The Outsider, Killshot and Imperial Ambitions: John Gordon Sinclair's six best books
JOHN GORDON SINCLAIR, 52, starred in the 1981 film Gregory’s Girl and won an Olivier award for the West End musical She Loves Me. He plays Jeeves in Perfect Nonsense at the Duke of York’s Theatre, London, from Monday (June 30) and his second novel Blood Whispers is out now.
THE OUTSIDER by Albert Camus (Penguin, £7.99)
When I was 18, my girlfriend gave me this and, although I loved it, I didn’t quite understand why until I picked it up again. The lead character, who has killed someone, has an apathetic approach to life, so it hit me what she was trying to say.
KILLSHOT by Elmore Leonard (Phoenix, £8.99)
I’ve got all Leonard’s books. This is about a couple who stumble on two criminals and end up on the run. The author’s voice is so original. A lot of the story is told through the dialogue so you’re not wading through reams of description. It’s so cool.
A TALE OF TWO CITIES by Charles Dickens (Wordsworth, £1.99)
I remember where I was when I read that last speech by Sydney Carton as he’s approaching the guillotine. I was on holiday in Cyprus and it was about 3am. It’s such a beautiful, powerful speech about sacrifice and humanity and I spent the next hour inconsolable.
IMPERIAL AMBITIONS by Noam Chomsky (Penguin, £8.99)
This is Chomsky in conversation post-9/11. I like the way he picks up what is happening in the world and gives it back to you in a form you can understand. It shines a light into the dark corners of American foreign policy.
BLOOD MERIDIAN by Cormac McCarthy (Picador, £8.99)
A sort of western about a gang that scalps people for money. I found it repulsive but then I read an interview where McCarthy said he was trying to reflect what real violence is like, so I came at it from a different angle and it made me re-assess my own first novel.
ESPEDAIR STREET by Iain Banks (Abacus, £8.99)
This has a fantastic opening line, “Two days ago I decided to kill myself”, then he goes on to tell you why he’s not going to. It’s full of interesting observations and he describes things that have happened to me so I related to it.
