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A review by lynecia
Habibi by Craig Thompson
3.0
3.5 stars
TRIGGER WARNING!
If you are sensitive to sexual violence, this book isn't for you.
I got through the two-thirds of this book, and I was sure it was going to be a 5 star read; the artwork is GORGEOUS, the story was enchanting (though tragic and sad), and the writing was beautiful. The underlying mystical elements were amazing, and made me want to pick up a Qu'ran and read it. However, the further I got into the story, there were some highly problematic points that became hard to ignore.
When Zam gets older and begins to lust after her, (ew!) that simply just rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, she raised him from a toddler and for him to view her as anything but a mother/sister figure was offensive to me, but I guess that's a personal gripe. His desire for her was so twisted that eventually it leads him to castrate himself...talk about dramatic.
The depiction of Blacks in this extremely discomforting - even though Dodola was also sold into slavery as well, there were explicitly racist comments made by some characters; and when the author alludes to the story of Cham/Ham from the Old Testament/Qu'ran being the justification for the enslavement of African people, I wanted to throw the book. If you don't know, that argument was used to JUSTIFY the slave trade among other atrocities - as a descendant of those people, it was hard for me separate that from something that was coming from the characters or added to the story, OR if it was something that clearly would be taken out of context for most readers, perpetuating an ugliness that we've all worked long hard to rid ourselves of.
Lastly, I found that the time period that this was supposed to take place in wasn't clear - in the end when Zam and Dodola live in the skyscraper, that seemed like present day, however other elements made it seem like it was the past, such as the Dodola's husband being a "scribe" and the fact that she was kidnapped for a harem.
Anyway, I say all that to say, I still recommend that people pick up this book and decide for yourself!
TRIGGER WARNING!
If you are sensitive to sexual violence, this book isn't for you.
I got through the two-thirds of this book, and I was sure it was going to be a 5 star read; the artwork is GORGEOUS, the story was enchanting (though tragic and sad), and the writing was beautiful. The underlying mystical elements were amazing, and made me want to pick up a Qu'ran and read it. However, the further I got into the story, there were some highly problematic points that became hard to ignore.
Spoiler
First off, it presents Islamic/Arabic culture as really, really rapey. Now let me back up, the author could have just been using rape and sexual violence to comment on the fact that this is one girl's tragic story; women who are alone in the world aren't safe. Ok, I can live with that.When Zam gets older and begins to lust after her, (ew!) that simply just rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, she raised him from a toddler and for him to view her as anything but a mother/sister figure was offensive to me, but I guess that's a personal gripe. His desire for her was so twisted that eventually it leads him to castrate himself...talk about dramatic.
The depiction of Blacks in this extremely discomforting - even though Dodola was also sold into slavery as well, there were explicitly racist comments made by some characters; and when the author alludes to the story of Cham/Ham from the Old Testament/Qu'ran being the justification for the enslavement of African people, I wanted to throw the book. If you don't know, that argument was used to JUSTIFY the slave trade among other atrocities - as a descendant of those people, it was hard for me separate that from something that was coming from the characters or added to the story, OR if it was something that clearly would be taken out of context for most readers, perpetuating an ugliness that we've all worked long hard to rid ourselves of.
Lastly, I found that the time period that this was supposed to take place in wasn't clear - in the end when Zam and Dodola live in the skyscraper, that seemed like present day, however other elements made it seem like it was the past, such as the Dodola's husband being a "scribe" and the fact that she was kidnapped for a harem.
Anyway, I say all that to say, I still recommend that people pick up this book and decide for yourself!