Hugo

Yesterday, I read The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and today, I went and watched Hugo in the cinema. Both experiences were wonderfully captivating and magical, and I wanted to share this magic with you.

The story is of an orphan boy who tends the clocks in a railway station in Paris in the 1930s. He loves mechanical things, and by the end of either the book or the film, you probably will too.

Clocks!

The book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, is a story told in both pictures and text. It really captures the imagination, and doesn't take a long time to read, despite being over 500 pages long. The pictures, or illustrations, or drawings - whatever you call them - are wonderfully made, sometimes with exquisite detail, and sometimes with lots of tension. But no matter what emotion or feeling they convey, they do so beautifully, full of life. The combination of pictures and text is magical. The two ways the story is told complement each other, and work together to create a wonderful atmosphere of childlike wonder. The emotions are so well conveyed in the pictures, I felt as if I was Hugo Cabret, experiencing all this for the first time.

The film, Hugo, captures the mood and feeling of the book very well. Of course, things are added and things are taken away, but aren't they always in the process of making a good film from a book? In my opinion, the core of the book was captured very well. The atmosphere is just right, the magic comes to life, and I am left with the same childlike wonder. The score is beautiful, and it all just comes together.

I would highly recommend both the book and the film, for children of any age, be it nine or ninety (maybe not under nine, though). It is a wonderful journey into a magical land of clocks, robots, and early film. I think you should embark on this journey, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.