Journal PDJ - 07.10.09

Nothing much been done to building the grand design of 'Perempuan di Jagamonyet'. A few of scribbling here and there regarding Yanneke's character was tried, and yesterday I was thinking of making Reksodirdjo and Yanneke married to each other at the beginning of Japanese occupation of Java.

The fact that I haven't done much more to the walking of the memory lane when I visited the Bay Area, the region where I spent 11 years there. From my teen to my early 20's. I had a different point of view back then, and the tinkling bell of reminiscing put me in different realm. Yet, the background is almost identical to the experience I've had in the past, only the feeling. I should have elaborated more, but I guess I will write it some other time.

Dennis Lehane's "The Given Day" also gives me a lot of inputs and angles in positioning myself of building "Perempuan di Jagamonyet". In fact, I'm 150+ pages more toward the end of it. If "The Given Day" set in the upheaval after the great war (the first world war), I should set "Perempuan di Jagamonyet" in the turmoil of the time in the Dutch East Indies more. It could be the rise of nationalism, the right to self-govern, either from the mixed European races as well as the indigenous or I have to dig more into the rise of proletar or the farmers, in respect to condition of the country, in the land at that time.

When I planned the film "Hotel des Indes", I was thinking of releasing the book before the release of the film. I guess, the book has a life of its own. I am prone to release the book way after the film. As I said before, the main character could be other than Reksodirdjo, the main character in "Hotel des Indes".

This is my last week in New York, approaching four weeks I stayed in the land of the free, as some people have always said it. On Saturday, I will be attending Pedro Almodovar's session in New York Film Festival. Damn, festival is around but I haven't watched one of the films presented there...:)