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FANTASY REIGNS SUPREME
Sunday Star, StarMag, Nov 6, 2005
RASHID Salleh’s mother often chided him for reading at the dinner table. Years later, his peers would do the same whenever they caught him reading – book hidden inside his script – during rehearsals.
The actor/director is quite happy to immerse himself in the realms of fantasy as he devours books by Raymond E. Feist, Sheri S. Tepper and Margaret Weis.
“I’m very much into fantasy fiction. I have always been,” says Rashid, 33.
“The first book that got me into fantasy fiction was (J.R.R. Tolkien’s) The Hobbit. I have two copies of it: one in my sister’s house in Britain, and one with me, which I’ve had since I was 13.
“I have read Silmarillion and The Unfinished Tales: The Lost Lore of Middle-earth. I haven’t gotten round to reading The Histories of Middle-earth. You have to have time because it’s very heavy reading. The references are in different books so you have to sit down and try to figure out where each bit of information is from.”
Rashid has just finished Feist’s Flight of the Nighthawks – in two days. He finds it hard to put a book down if it’s by a favourite author.
“I get upset when I finish a book and have to wait at least six months because the author is still writing the next one. I am very bad at pacing myself when it comes to reading,” he says with a mischievous grin.
“My favourite is Feist. The wonderful thing about his books is that he keeps you going. Something is always happening in the story.
“Feist is addictive because, like the TV series CSI, there is an ending. But you know something else is going to happen in the next book. Fantasy fiction is real enough in the sense that (although) you’re taken into another world, the stories are very real. You are still talking about people.”
His other favourite authors are Tracy Hickman, David Eddings, and Robert Jordan.
“I’ve just started reading Jordan. His Wheel of Time is interesting, but I’m not sure if I finish all 11 books in this series.”
Rashid, who loved Geography and History in school, says a lot of fantasy books, like The Lord of the Rings, are based on history.
“If you look at the book in its totality, it’s actually about the fight against industrialisation, how in those days when (Tolkien) was writing it, Britain was going through an industrial revolution. That was the background to Tolkien’s books, but he wrote them with the element of fantasy.”
Rashid’s mum used to read to him and his siblings while they were still in her belly. He started reading Archie comics and newspapers as a child.
He also read the Hardy Boys adventure series for a while, followed by the Lonewolf series.
“It was one of those adventure books which had alternative endings.
“At a certain page it would say, ‘Turn to this page if you think this is what happens and turn to another page if you think the story should go this way’.”
As an adult, there was a brief spell when he read horror books. “I tried Dean Koontz. I got so scared after two books, I stopped reading horror. I think it’s scarier than watching movies, especially if you’re alone at home.”
Rashid believes every home should have encyclopaedias and the Yellow Pages.
“Everyone is always looking for a plumber or asking for an electrician’s number,” he reasons.
All his books are priceless – he hates to throw them away. If he had to get rid of any, he would give it to his younger brother.
“I’ve influenced him to read fantasy fiction.”
Hence he has lots of books – some at his apartment, some at his mum’s house, and some, his sister’s.
His dream is to have a home library with all four walls lined with shelves and shelves of books.
Copyright Star Publications (M) Bhd
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