Colin Wilson, Necessary Doubt

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: Gina Lyle (University of York), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1964

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Necessary Doubt

(1964), Colin Wilson’s fifth novel, is a compelling metaphysical thriller which shows the conversion of its elderly protagonist from Christianity to evolutionary optimism. Wilson originally wrote it as a TV play but turned it into a novel when it did not get produced (the script was finally published in 2008). By Wilson’s own account,

Necessary Doubt

was influenced by the fiction of the Swiss playwright, novelist and critic Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921-90). In one of his literary critical studies,

The Strength to Dream: Literature and the Imagination

(1962), Wilson had praised Dürrenmatt as a writer, especially his novel

Das Versprechen

(

The Pledge

(1958)), for combining the “demand to face the disorder of our lives” and the “attack on specious…

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3498 words

Citation: Tredell, Nicolas. "Necessary Doubt". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 June 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23921, accessed 27 November 2024.]

Colin Wilson, Necessary Doubt

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