Habibi (Pantheon Graphic Library) in Around the World

Oct 27, 2011 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read2012, around-the-world, league-extraordinary-dorks, graphic-novels-or-comics, location-saudi-arabia

Intense, beautifully drawn, moving, and I feel like I learned something. Not bad for a 'graphic novel.' I'm holding back on other comment until my "League of Extraordinary Dorks" book club discusses it.

Several tidbits from an interview with the author in a Boston Phoenix article were very illuminating:
"Habibi is set in a fairy-tale Islamic dystopia — half Blade Runner, half Arabian Nights."
This is true! It feels like the past and the horrible future depending on where you are.

"Each of Habibi's n ...more

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Aug 12, 2016 Dioni rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

First published at: http://www.meexia.com/bookie/2016/09/...

I read Blankets by Craig Thompson a couple of years ago and found it very good and nostalgic (unfortunately I didn't write my review on it). It's about many things but what I remember the most is it's a coming-of-age story about a protagonist who struggles with the Christian religion that he's born in. Some struggles I'm familiar with, as I was born in the same faith environment.

Thompson's second book, interestingly, touches again anoth First published at: http://www.meexia.com/bookie/2016/09/...

I read Blankets by Craig Thompson a couple of years ago and found it very good and nostalgic (unfortunately I didn't write my review on it). It's about many things but what I remember the most is it's a coming-of-age story about a protagonist who struggles with the Christian religion that he's born in. Some struggles I'm familiar with, as I was born in the same faith environment.

Thompson's second book, interestingly, touches again another subject that I have keen interest on - the other popular religion, Islam. I was born and raised Catholic/Christian in the country with the biggest Muslim population on earth, while retaining some traces of Buddhist religion from my ancestors. So though I end up rejecting all faith and not religious at all, I'd always be fascinated by the story and history of religions.

It seems that Craig Thompson has similar fascination, as he explores Christianity in his first book and Islam in his second book. Perhaps I'm bound to love Habibi based on my background that I stated earlier, and I did. It's an absolutely beautiful book. And like Blankets, its number of pages alone (672 pages!) indicates the ambitiousness of the scope.

How do you even do graphic novel of 672 pages? I can understand normal book, which you can edit many times before it goes, especially with the use of computer these days. But how about drawing? Do you perhaps do a rough drawing of the entire book first, make sure the pace and plot are all right, before drawing in the details? I'd love to know his process.

In essence, Habibi is a love story between the two characters shown on the cover. Met as a little girl and an even younger boy, Dodola and Zam are not related by blood, but what they go through together create as strong a bond as any blood relation. In the harsh world they live in, their love fluidly changes according to time and circumstances, as they have only each other to cling on. The word Habibi means "my beloved".

I kept trying to figure out the setting of the book, but I couldn't. The architecture resembles Turkey, the landscape resembles Arabian dessert, and the clothing looks a mix of Moroccan. I couldn't figure out the period too, as it seems to start sometime in the past, but goes to modern time in the course of the book. I think it's on purpose that it wasn't set in a particular real life country or time, more like an alternate universe with all the Islamic elements. I love how the book touches on the common heritage of Christianity and Islam, and the slight differences between the books (the Bible and Quran).

In reading Habibi I'm continually impressed by what Thompson did. The narration isn't linear, the subject matter is deep, the illustration intricate, and he takes story telling with graphic novel as a medium to a completely new level. Simply amazing.
...more

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Apr 06, 2020 Lydia rated it it was ok

Cool and beautiful, informative and dynamic. And I’m a sucker every time for a labor of love. But the incessantly “sexy” depiction of the main character in the context of the sexual violence and exploitation that she endures gave me the creeps.

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