Putting Colin Wilson’s work into accurate perspective

Gary Lachman’s “Beyond the Robot: The life and work of Colin Wilson” really is a marvelous book.  I am only about half through it (reading as slowly as i can, to prolong it) but as I said elsewhere, it is such a pleasure to have an author take Colin’s work as seriously as Colin did, and not so much as writing as of solidified thinking.

Nobody’s life-work is obvious if seen in pieces, and it often isn’t obvious in mid-stream. But even after we have the possibility of a long look back,  that work may not be obvious. So much depends upon the preparation of those investigating.

Take Chapter Six, for instance, which is entitled “Peak Experiences, Intentionality, and Evolution.” Colin often wrote about intentionality, and the debt he owed to philosopher Edmund Husserl. But you will get a clearer, crisper understanding of his importance — at least I did — by reading Lachman’s discussion of “immediacy perception” and “meaning perception” (page 125) than in piecing it together yourself. And you will certainly get a better sense of the progression of Colin’s ideas over time.

Wonderful book.