Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Ultimate Page Turner, 5 Jun 2007
Fans of thrilling books are fond of calling them "page turners." Why? Because you can hardly wait to see what happens next. Those are the books that keep you up late at night to get to the end.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret delivers a whole new kind of pager turner, one where you not only want to see what happens next . . . but where the act of turning the page often gives you powerful glimpses into the story. How? Hand-drawn images tell a story in motion using many motion picture techniques (close-ups, fades, and pans). A sequence of images might go on for 40 pages (as the opening sequence does) before providing any dialogue. Unlike a graphic novel, there is no dialog or narration on the images. Since you don't know if the next turn of a page will reveal an image or text, you also have that extra dimension of surprise. The other difference from the traditional page turner is that this book won't take you that long to read. It's more like the duration of a motion picture than of reading a 525 page novel. So don't let the book's bulk intimidate you.
The story takes place in the early days of the Depression in Paris. Hugo Cabret is a 12-year-old boy who loses his parents and is taken in by his uncle, a timekeeper in a railway station. The uncle makes Hugo do all of the work, but won't even feed Hugo who has to turn to stealing in order to eat. When the uncle disappears, Hugo is left to fend for himself. But Hugo has a dream. He will repair an automaton (an early type of robot) that he rescued from a museum fire. Part of his thievery is aimed at taking parts from a tiny toy store in the station to help rebuild the automaton. One day Hugo is caught! That capture sets new wheels in motion that will change the lives of the key characters permanently.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret evolves like an unfolding mystery. Be cautious that you don't read reviews that reveal too many details. It would be very easy to spoil this story for you!
Although the publisher's indication is that this book will appeal to 9-12 year olds, I also think that younger children would enjoy having this book read to them, especially those who show a fondness for mechanical things. But most adults will find the book to be at least as interesting as the 9-12 year olds will. That's true both because the story is compelling and because of the novel story-telling methods.
The illustrations deserve special comment. These were produced after a lot of care to reflect the scenes of the time. I could recognize the sources of many images from various sources: photographs, paintings, museums, train stations, and motion pictures. Those images echoed in my memory to give the book an extra sense of authenticity, reality, and relevance. The drawings themselves continually reminded me of Seurat's early work while also capturing many of the better aspects of early comic book art.
The experience of reading the story is much like following a labyrinth in a haunted castle: It's always unclear where we are headed, but the trip itself seems quite rewarding. The black-and-white images nicely capture the mood of the characters and of the times as many noir films did in using lots of light and shadow. In fact, the images here could be story boards for a motion picture.
Be prepared for the magic!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
LIFE AFTER HARRY POTTER, 14 Dec 2007
When I first discovered this book I wasn't that impressed, I can remember my dad showing it to me at the book shop, I had a quick look inside and saw some pictures in black and white and thought, 'NAH!! THIS IS NOT MY KIND OF BOOK!! and walked away.
However my dad went ahead and purchased it for me. I reluctantly picked up the book and to started to read the first chapter and to my amazement I found it to be extremely interesting. This story is well written and the illustrations complimented the story telling process. I was genuinely surprised that I read a book that was about CLOCKS!!! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and for me it is right up there with the Harry Potters series.
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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bold, striking and moving, A fast-moving visual feast packed with mystery and intrigue., 4 Nov 2007
I'd seen a bit of hype about The Invention of Hugo Cabaret which is why I ordered a copy, and it is often hard for new titles to live up to their ambitious Press coverage. However, almost from the moment I turned the first page I was completely hooked.
There's a great opening sequence, entirely visual and cinematic in feel which left me wanting to know what Hugo is doing and why?
Set in the harsh world of the 1930s, Hugo is an orphan with a makeshift existence in a Parisian station. It's a busy and hard environment. People look after their own, but there is a little kindness from Etienne who works at the cinema and a developing friendship with Isabelle, the girl who lives with the man at the station's toy stall.
Told in two parts, at the end of the first part Hugo has worked to achieve what he initially wanted to, but how will it help him? Hugo almost began to trust Isabelle but now the mystery increases. What is it that links Isabelle and the Toy maker with Hugo's own past? Left with only a mysterious drawing, can he work out why this is important to the fabric of both his life and Isabelle's? Together, with Etienne's help, they slowly unravel the past to change their futures for ever.
The gripping tale is faced paced with a neat dexterity and it is brilliantly calibrated. Long sequences of vivid charcoal drawings are intertwined with well written narrative in an unusual format and ratio. The story is told pictorially for much of the book, realistic double-page drawings moving smoothly on from one to the next. After an almost clock-work rhythm to the charcoal sequences and text sections, there's a surprise, about a third the way in: a old photo (the first of several), taken from a 1923 film. It's almost like a trick or illusion within the storytelling.
In addition to Selznick's exciting and radically different cinematic approach, there's an old fashioned magic to the whole book, an underlying air of mystery and edgy intrigue enhanced by the black-edged pages.
There's also plenty of interest in this book beyond the narrative itself and I am left intrigued by the different elements that played a part in the story: early magicians and their use of automatons; the use of illusions in early film; the introduction of cinema into popular culture and what it meant for people in the early-mid twentieth century; and how cinema can take you beyond reality turning each and every one of us into explorers to far flung places and time travelers to the past and imagined futures.
There's yet more food for thought to with several allusions to Prometheus, a titan from Greek mythology who stole fire from the gods and gave it to mortals for their use. Was Prometheus a benefactor or was he causing blind hopes to live in the hearts of men? And does the development of early cinema reflect this hope and anguish? However, "Prometheus was rescued in the end. His chains were broken and he was finally set free." And certainly, at the end of this story both Hugo and the toymaker reemerged triumphant.
A triumphant tale and a wonderful book.
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