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A review by lexiomancer
Habibi by Craig Thompson
5.0
One of my closest friends has been telling me for quite a while that I needed to read Habibi. Now that I finally have, I don't think I can say enough good things about it. Habibi is a powerful story of the suffering and survival of Dodola and Zam, two escaped child slaves whose only comfort in the world is the company of each other. The two live in a fictional landscape that is a blend of historical, modern, and fantastical elements, where the wealthy live in splendor but despoil the landscape, forcing the poor to live in filth. Regardless, Dodola and Zam form a love for each other that is equal parts familial and romantic, and so strong that they cling to its memory for survival even years after they are torn apart. The story is heartwarming and heartbreaking, uplifting, life-affirming, and hopelessly bleak. In addition, Habibi is very much a story about the power of stories. Dodola frames her world in relation to stories, both from the Quran and from Arabic folklore, which only serves to enhance the power of her own story and paint it in a light that is almost mythic. Thompson's narrative often compares the ink of stories to the flowing water of a river, and though I don't know enough about Islamic culture to know if this is a cultural device or his own invention, I find it an inspired comparison. The line between story and reality is frequently blurred in Habibi, and ink and water flow into one another, hinting at an intimate connection between storytelling and the precious life-giving water of Habibi's world. I don't believe that Thompson is trying to show the world the importance of storytelling. Rather, I think Habibi celebrates the necessity of storytelling to the human experience by presenting the reader with a world where fiction cannot easily be separated from reality. I could go on and on and not even scratch the surface of the intricate web of interconnected stories and symbols that Thompson has crafted here. This story (and the breathtaking art that surrounds it) is truly a masterpiece.