Your desires are messy

It is not common to find a comic book from Cairo in the comics section. Shubeik Lubeik, by Deena Mohamed, tells the story of the aspirations and failings of Egyptian society in the form of a long fantasy tale.

Before telling you what this 500-page book is about, a technical clarification: it’s not just manga that disrupts the habits of old readers. Arab comics are also read from right to left. And Steinkis Editions have decided to respect the original meaning of reading of Shubeik Lubeiklong story by Deena Mohamed.

Make your wishes

“Shubeik Lubeik” is the ritual formula in Arabic folk tales when the genie comes out of his lamp. It can be translated as “Your wishes are my commands”. And that is what it is about since the author, Deena Mohamed, imagines an Egyptian society in which wishes, thus enclosed in bottles, would be freely sold. Do you want to pass your university entrance exam? Hop! One wish and it’s done. Do you want a state-of-the-art Mercedes? Open the bottle and ask!

Finally, it’s not as simple as that, because it’s the same with wishes as with everything else. There are some that don’t cost much… And then, don’t be surprised to receive a beautiful car, but a miniature car, just good for entertaining the children.

To have great wishes granted, you have to be rich. If chance or providence grants a first-class wish—the best ones—to a poor woman, she has every chance of being called a thief, having her property confiscated, and ending up in prison. Don’t play the rich when you’re penniless!

A fable about contemporary Egyptian society

Several fables, even. Initially, Shubeik Lubeik is a trilogy. The three volumes are gathered here in one, hence the significant pagination of the work.

Each story has its wish and its protagonist. Aziza, the depressed and courageous student. Old Nour, wise and generous, who left her Coptic village in the upper Nile Valley a long time ago to settle in Cairo. Finally, Shorky, an honest merchant and pious Muslim. All three tell us about an Egyptian society turned upside down by modernism and gangrened by corruption, but saved by a sense of duty and family. And where each and every one aspires to better days.

Between social painting and fantastic tale, Shubeik Lubeikby Deena Mohamed, published by Steinkis.