Actor Jason Isaacs picks his favourite books. He will be reading at the Follow the Stars Carol Concert for Macmillan Cancer Support on 6 December, at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.
The Human Stain
Philip Roth, 2000
Roth inhabits his protagonist’s world so perfectly, navigating his big secret with such humanity that it beggars belief that it is not autobiographical. Read it in awe.
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The World According to Garp
John Irving, 1978
I’ve not revisited this since, aged 15, it reignited a love for reading that skateboarding had sidelined. I didn’t look up for three days as I devoured its mix of richly complex characters, gasp-out-loud plotting and heartbreaking misadventures.
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There’s Nothing Wrong With Her
Kate Weinberg, 2024
My wife has had debilitating long Covid for three years. This delicious book was inspired by the author’s similar struggle and gave me an insight into some of the despair she wrestles with daily. It’s a witty tale of panic, lust, the search for identity and the helpful companionship of a long-dead Italian nobleman.
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Santaland Diaries
David Sedaris, 1999
Although all of his books are hilarious, do listen to him first so that you can hear his unique voice in your head as you read. This contains his account of being a Macy’s Christmas elf, excerpts from which I’ll be reading at the Macmillan carol service.
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The Magician’s Nephew
C.S. Lewis, 1955
I loved all the Narnia books as a kid. When Peter was told he wouldn’t be coming back, I understood something devastating about mortality. I picked this one because Greta Gerwig is about to make a film of it, which I can’t wait to see.
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Jerusalem
Simon Sebag Montefiore, 2011
For any strident virtue-signallers who think the issues in the Middle East can be reduced to a slogan or easy labels, a definitive, apolitical, mesmerising account of the most invaded and occupied city on Earth and the carnage that built today’s headlines.
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