Main content

Christopher Eccleston and Lindsey Hilsum

Artists coming of age in 1970s New York; a Holocaust survivor's search for meaning; and a satire of Fleet Street's heyday. The actor and journalist share their good reads.

JUST KIDS by Patti Smith, chosen by Lindsey Hilsum
MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING by Viktor E. Frankl (trans. Ilse Lasch), chosen by Christopher Eccleston
TOWARDS THE END OF THE MORNING by Michael Frayn, chosen by Harriett Gilbert

The television journalist and actor share favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor of Channel 4 News, loves Patti Smith's memoir Just Kids, her account of coming to New York as a young woman and of her relationship with the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. It's a coming-of-age story set against the heady backdrop of 1970s counterculture; it's a story of becoming an artist; and it's a love story that turns into an elegy.

The actor Christopher Eccleston chooses Man's Search for Meaning, the psychotherapist Viktor Frankl's account of his time in Nazi concentration camps and how those experiences informed his belief that man's deepest need is to search for meaning and purpose. It's a powerful book about retaining one's humanity in the face of unimaginable suffering and degradation.

And Harriett Gilbert chooses Towards the End of the Morning, Michael Frayn's 1967 satire about journalists working on a newspaper during the heyday of Fleet Street.

Produced by Mair Bosworth for 大象传媒 Audio

Available now

28 minutes

Last on

Thu 21 Mar 2024 11:30

Broadcasts

  • Tue 19 Mar 2024 16:30
  • Thu 21 Mar 2024 11:30

Books and Authors Podcast

Books and Authors Podcast

Open Book for author interviews and A Good Read for recommended reads

Listen now to books on 大象传媒 Sounds

Listen now to books on 大象传媒 Sounds

Escape with books & stories

Opening Lines

Opening Lines

John Yorke unpacks the themes behind the stories in Radio 4's weekend afternoon dramas.

Books

Celebrating reading and the 100 novels that have shaped our world.

How many of these 100 Novels have you read?

How many of these 100 Novels have you read?

After a passionate debate, our panel has come up with this surprising literary selection.