2.17.2012
Habibi
by Craig Thompson, 665 pgs, hardcover
Overall Grade: B
Habibi is hard to classify. It takes place in the present (or close to it), but feels like it's in the past because the characters are isolated and/or on the margins of society. It follows two characters who escape from slavery together, one as a young girl and the other as a baby. Dodola raises Zam in a boat trapped in the middle of a desert. Once Zam is a teen, Dodola is abducted by a caravan and taken into a harem, and Zam begins his journey to be reunited with her.
Not a tale for the faint-hearted (many bad things happen to both Dodola and Zam, in addition to the frequent nudity and sexual encounters), 'Habibi' is a journey of two characters apart and together, longing for what they've lost. The settings run from a ship in the desert and a harem to a half-constructed skyscaper and an enclave of eunuchs, as well as the depictions of religious stories from Hebrew, Christian and Muslim faiths. There is also a gorgeous amount of art relating to Arabic writing throughout.
Labels: genre: fiction, genre: graphic novel, genre: religion, media: book
