Wilson's works after The Outsider focused on positive aspects of human psychology, such as peak experiences and the narrowness of consciousness. Critical praise though, was short-lived and Wilson was soon widely criticized. The book was a best seller and helped popularize existentialism in Britain. Lawrence, Vaslav Nijinsky and Vincent Van Gogh and Wilson discusses his perception of Social alienation in their work. These include Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, William James, T.

When Wilson was 24, Gollancz published The Outsider (1956) which examines the role of the social 'outsider' in seminal works of various key literary and cultural figures. He left school at 16, worked in factories and various occupations, and read in his spare time. His works, both fiction and nonfiction, covered a wide range of subjects, such as the supernatural, philosophy and criminology, and includes his famous The Outsider and The Occult.Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.Ĭolin Henry Wilson was born and raised in Leicester, England, U.K. DetailsĬolin Wilson (1931-2013) was the highly respected and erudite author of more than 100 books.

His works, both fiction and nonfiction, covered a wide range of subjects, such as the supernatural, philosophy and criminology, and includes his famous The Outsider and The Occult.

He offers an optimistic message to counteract our tendency toward pessimism and nihilism: while our lower, childish selves are linked to depression and anxiety, purposeful activity will alwways allow us to call on our higher selves and bring concentration, control and a sense of meaning into life.Ĭolin Wilson (1931-2013) was the highly respected and erudite author of more than 100 books. Wilson's analysis of the work of all the big names in 20th-century supra-rational research, from Margaret Murray to Carl Jung, is interspersed with hundreds of entertaining paranormal anecdotes and case studies from throughout history, indlusing his own experiences of visions, of lucid dreaming and dowsing at the Merry Maidens stone circle.

In Mysteries, he uses the concept of the ladder of selves to explain a wide range of supernatural phenomena, from dowsing and denomic possession to precognition and spoon-bending. Through his own cathartic experiences, Wilson came to realise that all of us are in fact manifold personalities - not a single self but rather a ladder or hierarchy of selves. First published in 1978, Mysteries is the groung-breaking sequel to The Occult, continuing Colin Wilson's investigations into the supernatural.

Mysteries by Colin Wilson