Brian Cox recommends his six favourite books
With a talent for breathing life into complex characters, Brian Cox has carved a unique space for himself in the world of film and theatre. The Scottish-born actor, starting in Dundee, progressed through the prestigious halls of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and eventually reached the buzzing heart of London’s West End. Most modern audiences, however, will know him for his absolutely iconic and decade-defining role as Logan Roy in HBO’s Succession.
Considering the sense of wisdom and intelligence that Cox exudes, it’s unsurprising that the man is also a solid bookworm. Luckily for fans of the actor and literature alike, Cox recently recommended a selection of six of his favourite books. He first highlighted P.D. Ouspensky’s In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching, a spiritual classic that revolves around philosopher and mystic George Gurdjieff. Cox describes it as a “very good introduction for anybody who is interested in esotericism and the esoteric nature of life.”
Cementing a pattern of intrigue with the philosopher, Cox followed with another book on Gurdjieff, Meetings with Remarkable Men. Written by Gurdjieff himself, the memoir paints a vivid picture of his travels and encounters that shaped his philosophy. Cox praised it as “kind of a classic road book—and wonderful”.
Revealing the list during a conversation with The Week, Cox expanded his selection, showing his admiration for Viktor E. Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. The book traces Frankl’s formulation of logotherapy, derived from his horrific experiences in a concentration camp. Cox remarked, “Frankl was interested in why certain people survived the Holocaust emotionally and others didn’t. Out of this horrific incident Frankl wrote a totally groundbreaking book that’s been constantly republished for 40 or 50 years.”
Adding a novel often cited amongst many’s favourites, Cox recommended The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart. “This novel about a psychiatrist who makes decisions by rolling dice is very much a book about the 1960s,” Cox explained. “It’s about luck and fortune and the arbitrary nature of life.” Written by real-life psychologist George Cockcroft under the pen name Luke Rhinehart, the novel is, according to Cox, “Entertaining, thrilling, and very funny.”
Shifting towards the realm of classic literature, Cox expressed his admiration for that quintessential British novel, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. In his words, it is “one of the great stories. The quintessential obsessive love story. Truly amazing.”
Six favourite books of Brian Cox
- In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching (P. D. Ouspensky, 1949)
- Meetings with Remarkable Men (George Gurdjieff, 1963)
- Man’s Search for Meaning (Viktor E. Frankl, 1946)
- The Dice Man (Luke Rhinehart, 1971)
- Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë, 1847)
- David Lean: A Biography (Kevin Brownlow, 1996)
Finally, Cox nodded to his preferred medium, choosing a literary portrait of a cinematic giant: David Lean: A Biography by Kevin Brownlow. The biography, which chronicles the journey of Lean from editor to director, received unreserved lauding from Cox. “This is one of the best biographies of a filmmaker I’ve read. It shows brilliantly David Lean’s metamorphosis from editor to director over a period of years, and the contrast between his days in the editing suite and those he spent shooting Lawrence of Arabia in the vast open desert of Morocco. If you want to understand anything about film, I highly recommend this great, tremendously enjoyable book.”
After they finish getting through his book list, fans of Cox can look forward to seeing him on the screen again with his upcoming drama Prisoner’s Daughter.
