What is Habibi, in arabic? well the word Habibi means love and it is an arabic word.
read on and read the reviews after the decription if the link does not take you straight to the product the on the left you will see browse by catogary you will see graphic novels and comics which will take you to the page and the book is call well the novel is called Habibi
Product Description
From the internationally acclaimed author of Blankets (“A triumph for the genre.”—Library Journal), a highly anticipated new graphic novel.
Sprawling across an epic landscape of deserts, harems, and modern industrial clutter,
Habibi tells the tale of Dodola and Zam, refugee child slaves bound to each other by chance, by circumstance, and by the love that grows between them. We follow them as their lives unfold together and apart; as they struggle to make a place for themselves in a world (not unlike our own) fueled by fear, lust, and greed; and as they discover the extraordinary depth—and frailty—of their connection.
At once contemporary and timeless,
Habibi gives us a love story of astounding resonance: a parable about our relationship to the natural world, the cultural divide between the first and third worlds, the common heritage of Christianity and Islam, and, most potently, the magic of storytelling.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #376 in Books
- Published on: 2011-09-20
- Released on: 2011-09-20
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 672 pages
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best Books of the Month, September 2011: Habibi is impressive to hold. It looks like a lost tome, recovered from a different time and place--a fitting package for a comic book that feels like an exotic, bizarre fairy tale. Craig Thompson's inkwork is bold yet intricate. Each page reveals a meticulous symmetry, both in art and narrative, that unravels a sweeping tale that takes readers from the dessert to an industrial wasteland to the inner walls of a harem. Thematically, there's no shortage of ambition here, as Thompson tackles familial and romantic love, one's relationship to their environment, the shared roots of Christianity and Islam, and the effects of industrial modernization. Not all of these conflicts are resolved--in fact, there's more ambiguity than there is clarity--but it's Dodola and Zam, the book's two orphaned lovers, that imbue Habibi with empathy and humanity. Thompson, who is best known for Blankets, one of the most critically lauded comics of the past decade, has crafted another affecting story of passion, humor, and imagination. --Kevin Nguyen
Review
“The character depth, plot complexity, and storytelling in this lyrical, sexual, and scholarly epic would make any novelist proud…Thompson strings compositions that are often more tapestry than comics and that balance graphic design, illumination, calligraphy, and cartooning in steady alignment. It is unfair to expect two masterpieces in a row from anyone, but here Thompson sits securely in that rarefied air.” –Booklist, starred review
“A lushly epic love story that's both inspiring and heartbreaking…In addition to richly detailed story panels, the gorgeous Arabic ornamental calligraphy makes each page an individual work of art. A dense, swirling dervish of a tale…this will be the most talked about graphic novel of the fall.” –Publishers Weekly, starred review
“The exquisite beauty and deep magic of this Arabian Nights-style love story cannot be overstated...Habibi is certain to join the ranks of graphic novels that expand our understanding of not only the genre but also the world it describes.” –Library Journal, starred review
“Habibi lifts the bar of graphic storytelling to new heights, both by the intricate, dramatic density and breathtaking scholarship of Thompson’s panels and by the sheer scale and decorative beauty of his flowing, roiling, protean style. Thompson is the Charles Dickens of the genre, able to capture all the scary, heartbreaking, brave, uplifting details of his characters’ fates while orchestrating the big-picture machinations that connect them to the lives and times of his readers…Habibi is a masterpiece that surely is one of a kind.” –Elle Magazine
“A graphic novel that is sure to attract attention…A mature—in all its meanings—glimpse into a world few Westerners are at home with, and Thompson is respectful throughout.” -Kirkus
“Exquisite…HABIBI is a remarkable feat of research, care, and black ink, and a reminder that all "People of the book," despite the division of their individual traditions, share a mosaic of stories.” –Zadie Smith, Harper’s Magazine
“Habibi has classic written all over it. It’s a modern literary triumph, a book so broad and magical in its scope, only a master could pull it off. This is no ordinary comic, it is a complete work of art. Beautiful, thought provoking, both timeless and of its time…An awe-inspiring read you can’t afford to miss” –Grovel, graphic novel reviews
“Easily the best graphic novel of the year, and probably the decade…Thompson’s line work here is beyond brilliant, combining myriad styles and capturing the rich historical legacy of the cultural and religious volumes that inspired it. This is a work that truly changes the game and sets a new standard for all the graphic novels that follow it.” –GraphicNovelReporter.com
"Craig Thompson's new graphic novel, Habibi, is a masterpiece. This isn't an opinion. This book is a gorgeous object; to make it, Thompson apparently covered himself in honey and rolled around in a thousand years of Arabic calligraphy and Islamic art, and the result is breathtaking.” -The Boston Phoenix
“Erotic, grotesque, and profoundly moving…I don’t think I’ve ever read a book quite like this, and I expect I’ll be thinking about it for a long, long time.” –Boing Boing
“Layered, daring, and brilliantly told—an intricate story of love, religion, desire, survival, poverty, hope. It’s drenched in metaphor and rich with double meanings. Yet for all it takes on, Habibi feels light on its feet; throughout, we feel Thompson reveling in his skills as a writer and artist. Its exuberance, even in its darkest moments, feels somehow celebratory. I’m not sure that I’ve read a better graphic novel…Thompson’s own work is manically elaborate and ingeniously laid out; he’s become expert at moving the eye through exploding, dexterous panels.” –The Millions
“Mere words—or at least my mere words—seemed not enough to even try to convey just how intricate and ornate, lush and seductive, arabesque and sometimes knowingly grotesque this artistic epic is…a visual masterpiece.” –Comic Riffs, Washington Post blog
“Like the elegantly dense mosaic patterns that Thompson fills the background of his pages with, Habibi is a book that weaves isolated shapes into an overpowering tableaux, its pieces carefully fit together and subtly repeated until a gorgeous unity emerges.” –National Post
“Relentlessly virtuosic... It is a tribute to Thompson's skill as a cartoonist that the transition from an old fashioned Orient to modern Babylon leaves few visual seams." –New York Times Book Review
“While the storytelling is gripping, surprising, and emotionally and intellectually hard-hitting, it almost takes a back seat to the artwork that is alternately robust and fragile. Thompson's deft, assured lines have never been more delicately and profoundly inked than here…This book is a monument of intelligent, vibrant design, all in service to the story.” –Barnes and Noble review
“The intricacy of patterns and motifs (both visible and metaphorical) hold the text together and astound in their complexity. In the world of Habibi, art is never divorced from meaning; drawings are symbolic verse, words twisted into new shapes…Habibi is about the power of words to carry and envelop us, and in Thompson’s beautifully written novel, the reader experiences a similar magic.” –ALARM Press
“Habibi is a confident, powerfully drawn graphic novel, telling its tale with passion, humor and an endless understanding of the human condition…A graphic novel masterpiece that explores what it means to be human through religious story, slavery, prostitution and personal and societal struggles within the industrial and third worlds.” –Shelf Awareness, starred review
“A lush commentary on love and lust, wealth and want, religion and storytelling…the power in this tale lies in human passion, sometimes cruel and sometimes sweet, combined with its geometric precision and deep sense of the sacred.” –Harvard Crimson
“Lushly illustrated, at times unbearably sad and unexpectedly erotic.” –Paste Magazine
“To read Habibi is to sink into the sensuous arabesque patterns that decorate its pages. Steeped in the imagery and storytelling traditions of the Muslim world, this densely layered love story is as grand and sustained a performance as any cartoonist has published…Thompson’s fluid, evocative artwork is pretty miraculous too.” –Time Magazine
“Habibi is like a big, rousing, unabashedly tear-jerking Dumas novel, with fascinatingly intricate designs and fabulous tales on almost every page.” –Salon
“It’s impossible to read this book and not walk away with a deeper, more profound understanding or appreciation for not both Arab culture and for the subtle and varied ways in which populations portrayed as enemies are in fact alike. Thanks to Thompson’s deft storytelling, ‘Habibi’s’ seemingly daunting 700-plus pages can go by in a breeze; you won’t want them to, though, because his delicate, yet ornate art make this a story you won’t want to finish.” –Deathandtaxesmag.com
“Audaciously ambitious. Just the decorative and calligraphic elements of its design alone are enough to recommend this volume.” –Icv2 review
“Executed with enormous empathy and something that in earlier times would have been called divine inspiration, Habibi is an extraordinary milestone in the world of drawn stories. Who would have thought that black ink could make such complex, soul-filling music?” –FT.com
“Habibi is a triumph of creativity. Thompson dazzles us with his pen strokes, with his mastery of storytelling, his research, plotting and characterisation. The book is destined to become an instant classic, confirming the author's position among not only the most masterful of graphic novelists but our finest contemporary writers, regardless of medium.” –The Independent
“The work of an artist creating at the height of his powers with a confidence and an artistry that reveals grace in every pen stroke, in every panel, and it deftly makes greatness look easy… The scope of this book is simply massive and what it achieves is not only unique for a comic book or graphic novel, but also important and so relevant to the times in which we all live…This is an important book that, hopefully, will be read by as wide an audience as possible. It completely deserves all the attention and all the praise that’s sure to come its way. Craig Thompson has created something truly special here that will surely be read and reflected upon for generations to come.” –TheShortBox.com
“Habibi isn't just Thompson's greatest work yet; it's one of the most beautiful novels I've read this year…The artwork is elegant, striking, reverent.” –The Portland Mercury
“This is almost without question one of the most important graphic novel releases of the year. It overflows with elegant, elaborate and brilliantly composed hybrid imagery.” –warmoth.org
“Habib...
About the Author
CRAIG THOMPSON’s previous graphic novels include Blankets (for which he received three Harvey Awards for Best Artist, Best Graphic Album of Original Work, and Best Cartoonist; and two Eisner Awards for Best Graphic Album and Best Writer/Artist); Goodbye, Chunky Rice; and Carnet de Voyage. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
34 of 36 people found the following review helpful.
Beautiful, Brutal, Poetic, Prophetic
By J. WOFFORD
Habibi is a fable of exploitation and the cruelty of the strong toward the weak. It is a love story, though the the kind of love it celebrates--maternal, platonic, erotic--remains elusive throughout. It is also a sermon complete with hell-fire and brimstone and strident pleading about the dangers of the sin of waste. Most of all it is prophecy dressed in poetry's clothing--an artful shriek announcing of the end of the world.
All of this lovely fable-telling and street-preaching comes packaged in a graphic novel. And what a novel! And how graphic! Author and artist Craig Thompson gives us pages filled with toil, tears, and blood--whether his own or someone else's is hard to say. The book is beautiful, yes. Every dot, every line tells of human longing and agony. Every panel draws your eye, delights, repulses, demands--requires your attention. Many of the pages, with their intricate arabesque patterns, must have taken endless hours for Thompson to craft. No wonder that nine years have passed since Thompson's last major work, Blankets. The drawings in Habibi are a gift, bought at a price, and it does seem a sin to refuse them.
The story, too, is masterfully crafted. It tells of two urchins, Dodola and Zam, who find each other in the mire of the Arab slave trade. Dodola survives by prostitution and wit, nurturing and protecting Zam until he, too, begins to yearn for her body. Their journey through the filth of a decaying world, through magic and old lore, and through their own damaged souls proves constantly engrossing.
Thompson is not always the most elegant of writers. Sometimes the voice of the preacher oppresses Dodola's more underspoken narration. "Zam was soothed by stories," she explains early in the book. "He didn't realize the precipitation was acid rain," the narrator continues in an apparent non-sequitur, and now Dodola's voice has been lost. Thompson's urge to make explicit the symbolism between his characters' world and our own sometimes gets the better of him. "When the world is on its last breath," Dodola opines, "the masses will need something to distract them from the destruction--and my body will still be a commodity." Are these really the thoughts of an isolated sex-slave hidden away in an almost medieval modern Arabia? These narrative oversteps betray a lack of faith in either the story or the reader to draw the connections without commentary.
Fortunately these oversteps are few, and the tale is always compelling even at those moments when the text is not. Thompson has given us the finest graphic novel of the past decade, and I will not be surprised, fifty years from now, to see it well-established in the literary harem of university English courses. (I don't think it will be studied in high schools--hardly a page passes without nudity or brutality.) Whether or not this book helps move the world to conviction and repentance, it will endure as a work of art. Habibi is that rare thing--that most literary of things--a pleasure that is also good for you.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful.
A masterpiece for mature readers
By Kevin Taylor
Craig Thompson's Blankets is one of my all time favorite novels, so it is not surprising that I was waiting in anticipation for this book, and it does not disappoint.
If Blankets was a comforting quilt constructed from unrequited love and childhood innocence then Habibi is a tapestry; exotic, richly decorated and replete with signs and symbols easily understood but not always fully comprehended. It is also immense, even though it is only 100 pages or so lengthier than blankets the entire size and scope of the story seems exponentially larger.
It is a MATURE graphic novel in that it deals with themes, which would be difficult to grapple in any medium, such as abandonment, sexual slavery, prejudice etc but always with a sensitivity and understanding which belies the notion that graphic novels are simply long-form comics. The usual poor reviews on account of the sex, violence and nudity are, I'm sure, inevitable. There is sex, violence and nudity but it is not gratuitous, it is employed to advance the story or develop the characters- still if you have overtly susceptible sensibilities then perhaps this book should be avoided.
The plot is complex and meandering and not succinctly summarized, in tone it has much in common with the magical-realism form of writing- it is compelling and it is likely that, despite the length of the story, most readers will finish the book in only a few days.
It also makes a great argument for the printed form; when you hold it in your hands you feel like you are holding an extraordinary tome, it is beautifully bound with tasteful gold lettering and the tactile sensation of turning these ornately decorated pages is not something which could be easily approximated in the digital format
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
A masterful work
By Andy Shuping
Craig Thompson, best known for his graphic novel memoir Blankets, has created yet another epic masterpiece that spans across time and space. Set in the Middle East and drawing inspiration from Islamic history and the Qur'an, we follow the epic story of Dodola and Zam, two orphans that escape the Arab slave trade. Their story begins together in a boat abandoned in the middle of the desert set in between a town in poverty and an opulent city where the Sultan dwells, where stories are told and dreams are born. Over nine years Zam and Dodola grow up together on the boat (Zam is 3 in the beginning and Dodola as 12) till the day things come crashing down...and Dodola is kidnapped into the harem of the Sultan. And Zam is left to fend for himself and gets lost amongst the city. Their stories separate, each under going their own trials and tribulations, yet each crying out for each other in the darkness of the night. Each broken and molded in new ways and yet, when their paths cross again each is happy to claim the other yet again. And the story continues on, in a new boat, and in a new sea.
First of all this is just an absolutely beautifully designed book. I just keep getting lost in looking at the design of it, even before I open the pages. The letter are embossed in gold lettering into the cover; with white insets, one on the front cover, the back cover, and one on the spine, depicting the characters at three different points in their lives; and the design around the insets and over the cover are like calligraphy from a lost scroll. It just feels and looks like something that you would find only in the most opulent library in the world, and yet you get a chance to hold it in your own hands. And while the end pages when you open the book may not look like much, you soon come to realize just how important they are to the story.
This is an epic love story told over time, and the type of love changes as the story moves forward--from brother/sister, to maternal, to love between two people. We know that Thompson worked on this story for a long time and its clearly evident that it's a labor of love to him. What isn't evident at first is how all of the pieces of the story fit together. When I first started reading this it felt like the story didn't flow smoothly together, at least not as smoothly as Blankets did, because Thompson is constantly blending in the past and the present and feeding us different bits of information--such as how Arabic script is drawn. But I should have known that Thompson had a plan and as you move further into the story all of the parts weave together to form one epic tale. And by the end you'll be blown away by how well the story is woven and told.
Not only was the writing a labor of love for Craig, but it's clear the artwork is as well. Everything single detail is hand drawn, nothing copied. And while that might sound trivial, as you open the book and get into the story you begin to notice just how much Arabic script and pattern are put into the story. And you can begin to imagine just how long it took to get just the right stroke of the brush to produce them. Thompson's artwork has improved since his time with Blankets, especially in capturing the human figure. The expressions on the characters faces, the way that the bodies move, is absolutely fantastic and makes the characters almost leap off the page. The line quality in figures in some ways reminds me of Will Eisner's work, and just his ability to capture the human figure with ease. But it still retains Craig's style and you can see elements of Chunky Rice and Blankets in the way the sands of the desert are drawn and the look in the characters eyes. All together the artwork is fantastic.
There's a quote from Neil Gaiman on the band around the book, where he says that this book should be held in the same regard as Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth. And yet...I holder it in even higher regard as Thompson has created a story where everything works in absolute perfect harmony and is a book that everyone should pick up and read at least once...and ponder on the story and the meaning behind this fantastic work.
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