Habibi by Craig Thompson

It's the Feast of the Ascension today and I've been enjoying the day off as this is a national holiday here in Finland. I finally managed to start my running season this morning with a 6 km run (two previous attempts failed due to rain). It felt great and I must say I feel pretty pleased with myself! :)

I have also been reading The Seven Basic Plots by Christopher Booker today. It's a 700+ tome and when I brought it home from the library I thought only to browse it, but it proved so interesting that I just have to read it form cover to cover. I'm nearing the halfway point, but we'll see how it goes from there. I probably will not manage to finish it before my upcoming trip, so it might be June before I'm done with it. As I said The Seven Basic Plots is very interesting, but the problem with such a long nonfiction book is that I started to crave some fiction. (I've been concentrating on The Seven Basic Plots in order to get it read as quickly as possible.) Well, today I gave in and spent the evening with Habibi, a 665 page graphic novel by Craig Thompson. And boy, aren't I glad that I did!

Habibi tells the story of two child slaves in a timeless world that could be somewhere in the distant past with harems and slavery, were it not the modern cities, cars and construction sites that are also featured in the story. The book is a veritable feast of images and ideas. The artwork is stunning. (Click this link to take a closer look at some of Thompson's drawings.) Thompson uses Arabic calligraphy and Islamic ornamental art to great effect in his drawings.

Habibi is a story full of stories. Thompson includes numerous stories that are familiar from the Bible and/or the Quran, thus reminding his readers of the common heritage of Christianity and Islam. The magic of storytelling and the beauty of Arabic writing is very well illustrated in both the text and the drawings in this book. Basically, however, Habibi is a love story. Through all horrors it is love that endures. Habibi = My beloved.

If you like thought provoking graphic novels with amazing artwork then do read Habibi! I can highly, highly recommend it!