:::ENCOUNTER COLIN WILSON:::
Colin Wilson wrote his critically acclaimed book The Outsider in 1963 at the age of just 25. Written as a thesis the work examines the outsiders of history, well known philosophers and writers, including Albert Camus' book (also titled The Outsider), and includes a chapter on the work of George Gurdjieff (though Gurdjieff taught "life-skills philosopy" to his students in Russia and the USA he had some strange ideas and views such as the moon was a living organism feeding on radioactive waves emitted by the human race).
In a subsequent book titled Access to Inner Worlds, Colin Wilson wrote about alien beings that arrived around the time of the French Revolution to feed off human collective consciouness which he suggests helps to understand mans decline ever since.
Read extract from Colin Wilson's book Inner Worlds
J.D.Salinger (pictured right) wrote Catcher in the Rye in the early 1960's. His book was originally banned from publication in the USA. Mark David Chapman was carrying The Catcher in the Rye when he gunned down John Lennon (pictured left) at the Dakota Apartments. His statement and account of the shooting murder can be read by here. Chapman, an ex-security guard, was an outcast rather than an outsider whose life was in disarray preceeding the attack on Lennon.
Colin Wilson (pictured center) was victimised for his existentialist and contemporary views.
:::NEXT NEXT:::
Are we walking in a waking dream or dreaming we're awake? I really enjoyed Richard Linklater's (Dazed and Confused) latest film which is an animated existential tale of a young man who meets some extraordinary characters each with their unique brand of advice.
Waking Life is out now on video in Australia. To visit the Waking Life website click here now.
WEBSITE DESIGN BY DAVID BURCHALL
This website created as a "homepage project" for the Native HTML Scripting module of Diploma of Internet and Computing (TAFE - 2002).