— Book Report

October 2011 Reads: Habibi & Ramayana.

I don’t know if it’s laziness or just me being busy and productive (I’m hoping it’s the latter), but I haven’t really read much this year. For October, I seemingly gravitated to thick, illustrated volumes, namely Sanjay Patel’s “Ramayana: Divine Loophole” and Craig Thompson’s new release, “Habibi.”

I liked Sanjay Patel’s rendition of “Ramayana.” After reading the notes, it was astonishing to me that the entire endeavor took about five or so years! The Ramayana translation he got ahold of was over 3,000 pages long and took about a year to read. On top of condensing the text, he also laid out his book, as well as the illustrations. Then, he’s off to do line work and sketches on paper, and then rendering on the computer.

All in all, it was a pretty satisfying read. I had never really attempted to read “Ramayana” in my life before, so the story was new to me. The tone fit the aesthetic of the book, which was fun and fresh. Granted, it probably didn’t go as deep into the story, but I’d like to believe that it told enough of it for me to get most of the Ramayana.

For those who are, like me, unfamiliar with the story, the Ramayana tells of the story of Rama, the seventh avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. Ravana, a rakshasa, received a boon from Brahma after a ten-thousand year penance—a boon that would allow him to not be defeated by any god, demon or spirit. Vishnu incarnates as Rama—thus creating the “divine loophole.” That’s the gist-iest I can get, as like any good epic, a lot of stuff happens in the Ramayana.

The illustrations were also really cute. I felt like the story underwent a makeover that made it more approachable and viewer-friendly. I would never have touched a 3,000-page manuscript—at least, not anytime soon—so it was a great addition to the books that I have.

I don’t know if you can see very well, but I love his use of color and shapes. The character design was also spectacular.

At the end, he posted a sort of field guide to knowing the different characters a little bit better. And: sketches.

It’s nice to see Sanjay Patel’s process, or at least, part of it. As you can see (left page), he sketches little spreads and lays out a part of the story and its accompanying illustration on them. I used to do this (but small-scale) when I was a layout editor for a school publication. I can imagine how long it was for him to do this. On the left page, is a rough sketch that he scans and renders on the computer.

It astounds me when I think about how long it took for him to put this together. I’m not exactly the most patient when it comes to doing things and making stuff. I like the process—but only if it doesn’t take too long. But, I’d been thinking about taking time off of a bunch of client work to concentrate on major projects. I don’t really know, we’ll see.

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¹ Understandably so, as “Blankets” concerned his own coming-of-age. “Habibi” deals with a lot of arcs, themes, and a whole host of characters.

Craig Thompson’s “Habibi” is my second Craig Thompson purchase, the first one being “Blankets,” which I consider to be one of my favorite books. Comparing the two, “Habibi” is obviously more ambitious, telling of a more complex story than “Blankets.”¹

It tells of a young girl, who was held captive as a slave, somehow meeting a young African boy, whom she ends up mothering. The story is mostly the progression of their relationship, which occurs in very unusual circumstances and environments. “Habibi” is told in non-linear fragments, which you piece together little by little, eventually creating the whole story and narrative.

It’s a hefty volume, but I ended up finishing it in one sitting, because it’s a truly beautiful and compelling story. Thematically, I think maybe it loses its footing a little bit towards the end. Thompson begins with juxtaposing Islamic texts with Christian texts and showing an organic development and relationship between the two. As I am less familiar with the Qur’an, it was interesting to see how it offers a different perspective to the Judeo-Christian versions I grew up with.

For instance, there was a story about Abraham, his son Isaac, and his other son (born to Sarah’s maidservant, Hagar), Ishmael. When God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac was tricked into it in the Christian texts, but the Qur’an tells of Ishmael going along willingly. I find these things so very interesting. Unfortunately, they don’t extend to the latter parts of this work.

Beautiful writing. Is this Arabic? I feel like it is, but I’m dumb and not very sure.

The story wavers for me a little when they move into the new world. I feel like Thompson ended up having way too much to say. We are introduced to too many environments and situations didn’t seem to be very connected to what he began with.

Still, it was a satisfying effort from one of my favorite authors. I want to say that I preferred “Blankets” because it was much more emotional, but “Habibi” had a lot of emotion in it as well. I think that the themes and issues taken over by Thompson in “Blankets” just hit it closer to home. He had a lot of Christian guilt, which I seem to struggle with as well. “Blankets” also concentrated more on the coming-of-age, than crafting an entire, dare I say epic, tale.

If anything, purchase “Habibi” because it’s a truly beautiful book that dealt with personally unfamiliar territory. I’m glad I bought it, and I’m glad Thompson penned it.

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I’ve been way cranky lately. I think it might partly be because I haven’t really had the time to just sit down and enjoy a book. I could be wrong—and things could just be shitty—but I think I could use a quiet afternoon with a good book.