The Outsider by Colin Wilson, A David Bowie Top 100 Read
Talk 75 Books Challenge for 2016
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1Berly
The Outsider by Colin Wilson
Megan (IreadthereforeIam) and I (Berly) are continuing our monthly David Bowie reads. For December we have chosen The Outsider by Colin Wilson. The Outsider is a non-fiction book by Colin Wilson first published in 1956.
Through the works and lives of various artists – including H. G. Wells (Mind at the End of Its Tether), Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, T. S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, Harley Granville-Barker (The Secret Life), Hermann Hesse, T. E. Lawrence, Vincent van Gogh, Vaslav Nijinsky, George Bernard Shaw, William Blake, Friedrich Nietzsche, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and George Gurdjieff – Wilson explores the psyche of the Outsider, his effect on society, and society's effect on him.
Please join us!!
3LovingLit
Ooooh, pretty covers. According to my local library online catalogue, I will be reading the middle edition. Happens to be my fave :)
4Berly
Got it! I have the first cover. I am thinking of starting December 1 and my goal for the first week is to get through the first three chapters (about 70 pages): The Country of the Blind, World Without Values and The Romantic Outsider. Then we can have a lively discussion!! Does that sound like a feasible plan? I hope that is not too ambitious. I think this book is pretty dense, filled with big ideas. : )
5PaulCranswick
Ok Kimmers & Megan, I'm in. My cover is the middle one.
7LovingLit
*rubs hands in glee*
I have mine too :)
My library online catalogue advertised falsely, and I have the first cover after all. I confess to having read the introduction by the author already and am itching to get going. On Dec 1.
Hooray, we have a group :)
Eta: oh, and yes Kim, I think your plan is just prefect.
I have mine too :)
My library online catalogue advertised falsely, and I have the first cover after all. I confess to having read the introduction by the author already and am itching to get going. On Dec 1.
Hooray, we have a group :)
Eta: oh, and yes Kim, I think your plan is just prefect.
9Berly
I still have time to get caught up!! I am aiming for the first three chapters this week. How's it going for everyone else?
10LovingLit
Oh dear, it looks like my previous post, which was of course a lengthy and considered appraisal of the book so far, didn't stick!
I am 45 or a few more pages in. I'm find in it tricky in places to remember who the people are he is talking about. But in other sections I'm drawn deeply in- even thought he is discussing a heap of really complex ideas in quick succession. So, basically I am having to concentrate to read but am liking it!
I am 45 or a few more pages in. I'm find in it tricky in places to remember who the people are he is talking about. But in other sections I'm drawn deeply in- even thought he is discussing a heap of really complex ideas in quick succession. So, basically I am having to concentrate to read but am liking it!
14LovingLit
I finished!
The Outsider by Colin Wilson
This one was written in 1956 and became a rapid best seller. According to the foreword and post script, the accolades that were heaped on it upon publication were quickly recanted once the masses started buying it, and the authors' subsequent books were not well accepted by the critics.
It deals with the human condition.... Yes- that can of worms. The author was self trained through reading, and basically wrote his thoughts. Because of this it is non academic, ie doesnt stay on safe ground with the inclusion of a lot of opinion and subjective comments, and for this reason is quite refreshing. The 'Outsider' of the title is someone ill at ease with the world around them, someone who needs more and who can't accept the dreariness of everyday life....aren't we all a bit like this?! Or is it just the company around here ;) The author terms his collected thinking on this as NEW EXISTENTIALISM (he'd prefer the term phenomonological existentialism, but acknowledges that this is a little off-putting to the lay person)?
Anyway, it's impossible to recap the heavy heady stuff in this book, other than to say that it was deeply thought provoking, and epiphanous! I loved it, particularly thinking about the time it was published into, and how philosophy and society has changed since. 4.5 stars.
eta: touchstone and spelling, as usual :)
The Outsider by Colin Wilson
This one was written in 1956 and became a rapid best seller. According to the foreword and post script, the accolades that were heaped on it upon publication were quickly recanted once the masses started buying it, and the authors' subsequent books were not well accepted by the critics.
It deals with the human condition.... Yes- that can of worms. The author was self trained through reading, and basically wrote his thoughts. Because of this it is non academic, ie doesnt stay on safe ground with the inclusion of a lot of opinion and subjective comments, and for this reason is quite refreshing. The 'Outsider' of the title is someone ill at ease with the world around them, someone who needs more and who can't accept the dreariness of everyday life....aren't we all a bit like this?! Or is it just the company around here ;) The author terms his collected thinking on this as NEW EXISTENTIALISM (he'd prefer the term phenomonological existentialism, but acknowledges that this is a little off-putting to the lay person)?
Anyway, it's impossible to recap the heavy heady stuff in this book, other than to say that it was deeply thought provoking, and epiphanous! I loved it, particularly thinking about the time it was published into, and how philosophy and society has changed since. 4.5 stars.
eta: touchstone and spelling, as usual :)
