C

omposer Rahayu Supanggah lives and breathes through books, especially the works of great authors. The man who composed for Opera Jawa (The Javanese Opera) movie and later musical drama trilogy, admits that he prefers no specific book. However, he has thoroughly studied the works of Pramoedya Ananta Toer and Albert Camus.

'For me, reading novels or books that are deeply related with art has become a must and it certainly influences to my creative works,' says Rahayu, who won the best composer at 2007 Asia Film Awards for his work in the movie.

'Working in arts means that we must learn about human beings. If we don't read any literature at all, then our work will be arid.'

Tetralogi Buru by Pramoedya Ananta Toer

I really like Pramoedya's Tetralogi Buru (Buru's Tetralogy) which includes four novels: Bumi Manusia (The Earth of Mankind), Anak Semua Bangsa (Child of All Nations), Jejak Langkah (Footsteps) and Rumah Kaca (Glass House).

Pramoedya speaks a lot about humanity through the books although they are fiction.

Pramoedya did vast research on the Javanese people, colonialism, about the ups and downs of managing a factory ' complete with politics and racism.

Pramoedya tells a very complex story and yet he doesn't put it into difficult words all the time. They are poetic and very powerful.

Novels by and biography of Albert Camus

Albert Camus was an exceptional author. I love most of his fiction [The Stranger, The Plague, The Fall, A Happy Death and The First Man], as well as a biography about him.

Camus seemed such a strange person because many knew him only on the surface. He was an unusual man, and because of his stance he was considered strange, which I found very interesting.

' Niken Prathivi