{"id":183116,"date":"2025-06-14T06:47:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T06:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/183116\/"},"modified":"2025-06-14T06:47:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T06:47:12","slug":"marianne-faithfulls-10-favourite-books-of-all-time-books-entertainment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/183116\/","title":{"rendered":"Marianne Faithfull\u2019s 10 favourite books of all time | Books | Entertainment"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than just a singer of the Swinging Sixties, Marianne Faithfull was a voracious reader with a sharp eye for literature that mirrored the extremes of her own life.<\/p>\n

As the daughter of an academic and a woman who moved through the cultural epicentres of London, Paris and New York, Faithfull read with the depth and intensity she brought to her music. From spiritual guidance to post-war social satire, her bookshelf told a story as rich and layered as her discography.<\/p>\n

Shortly before her death, Faithfull shared her 10 favourite books with One Grand<\/a>, offering an intimate glimpse into her literary mind. Her picks range from classics of dystopian fiction to dark comedies, philosophical novels and modern memoirs. Below is a closer look at each of them:<\/p>\n

When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times \u2013 Pema Ch\u00f6dr\u00f6n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Opening the list is this enduring spiritual manual by Tibetan Buddhist nun Pema Ch\u00f6dr\u00f6n. First published in 1996, it blends Buddhist principles with grounded, real-world advice for handling pain, chaos, and uncertainty. The book became a guide for readers navigating grief, addiction, and emotional turmoil – an area Faithfull knew intimately.<\/p>\n

Just Kids \u2013 Patti Smith<\/strong><\/p>\n

Faithfull, a lifelong admirer of Patti Smith, called\u00a0Just Kids\u00a0\u201csimply brilliant.\u201d The memoir won the 2010 National Book Award and recounts Smith\u2019s early years in New York City with artist Robert Mapplethorpe. It captures the grit and beauty of bohemian life with striking honesty, weaving love, art, and identity into a narrative that resonated with readers around the world.<\/p>\n

Memoirs of Hadrian \u2013 Marguerite Yourcenar<\/strong><\/p>\n

This historical novel, framed as a letter from the Roman Emperor Hadrian to his successor Marcus Aurelius, delves into power, mortality and legacy. First published in 1951 and praised for its intellectual depth and graceful style, the book established Yourcenar as a major voice in European literature.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rabbit Series \u2013 John Updike<\/strong><\/p>\n

John Updike\u2019s\u00a0Rabbit\u00a0tetralogy tracks the life of Harry \u201cRabbit\u201d Angstrom, a former high school basketball star navigating suburban America across four decades. The series includes\u00a0Rabbit, Run\u00a0(1960),\u00a0Rabbit Redux\u00a0(1971),\u00a0Rabbit Is Rich\u00a0(1981), and\u00a0Rabbit at Rest (1990). The latter two won Pulitzer Prizes. Updike\u2019s portrayal of masculine angst and cultural decay has long been considered a masterclass in American realism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Death of Bunny Munro \u2013 Nick Cave<\/strong><\/p>\n

Faithfull had worked closely with Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, so it\u2019s no surprise she admired Cave\u2019s second novel. The Death of Bunny Munro (2009) follows a travelling salesman unraveling after his wife\u2019s suicide, navigating grief, lust and guilt with his young son in tow. \u201cVery dark, of course, rather like his songs,\u201d Faithfull said, \u201cbut very good.\u201d The novel combines grotesque humour with gothic bleakness. A TV adaptation starring Matt Smith is currently in production.<\/p>\n

The Pursuit of Love \u2013 Nancy Mitford<\/strong><\/p>\n

This 1945 novel is a biting but affectionate portrayal of aristocratic British life between the wars, centred on the romantic misadventures of Linda Radlett. Mitford\u2019s wit and emotional acuity make the book both entertaining and unexpectedly moving. The novel was most recently adapted into a miniseries in 2021, starring Lily James and Emily Beecham, with Emily Mortimer directing.<\/p>\n

The Gambler \u2013 Fyodor Dostoevsky<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dostoevsky\u2019s short novel, inspired by his own roulette addiction, plunges into obsession and desperation at a fictional German casino. It follows Alexei Ivanovich, a tutor whose descent into gambling mirrors the author\u2019s own spiral. \u201cReally frightening,\u201d Faithfull remarked, \u201cbut it\u2019s an incredible book.\u201d The book has been adapted into various stage and film versions, most notably in European cinema.<\/p>\n

Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare \u2013 Stephen Greenblatt<\/strong><\/p>\n

This 2004 biography by scholar Stephen Greenblatt reimagines Shakespeare\u2019s life through the lens of Elizabethan politics, religion and performance. A finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, it was widely praised for making literary scholarship engaging and accessible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights \u2013 Salman Rushdie<\/strong><\/p>\n

This modern fable by Salman Rushdie draws on Islamic mythology and magical realism to explore the tension between reason and chaos. Its title alludes to One Thousand and One Nights, and the novel unfolds as a dreamlike saga of jinn, philosophers and war.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brave New World \u2013 Aldous Huxley<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, she lists Brave New World, Aldous Huxley\u2019s prophetic 1932 novel about a technocratic future governed by pleasure, consumerism, and genetic control. Its vision of artificial happiness and manufactured identity struck a chilling chord in the 20th century – and still does today. The book has been adapted multiple times, most recently in a 2020 series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than just a singer of the Swinging Sixties, Marianne Faithfull was a voracious reader with a sharp…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3938],"tags":[3444,12287,75176,77,39311,5778,75175,16208,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-183116","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-books-section","10":"tag-cultural-icons","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-favourite-books","13":"tag-literature","14":"tag-marianne-faithfull","15":"tag-music-section","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114680380968384839","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}