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Bookworm: Mouly Surya: Reading on the go
Mouly Surya
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Mouly Surya. KapanLagi.com
Filmmaker Mouly Surya says she tries to make time for reading amid a busy schedule of shooting, pushing herself to finish at least one book a month.
Originally, she set a goal to read more than that, but had to back down after the requirements of raising her daughter, shooting movies and made-for-TV projects and teaching filmmaking to college students took up too much time.
The 33-year-old is considered one of the most promising filmmakers in Indonesia. Her feature films fiksi (2008) won a host of accolades and promising reviews, while her latest feature, What They Don't Talk About When They Talk About Love made its bow at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013 before hitting local screenings.
Mouly, who studied media and literature at Swinburne University in Melbourne before completing a master's degree in film and television from Bond University in Queensland, said she enjoyed tackling tough books ' both during and after her college years.
'One of my mentors said that reading books is important for directors, because it is an exercise for the imagination,' said Mouly, who uses a Kindle reader to carry many books around to be read wherever ' and whenever she can. Among Mouly favorite books are:
Middlesex
by Jeffrey Eugenides
'It's a bit hard to explain why I like this book. Initially, I felt the book was a bit groggy in its first chapters,
not flowing quite well, but as I continued to read it I really enjoyed it. It turned out to be a beautiful book, with quite a light style, flowing like music.'
South of the Border, West of the Sun
by Haruki Murakami
I am a fan of Haruki Murakami. Among his many books that I love, this one is my favorite. South of the Border is different from his other books. His other stories usually have magical things happen in them, but this one does not. This novel is his most simple and humble book, but it left great impression on me.
The Handmaid's Tale
by Margaret Atwood
This one took quite a long time before I fell for it. The first time I read it, I thought it was just okay. Years later, I watched the movie adaptation and then I read it again for a second time. I really like the theme ' the 'what if' scenario. The book has a very interesting theme and also strikes the gender theme very well. It was a memorable book after multiple readings.
' JP/Andreas Arditya
