"Not since Dickens has a British fiction-writer dealt with murder in a book of such size and seriousness" - SUNDAY EXPRESS
Yes, well, I'm not too sure about that but Colin Wilson's Ritual In The Dark is a cracking read and certainly a very. very British book.
I first got 'into' Colin Wilson- as I did many writers, artists and filmmakers- via music.
In my later teens, one of my favourite bands was The Fall. The Fall's lead singer, okay dictator, was ,and remarkably still is, Mark E Smith.
Like me, Mark E Smith was an over-read, working class, Northern lad with no higher education and who had left school at sixteen, blessed and cursed with an over ripe imagination.
The Fall, of course, were named after Alber Camus' best book but their previous name was The Outsiders, after another Camus book - which I first heard of via The Cure's first single. But there was another The Outsider, I discovered after reading a MES interview. And one that wasn't written by some namby-pamby Continental intellectual but by 'an over-read, working class, Northern lad with no higher education and who had left school at sixteen, blessed and cursed with an over ripe imagination.'
And so I started to immerse myself deeply in the weird and frightening world of Colin Wilson.Of course, I avoided The Outsider for a long time -philosophy, that great waste of the tax payers' money- but I'd heard that he wrote dark crime stories,including one,The Killer, which is partly set in my home town of Hartlepool.
Hartlepool library, in fact, had lots of his books and you could usually find them in charity shops, which is where I found Ritual In The Dark.
Hartlepool library, in fact, had lots of his books and you could usually find them in charity shops, which is where I found Ritual In The Dark.
So, 'Ritual' is that now over egged pudding, a serial killer story. A 'modern day' Jack The Ripper tale -which would be called a period piece now. It's a kind of British Crime and Punishment which takes place in a sexually and socially repressed 1950's Britain and a vividly drawn Soho. Written in 1949 but published in 1960 it is distinctly pre- The Beatles (pre -rebellious youth) and post WW2.
It is also a distinctly British exploration of existential extremes featuring a murderer who kills as a creative act, a positive rebellion against the supposed unimportance of his existence. Bit a twat, then.
It is also a distinctly British exploration of existential extremes featuring a murderer who kills as a creative act, a positive rebellion against the supposed unimportance of his existence. Bit a twat, then.
Post war angst in a world where 'we've never had it so good' isn't good enough.
Let's see what dark fiction Cameron's Britain can throw up!
Let's see what dark fiction Cameron's Britain can throw up!
More FORGOTTEN BOOKS can be found at HERE
8 comments:
Like many others, my first experience of Wilson was 'The Outsider' way back then, followed by his excellent 'The Occult.' I soon discovered he was no slouch at fiction, either. The man's work should not be forgot. Thanks for reminding us of 'Ritual.'
Hi! Paul D. Brazill,
What a very interesting post-well written and very informative. I must admit that I'am not familiar with Colin Wilson's work yet(with "yet" being the operative word.)
By the way, I send you an email...over there at FNLH. Nice header...I also like the Batman comic strip...with your blog title. I must admit I like to "lurk" here on your blog.
Thanks, for Sharing!
DeeDee ;-D
Thanks for popping over! John, I read loads too-including The Outsider & The Occult which were great. The last book I read by him was The Misfits, in th late 80's.
Dee Dee, you're more than welcome. Chat to you on Sunday!
All of Colin Wilson's books are memorable. I still remember THE OCCULT spurring a bout of secondary reading about magic and the unknown.
Very intersting that you got into certain books through music. I'm trying to think but I don't believe that ever happened to me. I got into certain music because of books I was reading. Like listening to Hawkwind because of the Michael Moorcock connection.
I remember sitting in a car, chatting with a couple of mates. One asked why all of us (our preston gang) were so cynical about pretty much everything. "Too much Smith," the other said.
We all knew there was no such thing as too much.
Mark E Cha Cha
and yeah, every cloud has a silver lining. bring on the angst and the creative uprising.
tramp the dirt down.
Great review, Paul. Still another author I need to sample.
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