Play Book Tag discussion

The Invention of Hugo Cabret – Brian Selznick
5***** and a ❤

Hugo Cabret is an orphan who lives in the Paris Train Station, taking care of the clocks as his uncle trained him to do. His secret project, though, is finishing the invention his father was working on when he died. He steals parts from a toy shop – small gears and screws and springs. But when he’s caught, he gets embroiled in an even bigger mystery.

What a treasure! This inventive, unusual novel in words and pictures won the Caldecott medal for illustration. The reader really needs to spend some time pouring over these intricate drawings, for they forward the story. The text skips from section/chapter to section/chapter, with the intricate illustrations filling in the plot.

The book is intended for children, but will delight adults as well. The story of Hugo, Isabelle and Papa Georges is enthralling, and kept me guessing. But the drawings … oh, the drawings! They are rich and subtle and complex and detailed, showing incredible depth of field and use of light and shadow.

The latter sections of the book explore more of the early history of motion pictures, especially the contributions of Georges Méliès. This part of the book is probably more interesting to adults.

It's a hefty book - some 525 pages, and the paper is thick. But it's a very fast read. The first time I read it straight through in just a couple of hours. But on subsequent readings I took more time to pour over the illustrations, really studying the detail.

(NOTE: updated Nov 2024, after third reading)



LINK to my review

I listened to the story on audio, but I didn’t see the illustrations yet. The think I saw a small part of the film (it was rather dark and dreary, so maybe it was just the beginning). I liked the film history aspect and I’d love to see the pictures that go with it. It was nice overall, but I think the illustrations might help.