referred to by not only casual readers of the field but serious students of all kinds, although he is widely considered a crank and a pseudo thinker. on the other hand, over the years i have come to certain realizations about wilson and his professed 'optimism' and cheery outlook on human life. wilson accuses pessimistic philosophers and writers (huysmans, camus) of having gloomy temperaments and intellectualizing their own personal misery into literary condemnations of human existence, but anyone with half a brain can tell that wilson does the exact same thing, only in reverse. it is as if he says to himself, "this pessimism and sterility in 20th century literature is a dead end and discourages creativity even if it is true. therefore i will make an illusory rationalization of why pessimism and realism are false and a completely bogus theory of why optimism is true. (***)nonetheless, wilson is a truly passionate thinker (albeit one who engages in error and is clearly tainted with the snobby disdain virus that so many intellectuals are) with a natural propensity to explore and illuminate obscure philosophy and literature. just be wary of his claims to impartiality and objectivity.

I don't like to make negative reviews, but Wilson's book here does not allow us into his world as much as we would like. He writes exclusively from the beginning about his favorite fictions and really gets pendantic. His experiences in his other books personify "non-fiction" and he goes off on namby-pansy details about fictional characters...I can read these books myself and make my own interpretations. It seems Wilson was behind the proverbial publisher's "8 ball" on this book and he really lost focus and the book is only about 50 percent concentrated on his existential material, which is what most people want to read. Mr. Wilson, if you are reading this, I apologize because I have more respect for you than to write this kind of review.
I keep going back to the book to see if I am in the "right mood" and if I can pick up on its contents, but to no avail.... like when I read pages from the Outsider. Wilson's life experience could have easily facilitated a slam-dunk on this one, but it seems as if he had some other agenda.