Critique: The Invention of Hugo Cabret: Brian Selznick

Critique:

Although the majority of Hugo Cabret’s storyline is shown through its illustrations, Brian Selznick’s character developments are beautifully scripted. Each character is revealed through snapshots of their lives, whether through glances into their thoughts or into their eyes. Hugo struggles with hardship from the very beginning, wondering how is going to survive on his own. He struggles with morality and survival, having to steal food and milk just to live. He steals toy parts from Papa Melies’ stand, but panics if he does not keep the clocks running in the train station. Although this is mostly so the inspector won’t find out his uncle is dead, Hugo also has a sense of responsibility to the clocks; as if he associates his clever mind ticking in conjunction with the clocks he surrounds himself with.

Papa Georges goes from a seemingly bitter old man to a man filled with secrets of his own, and his character is also very well developed. We know he is hiding something, but it doesn’t come together until Hugo and Isabelle get into quite a bit of mischief. Realizing how passionate Papa Georges was about filmmaking and how putting it all behind him affected his life is such a powerful way of addressing success, age, and life’s challenges, and Selznick does a great job of showing us not only the joys of love, but also the pains.

There is a sense of wonder throughout the book, especially with the setting. We do not see much beyond the train station, but we are taken into the secrets it holds as we venture through the walls with Hugo. We see what he sees from behind the clock faces, which is even more intriguing once we realize that Isabelle has also been watching Hugo without him knowing. Both children have strong personalities and an equally fascinated desire to figure out mysteries and secrets. Although they are used to figuring things out individually, they realize they need each other to piece everything together about the automaton and Papa Georges’ true identity.

When I was younger my father showed me Georges Melies’ film A Trip to the Moon. I loved the Smashing Pumpkins and their video for “Tonight, Tonight,” which was based off the film, and I was interested to see it. To have Papa Georges actually be Georges Melies was such a wonderful surprise, and a very creative one. I had never heard of automata before, and reading up on it through a Web site Brian Selznick put together was quite fascinating.

The drawings in this book were captivating. The seemingly simple pencil strokes turn into beautiful pieces of art; some of my favorite pieces are the ones strung together that become more and more focused on a certain element (such as Hugo’s eyes). Framing the book using black paper was such a small detail and yet made me feel as if I was truly experiencing the book and not just reading it. The black and white images complemented each other so well, almost coming together like a small flip book of motion at times. The emotion of the characters is well written, but better described through the detail in their faces. And I absolutely loved how Selznick broke up his own images with photographs and film stills from Georges Melies’ real life. This book is so well crafted, each detail thought of with extreme intention. The suspense of figuring out how each character contributed to the plot, and more specifically, the automaton, is framed so simply with the drawings, and yet they are my favorite part of this book. Selznick truly brings the characters to life, and although the drawings stand on the page, they feel as if they dance.