Tuesday 22 January 2013

Thoughts: Habibi by Craig Thompson


First things first. I am not into graphic novels. But there is always a but, isn't it? I stumbled across this piece in my friend's bookshelf because you can just not miss it. It's huge, and the cover art is lovely. It's like a big bible but it is not a bible. It is though an approach to get to know religion, to be specific the Islam religion and other cultural aspects of the middle east.
This tome includes nine stories and all center around Dodola, first a young girl who is married still being a child, later a slave and then a lady in the sultan's harem. All the while she cares for a little boy, whose name is Ham. And as he is always very afraid she tells him stories. And this is also the way the reader gets to know the myths and legends and biblical stories and how they are interpreted in the Islam. There is a lot of social criticism involved in the telling of these stories, too, which I enjoyed.
I liked quote unquote reading this book. Following Dodola's story and the ones she has to tell is interesting and I liked the art work in this book and how calligraphy can be used to paint pictures, too. I would recommend this for adult readers as there is some defined adult content.
Accompanying reads:
Blankets by Craig Thompson - explores the sibling rivalry of two brothers growing up in the isolated country, and the budding romance of two coming-of-age lovers + added to tbr

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