Colin Wilson has 4 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 4 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.8★ across 3 ratings. The most-rated is The Philosopher's Stone.
The Philosopher's Stone
Summary
Howard Lester, a young scientist, becomes obsessed with the problem of death and begins a series of unconventional experiments aimed at increasing human longevity. In the course of their research, Lester and his friend Sir Henry Littleway make a startling discovery: A simple, harmless operation on the brain's prefrontal cortex results in vastly expanded consciousness and mental powers. After undergoing the procedure themselves, Lester and Littleway develop remarkable abilities, including "time vision", a means of seeing backwards into time. They begin by looking at the relatively recent past - the 18th century and Shakespeare's England. But they soon find they can see much further back, to the days of Stonehenge and the Mayans, and even earlier. But as they get closer to uncovering the beginnings of human existence, they make a terrifying discovery. Something ancient and immensely powerful, long asleep, has been awakened by their activities, and it is determined to stop them at all costs. In The Strength to Dream (1962), Colin Wilson had criticized the works of H.P. Lovecraft, the American writer of weird tales, which led to Lovecraft's publisher August Derleth daring Wilson to write one better. This novel The Philosopher's Stone (1969) was the result of a fascinating blend of science fiction, horror, and philosophy, told within the framework of Lovecraft's mythos. Praise for the book: "An important literary achievement." (Library Journal) "Colin Wilson has a narrative style that can make the pursuit of any idea seem like exciting detective work." (The Times) "Colin Wilson's best novel to date." (The Spectator)
©1969 Colin Wilson (P)2020 Valancourt Books LLC
The Mind Parasites
Summary
Wilson has blended H. P. Lovecraft's dark vision with his own revolutionary philosophy and unique narrative powers to produce a stunning, high-tension story of vaulting imagination. A professor makes a horrifying discovery while excavating a sinister archaeological site. For over 200 years, mind parasites have been lurking in the deepest layers of human consciousness, feeding on human life force and steadily gaining a foothold on the planet. Now they threaten humanity's extinction. They can be fought with one weapon only: the mind, pushed to - and beyond - its limits. Pushed so far that humans can read each other's thoughts, that the moon can be shifted from its orbit by thought alone. Pushed so that man can at last join battle with the loathsome parasites on equal terms.
©1967 Colin Wilson (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
Man Without a Shadow
Summary
"One of the more earnest and interesting writers of his generation." (The Guardian)
"Mr Wilson's vitality comes through. He writes a clear, light prose, and he makes his interests, however bizarre, seem important." (Punch)
"Compelling."(New Statesman)
Gerard Sorme thinks the key to a more meaningful life lies in an expansion of human consciousness, and he believes that one way to expand it is through sexual experiences. He sets out to record in diary form his sexual encounters with various women: the middle-aged Gertrude, her teenage niece Caroline, and Diana, the wife of a mad composer determined to adapt Varney the Vampire into an opera.
But Sorme finds his beliefs and ideas challenged when he meets the fascinating and dangerous Caradoc Cunningham, who seems to possess occult powers and who has developed his own ways of expanding consciousness through drugs, orgies, and black magic.
And when Cunningham is targeted by his enemies, fellow black magicians who he believes are directing the powers of evil spirits at him, Sorme will find himself caught up in Cunningham's peril, culminating in his participation in a bizarre occult ritual....
First published in 1963, Man Without a Shadow explores Wilson's philosophy in the form of a black magic thriller that draws on inspirations as diverse as the writings of Aleister Crowley and Montague Summers, Huysmans's Là-bas, and the "penny dreadfuls" of Thomas Prest.
©1963, 2018 Colin Wilson (P)2018 Valancourt Books
The Ultimate Colin Wilson
Summary
The best of Colin Wilson in one fantastic volume. Containing extracts from Wilson's work on existentialism, criminology, psychology, and the occult, this is an invaluable introduction to one of the late 20th century's most incisive thinkers. This is a new edition of the classic Colin Wilson collection The Essential Colin Wilson (first published in 1985), updated and introduced by Wilson's bibliographer Colin Stanley. It is the only book to contain extracts from Colin Wilson's most important work in one volume, including The Outsider, A Criminal History of Mankind, The New Existentialism, The Occult, New Pathways in Psychology, and Mysteries, as well as three of his novels and many other texts. Subjects covered include existentialism, criminology, psychology, consciousness studies, the occult, and much more. This second edition includes all of the original volume plus six essential post-1985 essays and chapters chosen by Stanley and other Colin Wilson experts including Gary Lachman. These essays provide a much needed update covering aspects of Wilson's work from the 28 years that followed the publication of the first edition to his death in December 2013. This is an invaluable introduction for those approaching one of the late 20th century's most incisive thinkers for the first time and also a timely reminder, to Colin Wilson's many fans and scholars worldwide, of a unique and challenging body of work.
©2019 Joy Wilson Colin Wilson Estate (P)2019 Tantor