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The Strange Life of P.D. Ouspensky
One of the most original thinkers of the twentieth century, Pyotr Demianovich Ouspensky was a complex and romantic soul. His work on accessing a higher level of consciousness beyond everyday reality is a valuable legacy well worthy of consideration. This work sheds light on this gentle man and deep thinker. Ouspensky's work on accessing a higher level of consciousness beyond everyday reality is a valuable legacy well worthy of consideration today. One of the most original thinkers of the twentieth century, Pyotr Demianovich Ouspensky was a complex and romantic soul. A promising young intellectual in Tsarist Russia, he won recognition as a novelist and philosopher, yet descended into self-chosen obscurity as a teacher of 'the Work', the system of his great contemporary Gurdjieff. Today, it is as Gurdjieff's chief disciple that he is remembered, yet Colin Wilson argues convincingly that he is to be considered a major writer and man of genius in his own right. A nostalgic melancholy Russian, on of Ouspensky's deepest instincts was that man can find his own salvation, yet towards the end of his turbulent life he lost faith in the System and drank himself to death. With sympathy and admiration, Colin Wilson throws new light on this gentleman and deep thinker.
144 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1993
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About the author
Colin Wilson
403 books1,292 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Colin Henry Wilson was born and raised in Leicester, England, U.K. He left school at 16, worked in factories and various occupations, and read in his spare time. When Wilson was 24, Gollancz published The Outsider (1956) which examines the role of the social 'outsider' in seminal works of various key literary and cultural figures. These include Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, William James, T. E. Lawrence, Vaslav Nijinsky and Vincent Van Gogh and Wilson discusses his perception of Social alienation in their work. The book was a best seller and helped popularize existentialism in Britain. Critical praise though, was short-lived and Wilson was soon widely criticized.
Wilson's works after The Outsider focused on positive aspects of human psychology, such as peak experiences and the narrowness of consciousness. He admired the humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow and corresponded with him. Wilson wrote The War Against Sleep: The Philosophy of Gurdjieff on the life, work and philosophy of G. I. Gurdjieff and an accessible introduction to the Greek-Armenian mystic in 1980. He argues throughout his work that the existentialist focus on defeat or nausea is only a partial representation of reality and that there is no particular reason for accepting it. Wilson views normal, everyday consciousness buffeted by the moment, as "blinkered" and argues that it should not be accepted as showing us the truth about reality. This blinkering has some evolutionary advantages in that it stops us from being completely immersed in wonder, or in the huge stream of events, and hence unable to act. However, to live properly we need to access more than this everyday consciousness. Wilson believes that our peak experiences of joy and meaningfulness are as real as our experiences of angst and, since we are more fully alive at these moments, they are more real. These experiences can be cultivated through concentration, paying attention, relaxation and certain types of work.
Colin Henry Wilson was born and raised in Leicester, England, U.K. He left school at 16, worked in factories and various occupations, and read in his spare time. When Wilson was 24, Gollancz published The Outsider (1956) which examines the role of the social 'outsider' in seminal works of various key literary and cultural figures. These include Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, William James, T. E. Lawrence, Vaslav Nijinsky and Vincent Van Gogh and Wilson discusses his perception of Social alienation in their work. The book was a best seller and helped popularize existentialism in Britain. Critical praise though, was short-lived and Wilson was soon widely criticized.
Wilson's works after The Outsider focused on positive aspects of human psychology, such as peak experiences and the narrowness of consciousness. He admired the humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow and corresponded with him. Wilson wrote The War Against Sleep: The Philosophy of Gurdjieff on the life, work and philosophy of G. I. Gurdjieff and an accessible introduction to the Greek-Armenian mystic in 1980. He argues throughout his work that the existentialist focus on defeat or nausea is only a partial representation of reality and that there is no particular reason for accepting it. Wilson views normal, everyday consciousness buffeted by the moment, as "blinkered" and argues that it should not be accepted as showing us the truth about reality. This blinkering has some evolutionary advantages in that it stops us from being completely immersed in wonder, or in the huge stream of events, and hence unable to act. However, to live properly we need to access more than this everyday consciousness. Wilson believes that our peak experiences of joy and meaningfulness are as real as our experiences of angst and, since we are more fully alive at these moments, they are more real. These experiences can be cultivated through concentration, paying attention, relaxation and certain types of work.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 11, 2014
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 2, 2021
Always interesting
Colin Wilson was a talented and knowledgeable writer and always interesting, despite his annoying presumption to always know the last word about everything. No humility there. Not an unfamiliar type.
In this book he describes the life and work of Ouspensky - and inevitably also some of the life and work of Gurdjieff. Detailed. Thorough. Warts and all. But fascinating.
Then characteristically Wilson explains where they were wrong. And provides us with his own smug and simplistic theories. Yeah , right.
Colin Wilson was a talented and knowledgeable writer and always interesting, despite his annoying presumption to always know the last word about everything. No humility there. Not an unfamiliar type.
In this book he describes the life and work of Ouspensky - and inevitably also some of the life and work of Gurdjieff. Detailed. Thorough. Warts and all. But fascinating.
Then characteristically Wilson explains where they were wrong. And provides us with his own smug and simplistic theories. Yeah , right.
July 2, 2019
Disappointed with how much time is spent talking about Gurdjieff in this book. Colin Wilson seems obsessed or transfixed by Gurdjieff, but if I want to find out more about him I will read a book by him or about him. To the point that this is a false title and false advertising. This is a quick glimpse of Ouspensky, followed by a longer talk about Gurdjieff. Not what it says on the tin...
September 28, 2022
Great book on Ouspensky and Gurdjieff but through the filter of Colin Wilson's own philosphy. As Colin Wilson was the first one to turn me on to Gurdjieff through his book "The Outsider" about 30 years ago, I was pleased to read this biography. The thing about Colin Wilson is that all his writing is filtered through his philosophy, so that if you have no interest in it, it may seem tedious as there is a running theme through most of it. As I am extremely interested in this philosophy, this book was revelatory for my own self development. It did remove some of Gurdjieff's mysterious persona - which I always thought somewhat artificially created, and Wilson seems to believe the same - but all to the better. I have never believed in gurus. Enlightening book for those with my particular fondness for Wilson's philosophical outlook on life.
July 9, 2020
Wilson does an amazing job with this Biographical diorama of Ouspensky. Does it have all the answers no, because it's not meant to. Primarily this is meant to be an analysis of his life through his mystical journeys - how he changes because of his practice and search.
This is a great read. Full of warnings and wonders.
This is a great read. Full of warnings and wonders.
January 19, 2013
Interesting and seemingly accurate biography on Ouspensky. Draws some believable conclusions about where O. went right and wrong.
March 31, 2023
Colin Wilson has said he regards P. D. Ouspensky as one of the great thinkers of the 20th century, but this short book mostly recounts Ouspensky's go-rounds with Gurdjieff and provides little analysis or commentary on Ouspensky's own philosophical works. This may be one of Wilson's more hastily written books.
August 11, 2019
An interesting read about the life and thought of one of those minds that have had an influence of the spiritual culture of modern Western civilization.
Colin Wilson, as usual, presents an enlightening and entertaining read with his excellent description of philosophical and occult ideas explained in simple, but not, simplistic terms
Colin Wilson, as usual, presents an enlightening and entertaining read with his excellent description of philosophical and occult ideas explained in simple, but not, simplistic terms
December 26, 2021
Roused many questions and hinted near enough at answers
March 15, 2016
Like his bio of Gurdjief this will not disappoint if you are interested in esoteric teachings!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews