(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
Back to Methuselah: A Metabiological Pentateuch(1922) by George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), a…
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Citation: Tredell, Nicolas. "The Philosopher’s Stone". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 July 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23931, accessed 23 April 2024.]
