Måndagsmöte: Miranda July

Den här veckan har Miranda July fått svara på några frågor om läsning. Hon är hittills kanske mest känd som filmskapare här i Sverige. 2005 kom Me, and you and everyone we know, en film hon både skrev, regisserade och spelade en av huvudrollerna i. Om man gillade den, så kommer man att bli minst lika förtjust i hennes novellsamling. Den publiceras på svenska i april; ”Ingen hör hemma här mer än du”. Jag läste den förra året på engelska, och den är så fin, varm och insiktsfull och humoristisk. Och smärtsam och bitterljuv. Precis som hennes film. Man kan gärna läsa novellerna lite utspritt, tycker jag. Inte svepa alla, då blir det för känslosamt. Det finns också en sida som hör till boken (på eng).

Do you like reading? Do you think of yourself as a reader?

Yes, very much. Reading is the main way I escape and always has been. But unlike tv, it is usually nourishing. And when traveling alone, a book is really a necessary tool keep people from talking to you.

What are you reading at the moment?

The last book I read was a novella called ”The Devil”, by Leo Tolstoy.

What genres do you like? Any you don’t like?

I suppose I don’t read much outside of literary fiction and I tend to avoid anything that seems like school – historical, biographical, even satirical. This is just fear though, I’m worried I won’t understand, or it won’t be fun. So when I like one of those kinds of books it is a real revelation and has more to do with the generosity of the author than anything about me (for example: ”What Is The What”, by Dave Eggers.) I also will read anything put in front of me during a meal, although often it is rude to read during meals. But when I am alone, that is heaven.

Can you mention a book that’s been very important for you? Why that book?

There was a book I read as a child called ”Mandy”. My nickname when I was little was Mandy and so of course I thought there was a real connection between me and this orphan girl. But I still think about the little cottage she discovered in the woods and cleaned and made her own. It was called ”the shell cottage” and it is a place that I think I have worked hard to have in my own life – a little house that I go to and do secret things like writing – and then I come back through the woods and rejoin the rest of the orphanage.

How’s a ”good book” for you?

A good book is one that makes you want to do more, try more, feel more.

You make films as well as write books. Do you yourself like watching a film after reading the book? Have you ever felt that the film was better?

I can’t think of a time when I thought the movie was better. I will say that it generally works better with adapted short stories than with novels – ”Brokeback Mountain”, ”Secretary” – vs. the disappointing ”Atonement”.