What book leaves philanthropist John Studzinski cold?

… are you reading now?

Risk Society by the German sociologist Ulrich Beck. Rather than drawing glib conclusions, he asks probing questions.

Beck’s premise is that the greater sophistication of society has brought greater anxiety with it. The threats we face today –from artificial intelligence, to cyber attacks and financial crises – are the product of our own, unchecked ingenuity.

What I admire most is Beck’s refusal to promise certainty. In an age when politicians, pundits and social media influencers all claim to have the answers to our problems, he offers something more valuable, and that’s humility. Only if we acknowledge that almost everything in life is uncertain can we start to gain wisdom.

… would you take to a desert island?

the Bible and Tolstoy’s War And Peace. Nothing matches the Bible for a profound understanding of human nature – love, betrayal, ambition, hope, forgiveness, suffering, redemption. At 20, you read it looking for answers; at 40, for guidance; later in life, for wisdom and perspective. It’s a lifelong conversation.

As for War And Peace, every time I return to it I discover something new. Tolstoy embraces humanity in all its scope and detail, complexity and imperfection.

… first gave you the reading bug?

Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 and J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye were determining experiences for many people of my generation.

Catch-22 blew up like a hand grenade as it exposed absurdity – and truths. Nothing had ever seemed simultaneously so funny and so serious. There’s a reason its title has entered the language.

I encountered The Catcher In The Rye and Holden Caulfield, its 16-year-old narrator, at a time when I too was sensing teenage alienation. What struck me most was the sensitivity and authenticity of Holden’s voice beneath his apparent cynicism. This was a young man desperately seeking honesty and connection.

… left you cold?

I ADMIRE Dostoyevsky but both The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov left me unmoved. On an intellectual level I can appreciate their stature as great literature, but they can also feel exhausting.

■ A Talent For Giving by John Studzinski (Bloomsbury Business, £10.99) is out now in paperback.