Colin Wilson 1931-2013

[Keri Ford]

Not primarily a sci fi/fantasy writer, but his work had a big impact on me, he crossed all sorts of boundaries, seemed to touch a nerve with the literary intelligentsia who loved to hate him.

But I love his
Spider World Tetralogy, interesting speculations, good scenery
The Philosopher's stone & The Mind Parasites - Cool extension in a different direction from HP Lovecraft

I like plenty of his other works but these seems the most relevant to this forum.

 

[Rodders]

I read Spiderworld. RIP Colin.

 

[biodroid]

I was about to say, didnt he write Spiderworld?

 

[HareBrain]

Funnily enough, the other day I dug out an old copy of White Dwarf in which Dave Langford reviewed Spider World (not altogether charitably).

I've been a fan of Colin Wilson's work for the last twenty years (his non-fiction rather than his fiction -- I read three of the Spider World books, but I didn't think they were particularly good). I knew he had been very ill for some time, so his death hardly comes as a surprise, but it's a shame to think he will write nothing else. His books on the supernatural and other "out there" stuff (Atlantis, Aliens) were always incredibly engaging and enthusiastic and I still find them so, even if I take many of his arguments and findings with a much larger pinch of salt than I once did. I especially admire how he turned everything he wrote about towards his central philosophy, the idea that Maslow's "peak experience" can be, and should be, induced at will, and that the basic thrust of the evolution of human consciousness is to get to that point. His whole enormous body of work was directed towards making human beings happier, which is wonderful.

As for which works are relevant to this forum, he had a clear idea of how he thought consciousness should develop, a theme I would like to be explored in SF a lot more than it is. Because of this, I would say that at its heart, almost all his writing was a kind of science fiction.

 

[dask]

Another great loss for the world of books.

 

[w h pugmire esq]

RITUAL IN THE DARK is one of my all-time favourite novels. I've read it at least five times. I see he has written a novel called THE TOWER, of which I have no knowledge. How nice to have a "new" Colin Wilson title to investigate!