The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian SelznickA National Book Award Finalist
A very unique work of children's fiction. The book appears huge (533 pages) for children's lit. Once you open the book you realize nearly half of the book is dedicated to 284 pages of original drawing by the author. Also, many of the printed pages are not full pages so don't feel daunted.
The book is about an orphan, clock keeper turned theif out of necessity. Hugo (the child) lives in in Paris in the walls of a train station. He lost both of his parents and has been taken in by a drunken uncle. The uncle is the clock keeper for the train station. The uncle disappears one night, never to return. In an attempt to not be taken away and put in an orphanage Hugo begins tending the clocks so that the station inspector doesn't know that the uncle has gone missing. His father was a clock maker and between the uncle and father, Hugo is able to fix and keep the clocks running. Hugo's one passion is an automaton. A small man filled with tiny gears that is able to write or draw, once wound up. Hugo's father first found the automaton in the museum where he worked. The museum burned down, along with Mr. Cabret. Hugo recovered the automaton from the ashes of the museum. His only connection to his father and his previous life. His desperate attempt to fix the automaton and keep his father alive in memory leads Hugo on an amazing adventure.
A quote that I really liked from the book...."I like to imagine that the world is one big machine You know, machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and type of parts they need. So I figure if the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too." Hugo is and his friend are wondering what their place in the world could be.
I am not a huge adventure fan. The drawings were wonderful and I am glad they took up so much of the book because I just wasn't into it. My 8 year old on the other hand......loved the book. It is a good book and I don't want to disuade anyone from picking it up. It is a great family book and a great book for young readers with a lot of illistrations to keep their interest piqued. The book has won awards and received great reviews. I have to say that part of that may be because of the amazing amount of pictures for a novel. I'm not sure what it was that made me not love it.
I rate the book a 3.5
Also the book is G
1 comment:
Have you read "Water for Elephants?" If not, READ IT! (After the Harry Potter series, of course!) I really enjoyed it - in fact, it was one of my finish-at-2am-books, and those are rare these days!
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