Book Review: Colin Wilson's THE OUTSIDER

             My first encounters with Wilson the writer came about in relation to good ole Aich Pee-Ell; Wilson’s "The Return of the Lloigor" was in an anthology of Cthulhu Mythos tales.

            After that, I encountered Wilson’s three novels The Philosopher’s Stone, The Space Vampires, and The Mind Parasites.  Especially the last, these books contained impassioned explications of the notion that mankind’s will, properly focused, could achieve staggering things, thing that might be considered supernatural by the poor average human.    

     Then I came across references to a non-fiction book by Wilson.  That book was called The Outsider, and it surveyed significant people who did indeed feel or act as “outsiders” of common behavior and practice.

            In the Outsider’s eyes, common man and women live enslaved to custom.  They’re limited in their intellectual and moral visions by the blinders of accepted behavior and too-strong ties to the material world.  Often the Outsider has a sudden revelation that “other people” are wandering through life like sleepwalkers, concerned only with the having and getting of things.

            Meanwhile, the Outsider sees numinous significance in nearly everything, and is frustrated by the tedious humanity around him.

            Outsiders have been artistic types like van Gogh or Blake, or others who come to a sudden break with reality (or appear to have always been able to see things askew).  Other examples are TE Lawrence, Nijinsky, or various prophets.  As Wilson writes:

            ---- If we tried to express the prophet’s purpose in its simplest graspable form, we could say that it was a desire to shout “Wake up!” in everybody’s ear. ----

            I’ve felt that way sometimes, haven’t you?

Usually the Outsider comes to a bad end, dashing himself against the “normal” practices of society or accepted behavior.  Often she or he becomes bitter or withdrawn, even choosing self-death as an end to the struggle.

            Occasionally the Outsider finds some gratification or success, like England’s religious visionary George Fox.  But often any acceptance is limited to a few followers or fellow free-thinkers. 

            I read a physical copy through ILL (interlibrary loan). 

            The particular volume I received was a rebound copy of the first edition.  According to the library stamp, the copy was acquired in November 1956.  Look in the right-hand corner.  It’s likewise interesting that when the book was entered into the OSU (Oklahoma State University) library, the school went by the name of Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College.

            I was intrigued to come across some proofing errors.  Once “beetle” is spelled “bettle;” five times, the name Steppenwolf is spelled “Steppanwolf.”  And on a few pages here and there, the indentations around block quotations don’t return to full text width.

            If you know how picky librarians can be, you might be as bemused as I was to see the copious underlining – above is an example, seen through mostly the front half of the book.

            And for you children unfamiliar with the concept of re-binding a book, look in the middle seam of these two pages.  Those are the threads holding the pages together.

            When a book get overworn, or a cover or page comes loose, and the book otherwise has some life in it, the library sent it to a place which removed the covers, sliced the glue and/or threads from the bound pages (thereby shrinking the inner margins), and re-bound the pages with generic cloth-covered cardboard.  On the new spine were the title and author, almost in a typewriter-style lettering, usually gold in color.

Since the earliest date on this checkout slip is “only” 1993, this slip is obvious the last in a long line!

Please dive into some eruditious reading soon, fellow book-gobblers!  Then share the goods and bads with your friends!  See you Monday.