The Outsider

336 Pages·2010·5.42 MB·English

o .
IlJPan Piper
Areal contribution to our understanding of
our deepest predicament
THEOBSERVER
COllN WILSON

THE OUTSIDER
,Staggeringly erudite....A compelling intellectual
thriller....Abrilliantand unusualanalysisofthe pessi
mistic tradition in modern thought' - Time Magazine.
'Reallyimportant....MrWilsonsucceedsinpresenting
The Outsider dynamically as a necessary stage in the
development ofanyhonest thinker. He isin fact putting
printedpapertoitsproperusetoextendthe circleoftalk,
not to displace the recording angel, and unless people
likehim.takeuptheHistoryofThoughtnowthephiloso
phers havedroppedit, weshallallbeinthe cart.Anim
portantbook and a refreshing one' - New Statesman.
'He has assurance, authority, a mature ease of style,
learning,and- aboveall-atheme whichisbothoriginal
and important, which he develops skilfully and per
suasively' - EveningNews.
AlsobyColin Wilson inPan Books:
THE GLASS CAGE
CONDITIONS OF SALE
Thisbook shallnot,byway oftradeor otherwise,be lent,re-sold,hiredout
or otherwisecirculatedwithoutthe publisher'spriorconsentin any form of
bindingorcoverotherthanthatinwhichitispublishedandwithoutasimilar
conditionincludingthisconditionbeingimposedonthesubsequentpurchaser.
Thebookispublishedatanet price,andissuppliedsubjecttothePublishers
AssociationStandardConditionsofSaleregisteredundertheRestrictiveTrade
PracticesAct, 1956.
THE OUTSIDER
COLIN WILSON
o
ui
UNABRIDGED
Including anewPostscriptfor thisedition
PAN BOOKS LTD : LONDON
First published 1956by Victor GollanczLtd.
This edition published 1963by Pan BooksLtd.,
33Tothill Street, London, S.W.I
ISBN 0 330 23001 8
zndPrinting 1967
Jrd Printing 1970
4th Printing 1971
Allrightsreserved
PrintedinGreat BritainbyRichardClay (The ChaucerPress),Ltd.,
Bungay, Suffolk
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND 9
11. WORLD WITHOUT VALUES 27
Ill. THE ROMANTIC OUTSIDER 49
IV. THE ATTEMPT TO GAIN CONTROL 75
V. THE PAIN THRESHOLD 116
VI. THE QUESTION OF IDENTITY 160
VII. THE GREAT SYNTHESIS.. . 194
VIII. THE OUTSIDER AS VISIONARY 222
IX. BREAKING THE CIRCUIT 27°
POSTSCRIPT 3°9
v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I THANK THE FOLLOWINGfor giving permission to quote
extracts:MrT. S.EliotandMessrsFaberandFaberfor
the lines from 'The Love Song ofJ.Alfred Prufrock',
appearing on page 129; for those from 'Gerontion',
appearingonpage 129;for thosefrom'TheWasteLand',
appearing on pages 118, 129, and 228; for those from
'The Hollow Men', appearing on pages 129 and 168;
forthosefrom'AshWednesday',appearingonpages129,
130,and 131;for thosefrom'BurntNorton', appearing
on page 267: all from the Collected Poems, 1936. Mrs
Yeats,MessrsMacmillanandMessrsA.P.WattandSon
forthelines from'Vacillation'byW. B.Yeats,appearing
on page 267, and for those appearing on page 272, and
taken from the Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats, 1950.
Messrs Routledge and KeganPaulfor the lines, appear
ing on page 299, from T. E. Hulme's Speculations,
1926.Theauthors, translators,ifany, andpublishers of
prosepassagesare acknowledgedinthenotes(pages325
32).
C.W.
vi
FOR
ANGUS WILSON
WITH GRATITUDE
Broadbent:..• I findthe world quitegoodenough for me
rather a jollyplace, in fact.
Keegan(looking at him with quiet wonder): You are satis
fied?
Broadbent: As a reasonable man, yes. I see no evils in the
world- exceptofcourse,naturalevils- thatcannotberemedied
by freedom, self-government and English institutions. I
think so, not because I am an Englishman, butasa matterof
common sense.
Keegan:You feel at home in the world then?
Broadbent:Ofcourse. Dontyou?
Keegan(from the very depths ofhis nature): No.
BERNARD SHAW: John Bull's
Other Island, Act IV.
viii