Habibi

Don’t worry, I wont mention anything about the plot, but the art in the book is the draw that holds everything together: lavish page designs, confident linework, and panels that feel hand-carved. The Arabic calligraphy is the book’s most striking feature, not just ornament but structure—words that become patterns, patterns that become meaning. Thompson in this book has definitely treated calligraphy as ‘music for the eyes.’

Book is hard bound and a pretty thick volume. Promptly shipped and recieved within 3 days in perfect condition. Superb and detailed art work in pen and ink (no colours) , compelling story line, paper quality cudve been better, but at this price, the art itself even if on newspaper print , is underpriced, besides it mightve made the book too heavy to be practical. The content is adult, so if u have kids at home.. discretion advised.

Everything is excellent in this book. The condition, story, artwork, all are excellent. I read the full book of 650 pages or so in just one sitting of 4hours. Will check now the other work of same artist for sure.

இந்த புத்தகத்தை வாங்க தயங்க வேண்டாம் அட்டகாசமான புத்தகம் ஆனால் குழந்தைகளுக்கானது இல்லை இதன் art காகவே வாங்கலாம்

It's an awesome piece of work. An unique contribution to the world of graphic novel. Each page contains marvelous hand drawn images that blow readers mind. The story is really good.

The name say it all. You will fall in love with this book for it's rich artwork and the wonderful storyline.

Blankets is Craig Thompson's most definitive book. And Habibi is generally underrated, and often for quite good reason. There are racial stereotypes and cultural inaccuracies in this book. But at the end of the day, the general narrative helps the work transcend over such flak, and the artwork is typically Thompsonian to be forgiven for other lapses.

Good idea of a storyline - lead lady gives you a sense of de javu - probably from one of those from Gabriel Garcia Marquez, was it 'One Hundred Years of Solitude'? Spoiler Alert (thanks, Ojaswini for pointing out!) for the para below: A girl bringing up an adopted boy and their ending up in love with each other from late adolescence. Twist that Thompson adds is their seperation - girl ending up in a sultan's harem & the boy with a Hijra group, castrated to 'fit in' and all that - and later reunited and unable to be couple in the real sense. There are some real good intellectual gymnastics of interspersing it with myths and stories and arabic letters - all those exotic stuff that may have been added for improving the 'sells'. Then there're some moments when one tires of the author seeming fetish with the 'perfect female forms' & men's orgies. It's an adult novel & graphic at that too. Art is good. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, for the price listed. I felt it's a waste of my money & precious time - my first thought after reading it, was to dump it outside for whomever interested in the recycled paper value - only thing that stopped me was the high price that I paid to get hold of the book. Though this may sound a bit harsh, but that's genuinely what I felt at the end of the book. I have ordered another 2 Craigs seeing all rave reviews - not cancelling them just as not to cause seller inconvenience. Hope they are at least marginally better than this!

Estoy muy contenta con la compra. Hacía tiempo que quería tener un ejemplar de esta novela gráfica. Compré la versión en inglés, porque la diferencia de precio con la versión española es verdaderamente significativa. El papel es sencillo, pero está bien encuadernado en tapa dura. Hay muchos comentarios aquí que expresan su descontento con la dramática historia de la protagonista. A mi modo de ver, la historia se merece las cinco estrellas. "Habibi" nos muestra la cruda realidad a la que se siguen enfrentando aún hoy muchas mujeres (y niñas) en determinados lugares del planeta. Es dramática sin duda. Pero a pesar de todo, hay un hilo de amor, amistad y compromiso que atraviesa todo el libro. Además, los dibujos de Craig Thompson son, como siempre, exquisitos. Inspirándose en la decoración tradicional y la escritura árabe, el artista creó, en mi opinión, una obra maestra.

Storia emozionante disegni trascinanti

Where do I start when reviewing this work? Firstly I should state that I havent read Craig Thompsons' highly praised graphic novel Blankets. Although I have looked at it many times and seriously considered buying it, there have always been other options at the time. So this is my first, proper, introduction to Thompson. What an introduction this is! Habibi tells the story of two child slaves Dodola and Zam brought together by fate who take us through some of lifes most important lessons as we read their continuing stories in a fictitious Arabian landscape. This book must have been painstakingly researched by the author as its scope and breadth of storytelling is just breathtaking. It was almost too much for me, and I read lots of comics and graphic novels. Encompassing quotes from the Koran and the Bible we see the similarities of the faiths, beautiful drawings of Arabic calligraphy, chemistry, biology, philosophy and all encompassing unconditional love. Indeed it is this which keeps you coming back for more as at its core this is surely a story of love between two people(s) A beautiful 670 page hardback book it is stunningly designed and drawn from front cover to back cover. It reminds me somewhat of the manga Buddha by Osamu Tezuka which is also a work of incredible scope. Beware though, the book does not shy away from adult themes and therefore is probably not for everyone. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

La edición es impresionante, los dibujos son trazos maestros.

As other review mentioned, the content of this book is controversial, which I do not really understand, since I am Chinese background, so readers have to judge it by themselves. But for the art part, I really love this book. I also loved <blankets>, another masterpiece by the same author. IMHO, <blankets> is great while this book's art is even greater. From story perspective, I love blankets more, because it is almost a real story. Habibi is mostly imaginative story, which is not bad at all, and story telling is great. But in comparison, <blankets> feels more sincerely, since it is author's personal feeling and experience. The print and binding is great as well. Highly recommended. Also recommend the hardcover version of <blankets> if you can find one