Colin Wilson, The Philosopher’s Stone

Nicolas Tredell (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Kerry Myler (Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1969

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

The Philosopher’s Stone (1969), Colin Wilson’s eighth novel, is, like its predecessor The Mind Parasites (1967), an exciting science fiction tale which aims to symbolize his key ideas. In Stone, however, Wilson focuses on the question of longevity. The novel offers a first-person account, supposedly written by Howard Lester for a select few, of how he and a close companion, Sir Henry Littleway, became the first human beings to achieve greatly expanded consciousness, enjoy a much longer lifespan and develop a power of “time-vision” which enables them to travel mentally (though not bodily) in time. In his “Prefatory Note” to Stone, Wilson points to three influences on his novel. One is …

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4377 words

Citation: Tredell, Nicolas. "The Philosopher’s Stone". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 July 2008 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23931, accessed 26 November 2024.]

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