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5 Books Recommended By Cillian Murphy That Hold The Power To Change the Way You Think, In his recent interview, Cillian Murphy revealed a reading list that feels as introspective and layered as the characters he portrays. From the quiet ache of Amongst Women to the eerie hum of White Noise, these 5 books reflect Murphy’s fascination with human fragility, silence, and meaning. Each one challenges how we see life, power, love, and loss, proving that the right story can permanently shift how you think and feel. Amongst Women by John McGahern, Set in rural Ireland across two decades, “Amongst Women” follows Michael Moran, a former IRA fighter whose iron-grip over his family begins to falter. His daughters and sons inch towards their own lives while he clings to control and the reverberations of his past. Through memory, daily rituals and shifting loyalties, the novel traces how power, guilt and the past shape what it means to be “amongst women” and yet still alone. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, Murphy describes this short but potent tale as one that stayed with him long after finishing. In a quiet Irish town one December, a coal-merchant must face a secret in an institution nearby, and in doing so, confronts what it means to act kindly, in a system built on cruelty. This book stands as proof that small gestures, revealed in intimate moments, can shift our understanding of courage, complicity and compassion. , Birchwood by John Banville, Once a grand estate, Birchwood has fallen into disrepair in post-famine Ireland. Young Gabriel Godkin escapes the decaying manor by joining a travelling circus, haunted by memories of his twin sister and the collapse of the world around him. Banville weaves aristocratic decline, youthful escape and lyrical observation into a coming-of-age story ripe with loss. The beauty of the prose conceals the ruin of the setting, and the soul. Dubliners by James Joyce, Although best known for later works, Joyce’s collection of short stories captures the moment when everyday life becomes unbearable and transformational. Murphy, drawn to characters standing still while their world moves on, finds in Dubliners a mirror. This book reminds us that epiphanies happen not in grand sweeps but in the dullness of routine, and reading it can alter how you listen to your own day-to-day. White Noise by Don DeLillo, Jack Gladney, a professor of Hitler studies, leads a suburban life filled with superficial comforts until an “airborne toxic event” forces a confrontation with the invisible terror beneath the routine. As consumer culture, media saturation and mortality swirl around him, Jack’s grip on meaning unravels. DeLillo’s dark humour and keen eye make ordinary scenes feel charged, showing that what we ignore may be the very thing shaping our lives.
