Caricamento
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sintesi
Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life and his most precious secret are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.
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Recensioni
I was really surprised with how much I loved this book. I expected a bit more of a sweeping epic between the cover and the hype I came across on books and media blogs. It turned out to be a much smaller story but the characters are so fleshed out that it was still a full book. The mixed media of pictures and prose without being a standard illustrated book are very well done. They really flesh out tiny moments with a flicker of emotion or urgency. Don't pick this up expecting to get the latest YA opus but still pick it up. I read it in two short spurts over two days it was time very well spent.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret tended to catch my attention whenever I saw it on the shelf, but it wasn't until now that I actually picked it up to read. It's not often a tome of such size is published for younger readers. The book clocks in at well over five hundred pages, but nearly three hundred of those are original illustrations. So, it is much less daunting than it first appears--for the reader, at least. I can only imagine the amount of effort the author and illustrator, Brain Selznick, put into this "novel in words and pictures." The Invention of Hugo Cabret truly is an impressive achievement.Hugo Cabret is a young orphan living in a Paris train station in the early 1930s. He steals to survive--bottles of milk, warm croissants, even small mechanical toys from the toymaker's booth. Hugo lives in the walls of station, caring for all its clocks like his uncle showed him to and hiding from the station inspector. But when he is caught by the bitter toymaker, Hugo and the secrets he keeps are put in jeopardy. Using illustrations to help tell the story directly, Selznick has created a wonderful tale of mystery. It is historical fiction of the best kind and can be appreciated by younger and older readers alike.Oh, and what exactly the invention is is revealed at the end of the book; it certainly put a smile on my face. However, Hugo's devotion to secrecy can be a little frustrating at times. Although the story is a delight in its own right, what really impresses is the use, quantity, and quality of the artwork. Selznick uses real-life people as models for the inspiration of the look of his characters. This allows him to be unerringly consistent in their portrayal, even when their general appearance has substantially changed. The original illustrations are executed in pencil while black and white stills from early films and sketchbooks are also included when appropriate to the story. The interplay between the illustrations, images, and text is expertly executed--the prose describing what can't be seen and the art describing what can. Occasionally, the text to illustration ratio seemed a bit off, but for the most part the story flowed beautifully.The book is stunning and the illustrations are gorgeous. In some ways, it was like a silent film (complete with a dramatic chase sequence) only in book form. As any historical fiction should do, The Invention of Hugo Cabret whet my appetite for investigating the time period and subject matter further. Fortunately, Selznick has provided a good starting point with his "Acknowledgements" and "Credits" sections at the end of the book. The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a heartwarming story and the work well deserves the Caldecott Medal it has been awarded (among all the other awards it has collected). I'm not familiar with Selznick's other books, but if The Invention of Hugo Cabret serves as any sort of an example, he's definitely an author and illustrator to follow.Experiments in Reading
This book first slipped into my world a few years ago; I was browsing for my niece's birthday and found this amazing tome, more a portal than anything else. The premise left me spellbound and I spent at least 20 minutes leafing through it. Did I buy this for my niece as a zenith of avuncular largesse? I wish, is all I could manage. Recent years have indicated that my niece is truly creative, but she doesn't appear to have a literary bent. The rest of my family prowl in caves of Christian Fiction and Stephen Ambrose. Let's apuse for a timely sigh there.
Okay, a few years later, I saw the library had it in stock and I raced down, swept it up and hurried home. This is a fairly normal response, especially on Sundays when they offer limited hours. I devoured and savored each page and soon it was over. I thought about it again last fall, of course, when the film adaptation was released, I even thought of calling my sister to inquire if my niece would go with my wife and I.
Okay, a few years later, I saw the library had it in stock and I raced down, swept it up and hurried home. This is a fairly normal response, especially on Sundays when they offer limited hours. I devoured and savored each page and soon it was over. I thought about it again last fall, of course, when the film adaptation was released, I even thought of calling my sister to inquire if my niece would go with my wife and I.
Such a wonderful tale!
I thought they way the book was set up was amazing. Though the story wasn't as interesting as I had hoped. I must say Isabelle was a very annoying character I really wanted to like her but couldn't.
Hugo lives in the walls of a train station, winding the clocks so they keep the correct time for the passengers. His father had been a clock maker, and taught Hugo all he knew, so Hugo loves tinkering with gears. His father was working on a secret automaton when he died; Hugo takes over repairing the automaton, convinced it will give him a message from his father. This is my second Selznick book, but I liked The Marvels more. This is told in a similar way, using illustrations and prose, but the ending was a bit of a let-down. I do love how Selznick bases all of his books on something true, though. I think that is a great way to get younger readers into history and research.
Georges Méliès was a magician who became a legendary early French filmmaker, the first to use complex special effects to tell imaginative stories that did not reflect the real world. He then lost nearly everything, including his films and his automata, due to business and financial reverses and the development of film beyond where he had taken it. This is a fictional story of Méliès in his later years, and the young boy who helps to pull him out of his decline.
Hugo Cabret is the son of a clockmaker who runs his own shop, and also works at a local museum, repairing clocks, automata, and other machinery. In the attic of the museum he finds an amazing automaton, a man sitting at desk, holding a pen, poised to write. It's in terrible shape, but he shows it to Hugo, and starts work on repairing it during his spare time at the museum.
When the museum burns and his father dies, and Hugo becomes apprentice to his uncle who maintains the clocks at a Paris train station, the memory of the automaton haunts him. After his uncle disappears, and Hugo is struggling to maintain the clocks on his own, and survive while unable to cash his uncle's paychecks, he finds the automaton in the ruins of the museum, brings it back to his train station living quarters, and begins to work on it himself.
This leads to him meeting the old toymaker running the toy shop in the station, when the toymaker catches him stealing small wind-up toys to use the parts in his repairs.
That encounter is the beginning of a marvelous adventure that uncovers secrets buried for many years--the toymaker's past, what the automaton is poised to create with its pen, and the source of the marvelous images Hugo's father remembered from his boyhood movie-going, and reproduced in the precious notebook Hugo has kept. There's magic and grief and joy and friendship, here, and a whole lot of fun.
Recommended.
I borrowed this book from the library.
Hugo Cabret is the son of a clockmaker who runs his own shop, and also works at a local museum, repairing clocks, automata, and other machinery. In the attic of the museum he finds an amazing automaton, a man sitting at desk, holding a pen, poised to write. It's in terrible shape, but he shows it to Hugo, and starts work on repairing it during his spare time at the museum.
When the museum burns and his father dies, and Hugo becomes apprentice to his uncle who maintains the clocks at a Paris train station, the memory of the automaton haunts him. After his uncle disappears, and Hugo is struggling to maintain the clocks on his own, and survive while unable to cash his uncle's paychecks, he finds the automaton in the ruins of the museum, brings it back to his train station living quarters, and begins to work on it himself.
This leads to him meeting the old toymaker running the toy shop in the station, when the toymaker catches him stealing small wind-up toys to use the parts in his repairs.
That encounter is the beginning of a marvelous adventure that uncovers secrets buried for many years--the toymaker's past, what the automaton is poised to create with its pen, and the source of the marvelous images Hugo's father remembered from his boyhood movie-going, and reproduced in the precious notebook Hugo has kept. There's magic and grief and joy and friendship, here, and a whole lot of fun.
Recommended.
I borrowed this book from the library.
I cannot get over the gorgeous pencil illustrations!
Really excellent story set in the 1930s mostly in a Paris train station. It centers around a mysterious automaton which needs to be fixed to find out what it will write when it works. What are the secrets of the automaton and how are all the people in the book connected by it? Wonderful in the full-of-wonder sense.
This is a juvenile book. The story is good but you need to pick it up for the artwork, if nothing else. The pictures are AMAZING!!!!!
There isn't much in the way of story but it is one of the most beautifully illustrated kids books I have ever seen.
This book told in words and drawings brings to life the story of Georges Melies, a genius of automata.
It is a fast, delightful, & suspenseful read......
Hugo lives in a secret room above the train station keeping the clocks working and in good repair....he has taken over from his uncle who has mysteriously disappeared... Hugo's father died in a fire while working on an automaton in a local museum.
While going through the rubble of the fire, Hugo happens upon the automaton and secretly works to bing it back to working order.....
While secretly working on the automaton, Hugo becomes involved with: Georges Melies, toy store owner; Isabelle, Georges adopted god-daughter; Etienne, a student at the local film school; and other people.....
As the mystery unfolds the reader finds that the characters are all interconnected...
Soon to be made into a motion picture directed by Martin Scorsese.
It is a fast, delightful, & suspenseful read......
Hugo lives in a secret room above the train station keeping the clocks working and in good repair....he has taken over from his uncle who has mysteriously disappeared... Hugo's father died in a fire while working on an automaton in a local museum.
While going through the rubble of the fire, Hugo happens upon the automaton and secretly works to bing it back to working order.....
While secretly working on the automaton, Hugo becomes involved with: Georges Melies, toy store owner; Isabelle, Georges adopted god-daughter; Etienne, a student at the local film school; and other people.....
As the mystery unfolds the reader finds that the characters are all interconnected...
Soon to be made into a motion picture directed by Martin Scorsese.
This is another book that I sought out because of seeing the movie made of it: "Hugo." This book includes many detailed pencil drawings so is about half text, half pictures. The book was transported to the screen with few changes other than the addition of color. Loved the movie so, of course, found the book marvelous. Think you only need to do one tho.
A beautiful, gorgeous, lyrically book. This one is magical in both pictures and story. Selznick wove the multiple elements together to highlight early cinematography and automatons. Intriguing storyline enhanced by beautiful black and white drawings. This falls somewhere between a graphic novel and a regular novel. Very unique and highly recommended.
Fantastic!
Illustrations are beautiful.
sad but exciting!!!
Brilliant. Cinematic. Captivating.
Usually when you watch a movie adaptation of a book, it falls short. Less commonplace is a movie adaptation that makes a poor book better. Even less commonplace is a book and movie that are equally as good as each other, and that's what we have here. I saw the Scorsese movie first. It was full of whimsy, charm, a profound love for cinema, and refreshing humanity and innocence. The book is no different.
The format of the book is as charming and inventive as the automatons and films described in the book itself.
Hugo Cabret is an orphan boy living in a Paris train station and keeping the station's clock. It is the illustrations that make this book as special as it is. Brian Selznick weaves the pictures (over half the book is illustration) and words to tell the tale of an orphan boy with many secrets. Hugo, afraid of being put in an orphanage, continues the work his uncle did before he died. Hugo keeps all the clocks in a Paris train station on time and running smoothly. Hugo has another secret - the automaton. Before his father died, he had tried to fix the automaton that he found rotting in a museum. Now Hugo had it and was trying his best to fix it, with the help of the notebook his father left behind. Hugo needs parts to fix his machine, but with no money he steals them from the toy shop owner, Georges. When Hugo gets caught stealing, the connection between Georges and his Goddaughter Isabelle.Hugo is not the only one with secrets. When the secrets of Hugo and Georges unravel we find a connection that saves both of them. This is an adventure and a touching tale of how people can help each other survive. I highly recommend this beautifully written and illustrated book.
Compelling story that kept me reading. The illustrations match nicely with the tone of the book. The history of movie making and automatons is a plus.
Lexile: 820
Lexile: 820
This is a book that fully utilizes its bound-paper format. I don't even particularly like the illustrations, and even so- this is a beautiful book.
5starPAges 7-11Artistic Media: Pen and inkArtistic Style: RealismDefinitely radical change!A book that uses full-page illustrations as well as blocks of text innovatively about an orphan who takes care of the clocks in a train station and uncovers a mystery related to his father and a film maker. "But before you turn the page, I want you to picture yourself sitting in the darkness, like the beginning of a movie. On screen, the sun will soon rise, and you will find yourself zooming toward a train station in the middle of the city. You will rush through the doors into a crowded lobby. You will eventually spot a boy amid the crowd and he will start to move through the train station. Follow him, because he is Hugo Cabret. His head is full of secrets and he's waiting for his story to begin."
Incredible illustrations and story. I was captivated from beginning to end and would encourage students of all ages to read it. It seems like a book with a magical twist, but it's about the magic and unpredictability of real life. I also admired the great deal of research behind the creation of this fictional tale.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."
its a good book
This book is about a boy named Hugo Cabret who lives in Paris and fixes clocks in the train station. He steels from a store to get parts for his machine.
I love this book. The illustrations are beautiful!
The story of an orphan living in a train station in Paris in the 1930s and the relationships he forms with a family who works there. The relationships are initially antagonistic but as the characters learn more about each other they become closer and are able to help each other. Partially an ode to early film, much of the book is told through pages of beautiful black and white drawings that help readers envision the characters and settings.
Such a great book. I realized well into the book that it wasn't my first time reading it. Honestly I wouldn't mind reading it again 10 years from now. The illustrations are beautiful.