The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (Reviewed by Brian)

If you lose your purpose ... it's like you're broken.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret which entertained me with its unique use of illustration, often in the form of stop-motion, follows the story of Hugo Cabret, a boy who lived in Paris in the the 1930s. To fix his inheritance from his father, he steals toys from a toyshop of Georges Méliès, who has a mysterious past. Hugo's inheritance, a man-shaped automaton, is the reason he exists and he believes it will lead him to something good.

The author, Brian Selznick, is a well-known illustrator and this third book, the Invention of Hugo Cabret, made him a recognised writer. Despite receiving many awards for illustrating books by other authors, this was the only novel to received awards and win the deserved 'best book of the year' section of a number of magazines.

I loved the book and believe it is a rare book that 'everyone' will enjoy reading. Its rich description of Paris in 1930s and the fact that it is about Georges Méliès' real troubled life makes it very interesting. Georges Méliès was a magician and the first producer to use fantasy or un-real themes in a movie. "A Trip to the Moon" is his best known work. When World War One struck, his company went bankrupt and he became a toy maker who also sold toys, but never recovered from bankruptcy. Later in the book, Hugo fixes his father's automaton, which draws a scene from "A Trip to the Moon" where the rocket hits the eye of the Moon. Through this, Hugo finds out about Georges Méliès' past as a visionary movie maker and why he hates his family watching movies.

There are more things to love about the book, like the unique use of stop motion illustrations. which make you feel like you are watching a movie as you flip through the pages. A good example would be the opening scene of the book. The camera or view zooms from the moon, down to a train station in Paris in the 1930s. The shot moves through the crowd and ends up on Hugo. For most readers, this is a novel way of presenting visual information. The dark frame of the book adds more theatre-like atmosphere and the beautiful pencil-drawn illustrations got me so involved in the story that I could not put it down until I had finished.

The invention of Hugo Cabret is a truely unique book. The stunning drawings just suck you into the book, and the topic, the life of Georges Méliès, are fascinating. Brian Selznick's amazing storytelling and stop-motions are less surprising when we find that his ancestor, David O. Selznick, was the producer of "Gone with the Wind". Hugo Cabret is definitely worth 9/10 and is a must read for all ages.