Habibi

Book Review - Habibi (Graphic Novel) by Craig Thompson

Habibi (Graphic Novel)
Black and white
Craig Thompson
Hardcover
Publisher: Pantheon
Publication Date: First Edition - September 20, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0375424144
672 pages

Habibi (“my beloved” in Arabic) by Craig Thompson is an incredibly moving story of love, loss and redemption that blankets almost every emotion in the human grab bag. It’s also a beautifully detailed piece of graphic art with what I can only assume began with a great deal of research and countless hours of design. It is erotic, brutal, sad, joyous, dark, evil, sinister, mature, compassionate, and alive with real, sympathetic human beings. The layout, calligraphy, and complex artwork are, in my opinion, show more absolutely gorgeous; the work of genius. Every page reveals just how brilliant a graphic artist Craig Thompson is. Each panel is aesthetically pleasing to the eye (usually in more than one aspect – i.e. numerology, characters, religion, borders, language, etc.) and is filled with intricate, arabesque-like decorations that demand your full attention. Because of this, Habibi is not a page turning graphic novel that causes you to flip through quickly to see how it all ends (though you definitely want to.) Instead, the artwork is so engaging, detailed, and stunning that it forces you to take your time studying each page for the aesthetics and to capture all the vital pieces of the visual story. There is magic and craft between the covers of Habibi – both written and drawn. There is spirituality and faith and philosophy. There is cruelty, eroticism, butchery, and death but there’s also love, hope, and beauty and that’s where Mr. Thompson excels. While unconventional by anyone’s standards the love story in Habibi is, nevertheless, touching yet always comes with a price. And while comfort and warmth lie just out of reach emotional distress and heart-ache fill the lives of every character in the story (as it does in life.) Erotic, paternal, and platonic the love story grabs you from the shocking opening lines and than holds you at arms length throughout. It is elusive but not frustratingly so to the reader. Thompson certainly understands how to draw his readers in (and keep their attention) both visually and emotionally.

Habibi is a pre-apocalyptic story depicting the slow demise of the planet earth and tells the tragic story of Dodola and Zam, child slaves bound to each other by chance, as they are caught up in the cruelties of a world on the brink of destruction. Pollution is at its all-time worst, water is a rare and expensive commodity, and the world seems to understand that its days are numbered. The characters too seem to act and react as if they are fully aware that the end is near. As the world decays we witness two souls searching to fit in and find love as they move slowly towards each other through the worst of circumstances, only to become separated, and then to find each other once again. Dodola and Zam’s transformation between separations, brought on by the circumstances of an increasingly cruel world, serves to enlighten the reader about the distress of emotional suffering, the chasm between the first and third worlds and their religions, and the redemption found in hope and love.

File with: Love story, Eastern philosophy, religion, graphic design, art, Scheherazade, and the human condition.

5 out of 5 stars

The Alternative
Southeast Wisconsin show less

Wrrr. This graphic novel. Wrrr. The art is *amazing.* The structure and the intertwining of motifs and themes is by turns fascinating and compelling. The story is only so-so. And then there's the "urg" feeling I had the whole time I was reading. The story is set in an unnamed Middle Eastern country sometime in the near-ish future. Here's my first two "urg" feelings: Craig Thompson is not, to the best of my ability to discover, of any sort of Middle Eastern descent nor is he culturally adjacent in any way (like, say, having married someone of Middle Eastern descent). A white person writing a book about the Middle East is not an automatic "urg," but it does make me pay real close attention and start looking for an answer to the question, show more "Why *this* story, why by *you*?" I didn't feel like I ever got that answer. And the nonspecificity of the setting made me go "Hrrm" as well. Americans aren't historically so great at understanding Middle Eastern countries, cultures, and peoples with nuance and specificity, so the vague setting feels like maybe not enough effort. Then there's the dramatic sexualization of the female lead, who is shown naked *a lot* and who is raped *a lot* and who we *see* getting raped *a lot.* I didn't feel like this nudity and sexual violence was helping me confront anything or learn anything (except maybe demonstrating that whole "arousal does not equal desire" thing, but I never felt like Thompson was going for that, so.). There's a sultan who is one hundred percent governed by his lusts. Flrn. He's got a harem, and guess how many of the women in it are full-fledged characters rather than naked women we see the sultan ****ing in all kinds of positions? Dingdingding. Zero. And then there are the characters of African descent. They are decidedly simian in appearance. They are *treated* (some of them anyway) as fully-rounded characters; their depiction in the story is not racist as far I saw, but their *images* were. Whhyyyyyy? Aside from the eye-popping "wow" of the art itself, the positive thing that stood out to me about this graphic novel was the depiction of stories from both Christian and Islamic religious tradition that were woven into the larger narrative. These were magnificently illustrated, and the explanation of the differences between the same stories from the two different traditions were fascinating. It made me wish Thompson had teamed up with some religious scholars and done a nonfic comparative graphic work about Christianity and Islam. Alas. show less

The first thing to say about this book is that it is absolutely gorgeous. The size and weight of it, the detail on the cover, and Thompson's wonderful drawings dare you to immerse yourself in the book and not come up for air until you've finished it. The second thing to say about this book is that it is just as brutal as it is beautiful, and if you read it all in one chunk, you might have some kind of nervous breakdown.

[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2013/11/habibi-by-craig-thompson-2011.html ]

A beautiful, gorgeous, stunning graphic novel that deals with Arabic culture and language as much as it does the story of Dodola and Zam. And if it were just that, it'd be 5 stars.

But it's not just that. Dodola and Zam meet as slaves, Dodola claiming the terrified and abandoned Zam as her own, and they survive in the desert as long as they can, Zam finding water and Dodola approaching rare caravans and trading her body for food. While this is depressing, it's an unfortunate situation for many women in history and recent times, and the love and understanding she and Zam have is more than enough for Dodola to be happy. While she is forced into prostitution to survive, it's always her own choice and determination that have her do so, show more avoiding the typical "victim" framing that's the conventional approach. Throughout her life Dodola has been used for her body, and this is simply her reclaiming that object for her own use.

So far so good!

Of course, a 12-year old girl raising a 3-year old boy is going to cause some problems, and Thompson certainly does not shy away from that. Zam's eventual sexual awakening is a source of confusion and frustration to him, especially as it really, truly awakens as he hides and witnesses his mother/sister/friend Dodola violently raped on one of her caravan visits. (Speaking of: it is very detailed and very graphic. And with the frequency with which it reappears, in memories and fantasies, almost borders on the voyeuristic and sadistic.)

And then the book takes an... uncomfortable turn. Or at least I felt uncomfortable reading it, and I can't quite pinpoint why. The tragedy of it all? The careless mistakes that lead to it Zam didn't need to become a eunuch, and clearly suffers for it. If he had someone to talk him through what was happening and to let him know it was normal, it never would have happened.? The weird sexuality that begins to pervade everything Of course it makes sense in certain contexts: Dodola is a concubine and Zam is struggling with the fact that he has a sexuality at all. But Why does Dodola decide to see Zam as a sexual being once they reunite? The boy she mourned for as her son? And, really, what was the point of her pregnancy and loss of her actual son? She didn't even care (which, of course. She was numb and terrified and hated everything. But the experience didn't even change her).?

An aside: for all of Thompson's depictions of sex and sexuality and nudity, we see very few penises (if any). This makes no sense. Either he's trying to normalize nudity, in which case it's a glaring oversight, or he is merely providing this gratuitous female nudity as titillation, which is gross. Where are the penises when Dodola is being raped? Surely that would amplify the horror the reader is meant to feel. Where are the scars of the eunuchs? Surely that would drive home the finality and cruelty of Zam's "solution." show less

I almost feel bad for tagging this with 'comics'. Thompson's Habibi is a stunning work of art that takes twice as much time to read because you keep returning to the beautiful images and exquisitely detailed panels. The story itself is heartbreaking, hopeful, a thought-provoking narrative of the lives of (mainly) two people. That is horribly vague, I know, but there is no one definite one category I can put Habibi into. It borrows from both classic and biblical tales, offers a fascinating insight into Arabic almost as an afterthought, and after the last page, it leaves you staring into the distance, completely awed.

I’m simply stumped about how to review this book. There are so many things I loved, and so many I detested. I don’t know where to begin so I’m just going to attempt to sort out my thoughts and see where it takes me.

First, the Story:
Dodola is an Arab girl sold into marriage at the age of 9 by her illiterate parents. Her husband is much older than her. While he does teach her to read and write, the relationship also involves sex and physical abuse. After bandits murder her husband, Dodola’s circumstances change drastically and she soon finds herself a slave refugee. Giving her company is three year old Zam, a black slave adopted by her as a brother at the slave market. Life however isn’t easy and both their narratives see a lot show more of upheavals and downswings, with drastic physical and mental consequences to both.

Dodola suffers from sexual oppression and Zam goes through sexual repression. How these two opposite elements bring together their lives to a fulfilling climax (sorry, couldn’t resist using that word when the book has so much of sex!) forms the essence of the story.

“Habibi” can be loosely translated to “my dear”. At heart, Habibi is a love story between Dodola and Zam, to whom she is mother, sister, crush, and lover. (Yeah, I know… More on this later.)

The book is among the most commonly banned graphic novels, and while I am strongly against any kind of book ban, I do understand why this particular book would have created an uproar.

What I enjoyed:
• The story is brilliant, though I wasn’t a fan of the writing style. I loved how Thompson juxtaposes the Dodola Zam narrative with many stories from the Quran (some of which are common to the Bible.) It is confusing to read at first but the narratives synchronise wonderfully at the end.

• The storytelling is intelligent, no doubt. There are parallel narratives over the past and present that keep you focussed. The timelines keep shifting within chapters too so you cannot be a passive reader for this book.

• The author does seem have done a great deal of research into Arabic calligraphy. His use of the Arabic letters and numerals seems flawless. (I am using “seems” because I don’t know Arabic, so I don’t know if he made any mistakes in his rendition.)

• The book emphasises the shared heritage of Islam and Christianity and intermingles several Biblical and Quranic parables as subplots with the main storyline. I loved reading all these stories, and comparing and contrasting the Quranic version with the Biblical version I already know.

• Within the love story lie hidden several subplots such as water rights, racism, pollution, slavery and women abuse. Almost all the subplots are worth pondering over and make a stark statement about how men buy, abuse, and/or destroy anything they want.

• Can’t forget to mention the illustrations in the book. Thompson is said to have spent about 6 years on this book, and it shows in the graphics. His sketching is quite good and his attention to detail, awesome. His use of Arabic motifs in his designs makes the work stand out even more.

• Though almost 670 pages long, the book flies by quickly.

• When I learn something about an Indian goddess from an American author, it deserves extra credit for sure. I never knew about Bahuchara Mata, the patroness of the hijra community. It was nice to learn her story from this unexpected source.

What I abhorred:
• The Stereotypes! Oh, the umpteen stereotypes scattered through almost every single page! The Arab locations are stereotyped, the eunuchs are stereotyped, the Sultan is stereotyped, the women in the harem are stereotyped, the black characters are stereotyped… I could go on and on. The only character who is not stereotyped is that of the fisherman. He comes like a breath of fresh air amid all the clichéd portrayals.

• Every single male in the book (except for the fisherman) seems to be looking at Dodola only for her body, and this includes the author who seems to delight in drawing her nude. In many scenes, it was necessary. In many others, it was simply gratuitous.

• Many scenes left me feeling uneasy. For instance, when Dodola and Zam take a bath together. What 20 year old Arabic girl would strip off entirely and get into a bathtub with a naked 11 year old boy!?!?!?! Dodola is shown to be a girl who understands her body and its attractions to men. She capitalises on this fact to barter her body with tradesmen in caravans in exchange for food. Such a mature girl wouldn’t understand the significance of keeping some privacy from her “brother” Zam? Another example would be of 9 year old Dodola straddling her middle-aged husband in an attempt to pleasure him. Good Lord!

• The story does require nudity to be shown in the illustrations. But what you see in the name of nudity is some buttocks and plenty of breasts. And when I say plenty, I mean plenty. I’m afraid I’m stereotyping the author now but he seems to be a typical man obsessed with women’s breasts. I mean, draw some dicks too if you really want to claim that the nudity is essential for the story. We straight women get fed up of staring at boobs.

• As an Indian, relationships are sacrosanct to me. A brother is a brother, never a lover. That part of me couldn’t digest Dodola calling Zam her brother in one scene and looking for a romantic relationship with him in another. It just seemed very incestuous to me, though they weren’t related.

• As per Wikipedia, Thompson began working on Habibi at the end of 2004 due to the widespread attention given towards the Middle East by the American society after the 9/11 attacks. He conceived Habibi in an effort to better understand and humanize Islam, and focus on the beauty of Arabic and Islamic cultures. Well, he humanises Islam to a certain extent by narrating the Quranic stories and connecting them to the Christian version. But rather than making the Middle East sound human, Thompson seems to turn it into a parody filled with lustful men and submissive women. If I were someone trying to understand Islam through this book, my mind would have been filled with some really absurd misconceptions about the Arabic/Islamic culture.

• All the Muslim men (except the fisherman) are depicted either as lecherous beasts or as eunuchs. Really? There is no normal Muslim man? Is this your idea of humanising Islam, Mr. Thompson?

• The straight women hardly ever lose their perfect body shape (The sole exception being Dodola during her pregnancy and her incarceration) while the men and the eunuchs come in all shapes and sizes. C’mon!

What I couldn’t understand:
• Why did the author choose to include so many hackneyed ideas in his book under the guise of making Middle Eastern culture accessible to Americans?

• What part of the Middle East is being depicted in the book? There is a Sultan in his palace filled with his concubines. There is an urban industrial area with tall apartment buildings. There is another little area where there is nothing but poverty and filth. There are eunuchs dressed in sarees and worshipping an Indian goddess. (A Hindu goddess, I might add, who has nothing to do with Islam. In fact, Islam doesn’t permit idol worship.) There are black slaves and caravan traders, bottling factories and camels. What the heck is this place that Americans are supposed to identify with?

• Does this book count as cultural appropriation? After all, Craig Thompson is an American Christian. So all he knows about the Arabic world, the Quran, and Islam is what he must have read or heard, not experienced.

Do I recommend the book?
Stay away if you:
• Want an honest depiction of Islamic culture.
• Can’t stand nudity, sexual assaults or rapes.

Try it out if you want to see what the fuss is about.
It is a can-read, not a must-read. But if you do read it, take its depiction of Islam and the Middle East with a huge pinch of salt.

***********************
Join me on the Facebook group, Readers Forever!, for more reviews, book-related discussions and fun.
Follow me on Instagram: RoshReviews show less

This graphic novel was absolutely stunning! I feel like I need an entire novel to rave about the gorgeous and intricate illustrations. There are NO WORDS to describe how striking Thompson's illustrations are. Seriously, if there is a copy close by, or if you’re in a bookstore that has this book in stock, pick it up and just flip through it. Believe me the beauty will overwhelm you. Based on illustrations alone, this novel is a full 5 stars, no questions asked. The script of the Arabic, the designs in the borders, everything is just perfect.
The story of Dodala, Zam, and the hardships they face in their lives is nothing short of heart wrenching. When following their early lives in the desert, the desperation of their circumstances, show more and how they took care of each other was very captivating to read. My heart broke for Dodala and her need to use her body to take care of her and Zam, and I know this is a reality in so many parts of the world, but it was so shocking and powerful to see it drawn on the page in front of you. The inserts of the stories that Dodala told Zam were a beautiful addition, and they were beautifully drawn and interesting to read. You can really see how the stories are an escape for both Dodala and Zam and how important stories can be in a person's life.
Moving on to the time in the palace, I think this is where the book lost the half star from me, and I think it's purely because I am such a big baby :P The Sultan and his harem just didn't sit well with me and just seeing women as objects, used, abused and thrown away bothered me too much. Like I said before, I know this is reality, but it was hard for me to read. I loved the end of the novel, although there were some elements that upset me. Well, maybe not upset, but more like disappointed. I loved the explanation of the title that is in the last few pages and the promise and hope we find at the end of Dodala and Zam's story.
Overall, this was one of the most, if not THE most, powerful graphic novel I have ever read. Craig Thompson is truly talented, not only in his artwork, but in his storytelling. He has definitely earned his place on my shelf and Habibi has definitely earned a place among my favourite books. show less