At over 670 pages, Habibi took Craig Thomson over 6 years to illustrate and write.
This was one of the most difficult books I've read recently. The problem is that the story is so compelling that it drews me in and I wanted to keep moving forward, but the illustrations were so beautiful they were pulling me back to keep taking a closer look at them and get drawn into their intimate details and intricacy.
The story is set in a fictional land with juxtaposition of the monotheistic religions Islam, Judaism and Christianity. There is the modern and the ancient - Sultans guards wearing sunglasses and driving trucks as well as camels. The costumes travel the world with the protagonist Dodola wearing harem pants, saris, Spanish skirts, the Hijab at times and sometimes a burqa. Hijras(as they exist in India) also have a significant role to play with their Bahuchari Mata.
But at the essence of it, the story line seeks to elucidate how we create differences amongst ourselves based on religion, financial muscle, caste, creed, colour, land of origin. Its also about the struggle for resources and in this way can also be construed as an "end of days" tale.
There are so many layers, so many meanings and lessons that one can learn from this or one can just sit back and admire the beautiful calligraphy and art work.
I can't say enough about this book and what I write, can never be enough. So I've just added a few of the pictures of pages from this book that I found in the public domain. (via google image search)
Rating : 5 / 5
I keep going back and opening the book on a random page just to enjoy the art
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