Click on the "comment" button below to leave your blog post. I suggest you type your response first in a word document, and then copy and paste it into the comment box. Your blog post should be at least 500 words of original prose (do not duplicate anything other bloggers have already said here) in which you engage with the text for the week critically AND pose an original discussion question. Be sure to write your full name and word count at the bottom of your post. The cut-off time for this blog post is Monday, April 7 at midnight.Discussion Leaders: Alyssa, Amanda L., Amanda W., Shaina, Andrea
"The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick is a great combination of text and image. However, I saw them as two entirely different entities. Both offer something different to the overall story. The parts of the story that contain text are useful during conversations between characters or if an image requires a bit more explanation or emotion. An example of this is on page 130, after Hugo discovers the remains of the mechanical man. It acted as a reminder to Hugo, and connected him to his father. The reader would have trouble coming to this conclusion without the explanation from the text. The text offers a nice balance between the reader’s imagination and the author’s (or Professor Alcofrisbas’) intent. The images on the other hand adds emphasis to the text and overall story. A good example of this is the image of the mechanical man and the drawing that is created by him. An explanation of it would not be sufficient. The drawing becomes more meaningful to the reader because they are able to see it. Both styles complement each other in a very useful way.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting aspect of the story is the inclusion of non-fiction parts. The most prominent being Georges Milies character and the multiple references to “A Trip to the Moon.” The story has a deep appreciation for specific inventions, hence the title of the book. Young readers would have the opportunity to learn about the impact that certain inventions have had on the world today. By using intertextuality in this way, it makes the story seem more realistic. The incorporation of actual photos adds to this idea. For example, the spread on pages 352 and 353 is a still shot from the movie, “A Trip to the Moon.” Readers would be able to recall the drawing that the mechanical man drew in Part 1 and compare it to the still in Part 2. The movie has come to life before Hugo’s eyes, and the reader is able to experience it along with him. I think by using these real life references, the story’s magical essence becomes more realistic to the reader.
Finally, I enjoyed the on-going curiosity presented in the story. The introduction by Professor Alcofrisbas mentions a mysterious drawing, which causes the reader to wonder what it could be. The notebook, mechanical man, and Georges Milies are all introduced to the reader, but not completely. As you continue to read, more clues are given and the people or objects become more meaningful to the story. Mystery in a children’s book helps promote imagination and critical thinking that helps with drawing conclusions. Imagination is a popular theme in "Hugo," and I think the inclusion of all the images helps promote this idea. It’s interesting that the paratext of "Hugo" is referenced in the story itself. Hugo’s automaton appears to be real and was capable of producing the book that is in your hands. The book itself becomes important to the story, and makes it almost impossible for the story to be read in another form, like on a Kindle or computer. Also, the introduction is written by Professor Alcofrisbas, whose true identity is revealed in the last chapter. Hugo is no longer just a character, but now the story’s narrator. There is a strong relationship between the reader and narrator, and I think "Hugo" does a good job of displaying this relationship. Magical realism, intertextuality, the importance of paratext, and non-traditional narration, work together to fit "Hugo" into postmodern literature.
Amanda Lentz
Word Count: 586
Discussion Questions:
1. What is the importance of balancing text and image in the story?
2. What does the presence of non-fiction characters/events add to the story?
3. Would the story have the same affect on the reader if it were read on a Kindle or computer?
4. In what ways does "Hugo" fit into postmodern literature?
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick is a unique blend of the graphic novel and a typical novel all in one. This is the second time I’ve read this book. Originally, I was intrigued by the movie trailers I had seen, as they appeared mysterious and magical. I was not disappointed by the magical element delivered by the combination of drawn and real images, and reality and fiction. By blurring the lines between fact and fiction, Selznick makes the experience that much more fantastical.
ReplyDeleteDue to the heavy emphasis on film in this book, it is no surprise to see that it was turned into a movie. Selznick has received much acclaim from his brilliant novel, including the movie and The Caldecott Medal. With so much attention drawn to this book, it is not surprising that there are those wanting to make money off of it, hence the movie. However, what Selznick does with this fame he has received for the novel is what is surprising. While the American Girl books, along with several of the other books we’ve read this semester (Ivy & Bean, The Lorax, etc.), lead you to websites that encourage you to purchase more things centered around that particular book, Selznick’s site leads to educational resources about Georges Méliès and links to other authors books on several topics mentioned in the book, such as the automatons and the early film industry. It is as though Selznick is sincerely interested in sparking an interest in history in his young readers and encouraging that education through various sources, unlike the front of education put on by the American Girls. Though the other books we have read in class do not have as heavy of an emphasis on consumerism as the American Girls series, neither do they have the seemingly sincere wish for you to go on and learn more.
Of course, reading The Arrival affects the way that one might read The Invention of Hugo Cabret and leaves room for constant comparison. Unlike The Arrival, Seznik’s book does use words. However, there are long stretches of pages that are just images, and the passages of text are usually short and broken down into different lengths. The images in Hugo seem to serve the function of portraying things that are best understood through images. Chase scenes, memories, dreams, and meaningful looks between characters are all shown in the illustrations. The images also give the reader insight to important pieces of the story, such as the automaton and the painting of Prometheus on the ceiling of the film institute. Though the various passages of images are easy to interpret, I feel it would be difficult to comprehend the entire story if it was done the same as The Arrival. Though The Arrival tackles tough topics, the storyline in Hugo is much more complex. It may be possible to achieve the same story through images, however it would take a lot more drawings than perhaps were used in The Arrival.
Discussion Questions:
Do you think this story could function simply with images? What might the removal of text change in the story?
What do you think is the significance of the images of the moon framing the story?
Word Count: 547
Check out his website!
http://theinventionofhugocabret.com/intro_flash.htm
Hugo Cabret was such an interesting, imaginative story! At first I found the size of the book to be pretty daunting, and even with the huge amount of images there is still a lot of text to go through. Even with that, thought, I am glad I managed to take the time to read this for the first time, because I really loved it.
ReplyDeleteThe Invention of Hugo Cabret has a pretty unique format. We’ve read Tan’s The Arrival, a book similar to this one with mostly black and white pencil sketches, and we’ve read picture books like Where The Wild Things Are, where pages of nothing but illustration tell the story. But this is the first encounter with a book of this length that requires pages on pages of pictures to help tell the story.
The illustrations are beautifully done. The style is realistic, and you can tell characters apart by their features and facial expressions. None of it is lost with the greyscale. And the book also incorporates lots of real, black and white photos, which is an interesting approach. It’s pretty unique in its way of mixing different medias, the text, the pencil drawings, and the real photos, in order to tell a narrative. And they all blend together well.
It honestly hits home the fact that this story, though fictional, is based on something real, and for all intents and purposes could have very well happened. The history about Georges isn’t introduced until the end of the book, where there is a little list of facts and even an included link to learn about automatons! While reading, I wasn’t sure if this was something I should believe in or not, so finding about that there’s history behind this was a pleasant surprise. (By the way, if you haven’t checked out the link at the end of the book yet, you totally should! It’s pretty cool.)
As for the narrative itself, there’s a lot of realism, I believe. At times Hugo would do things that I, as a reader, found frustrating. But considering he’s only twelve years old, it makes sense that he would keep secrets (even when he doesn’t need to) and fight authority and run away. This realism also shows up in Isabelle, too, who I found to be a really enjoyable character. We’ve been reading books featuring mostly male protagonists, and as of late the other female characters I can compare Isabelle to are Addy, Ivy, and Bean. And I’m pleased to see that Isabelle is handled much differently. She has Ivy and Bean’s spunk, where she doesn’t obey her godparents, and does things she’s definitely not supposed to be doing. But she also deals with more serious situations, like the death of her birth parents, or the fight (which she totally won!) against Hugo after he stole from her.
Discussion questions:
Do you see the “hidden adult” in this narrative? Or is it too well hidden due to Hugo and Isabelle’s disregard for authority? How would you compare Isabelle as a character to other girl characters we’ve read so far?
Shaina King
Word count: 536
Unlike most of the texts we read in class, I decided to only read The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick because it is 500+ pages. This seems a bit much for a typical young reader, but most of it was pictures. For some reason this is the book that I was the most interested in studying. This came only after I had started to receive my books from amazon, and I got to actually see it. This book is a brick compared to every other one we have read in class. I had very little knowledge about this book prior to class, I knew there was a movie called Hugo but I had never seen it. Needless to say I was excited for the end of class to be able to read this.
ReplyDeleteThis books starts out with an Intro by Professor H. Alcofrisbas. For some reason this intro reminded me of the warning sign at the beginning of fight club. They have totally different meanings, but at the same time they pretty much tell you the same thing. That is to buckle up and enjoy. Books that start with this sort of intro are generally much more appealing to me because they get me hooked right away.
This book is very different then any book I have read; it is a chapter book with words, and is also a graphic novel. I don't know if there is a technical term for this hybrid of a book, but if not there should. Perhaps the most enjoyable part about the book other than the story itself is that it was easy to get almost half of the story from the text, and half of the story from the pictures. I never knew anything like this could exist, and function together to tell a coherent story. It reminded me of a silent film, and how there was video (pictures) and then they would stop to a couple frames of text, and then back to the movies.
Perhaps my favorite part of the story were the pages 284 – 297. I really enjoy the difference of the illustration quality. It starts with a picture that is a sketch of some sort of bird or demon. In the middle there is a picture that reminds me of the renaissance, or some sort of medieval art. After that there is a fairly detailed picture of what appears to be hell (the picture reminded me of Dantes Inferno). Something I noticed about the graphic novels we have read in class is that there really have not been any that have been in color. Perhaps it is a common thing with graphic novels.
This book is a book that cannot be categorized in to any genre specifically. It is a story being told in a medium that spans across more than just a book. It is a graphic novel, a chapter book, and is certainly reminiscent of silent film. Perhaps the best quality of this book, is that it has something for everyone.
Derek Bush
Word Count: 524
Discussion Questions:
This book can be characterized into many categories because it is both a graphic novel, and normal chapter book. Could this story be told with the same effectiveness without the pictures? The text?
Would the story be the same if Hugo were a girl?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe Invention of Hugo Cabret by: Brian Selznick
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of the invention of Hugo Cabret before this class. I slightly remember hearing some good things about the movie, but nothing about its plot. I was immediately drawn in by the first page where it sets the first scene. I didn’t expect the book to be so good! I think the style of the book was brilliant. I liked that there were really awesome pictures to accompany the equally awesome storyline. The book starts out following Hugo throughout his daily routine of fixing the clocks.
Because Hugo is an orphan the book immediately causes me to feel for his tragic situation. His father died from curiosity and his uncle died from drinking too much. He spies on the Toy shop through one of the clocks he fixes so that no one notices his uncle is dead. Hugo steals to survive and is caught stealing a toy from George Melies. This gets the story going because hugo empties the contents of his pockets which are intruiging by themselves. He has his tools for fixing the clocks, and the little book that his father had made to help put the robot together. I think it is also interesting to note that the story comes full circle. Rarely is something mentioned in the book for no reason. After getting his book taken away from him, Hugo befriends Isabella, George’s granddaughter. Isabella and Hugo form a relationship of curiosity.
Hugo is compelled to repair the robot his father died investigating and Isabella is curious about Hugo and how she fits into all of this. I think it is really cool how the book compares people to machines. Hugo’s brain is compared to gears shifting and turning which paints an image of deep calculated thoughts. I think that this book does a great job of keeping the readers attention too. This is a 500 page book, while reading it is nice to have a break to examine the pictures and see all of the interesting things that are talked about in the text. Hugo ends up becoming good frineds with Isabella and is eventually saved by them. He becomes himself because they are so good to him. I really liked that Hugo’s dad and Isabella’s parents had so much in common. They both were fascinated by motion pictures. The scene when Hugo goes back to his apartment to get the robot and bring it back to George’s house is by far my favorite scene. Hugo is in his apartment getting the robot which is cumbersome for his 12 year old body.
He is attempting to get the door open when he hears a knock. He thinks it’s isabell so he doesn’t panic and before he knows what is happening the inspector of police is grabbing his poor broken hand/arm. After pointing out his hand is injured the police officer decides he should change arms and loosens his grip on Hugo allowing him to escape. The text leaves us hanging which causes the reader to rapidly flip through the pages to see if Hugo got away. Well done, Brian Selznick, well done.
Discussion Questions: Do you think this book teaches good morals? What are they? What did you think of the ending? Did it end the way you expected/wanted it to? Who were your favorite characters and why?
word count: 530
My particular copy of Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret has a very interesting paratext, which I noticed right off the bat. The cover is black with silver trimming running around the sides, but there is no title. This brings the reader into the book viewing it as a blank slate; a perfect way to start a new story. The colored paper on the inside is red, which reminds me of a red carpet, bringing to mind the film and how perhaps the novel was already playing into the hands of screenwriters. This idea is reinforced on the introduction page where it says, “I want you to picture yourself sitting in the darkness, like the beginning of a movie.”
ReplyDeleteI have seen the movie and absolutely loved the story line along with it's cinematic quality, so I jumped eagerly into the book. We meet Hugo through a set of drawings and see him sneak through the train station to hide behind the face of a clock. On page 46 we get our first textual narration. I like how this book works. The combination of pictures and text create a visually stimulating narrative that compels the reader to be imaginative; they have to use the pictures most of the time to figure out what is happening in the story and the textual narration will either confirm or correct their views.
I like the lack of color throughout the book. It gives it a classic feel and seems to set the story in an earlier time period. It also makes the reader use their imagination more; they don't have an colors to tell them what things look like, so they have to create the color and livelihood of the scenes themselves. I also noticed that all the illustrations cover two pages; there aren't any that appear on only one, so if there is text prior to a picture the text is arranged so that it is (for the most part) evenly distributed over a two page spread. This creates a uniformity in the book and a sense of order, despite the fact that we constantly jump between picture and text.
One thing I did not like at the start of the story was how the fire that burned down the museum and killed Hugo's dad was “unexplainable.” To me, as a creative writing major, this just seemed like an easy way out. I feel like Selznick should have thought of something a little more clever and impactiful than an unexplainable fire. I get that this adds chaos and confusion to Hugo's life, but it still felt like an easy way out to me.
Questions:
1.What if the automaton had had a message to Hugo from his dad instead of a picture? How would the story have changed?
2.Would you classify this book as a novel or a picture book, given that it is a mix of text and picture?
3.What's your take on the unexplainable events at the beginning of the novel (the fire and his uncles disappearance)?
Word Count: 511
Amanda Willoughby
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
ReplyDeleteThis novel is so intriguing, from the text to images, it leaves the reader completely enthralled and yearning for more—more clues, more insights. My only experience with this story I that I’ve seen bits and pieces of the movie, but not enough to ruin the story or spoil the ending. Reading this text is fun and easy. Because of the layout of text and images, it appears that within the 500-some pages, there isn’t much to read. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Within the text, what is written and what is being implied by the paratext, the reader is able to deduce much about the story and plot without having to wade through endless sentences and paragraphs of information. What is told through written text is said plainly, then emphasized and specified through the use of images and possibly by utilizing the paratext—especially gutter space.
It’s pretty amazing to me that Selznick is able to capture such a sense of wonder and amazement throughout the novel, using only black and white images. Most books that create this sense of excitement—think Dr. Seuss—feature bold colors and wild images, many of which only exist within ones imagination. However, the images in Hugo are extremely intricate and delicate, providing the reader with much detail and insight to what each part of the novel must’ve have looked like through Hugo’s eyes.
It’s interesting, too, to compare this type of writing and display to books on either side of the spectrum. On the one side, picture books provide vivid imagery for the reader to follow along with, providing a visual to correspond with the written text. This tends to give the reader a more narrow sense of interpretation when digesting the text, as the image is already there. One the other side, most novels for young readers have few or no images provided, other than maybe on the cover. This allows the reader to create authentic and very differing scenes within his/her own imagination, thus, leaving much room for visual interpretation of the text. Each reader’s experience will be different, in that she is imaging something very different than the next reader. Selznick somehow manages to combine these two types of writing in a way that provides the reader with enough detail to “see” the story. This is made possible almost equally through text and image, as 284 pages of original drawings are included. He brings the story of Hugo to life.
Discussion Questions
1. How do the images that Selznick includes affect the reader’s experience?
2. What do you think of the controversial topics brought to light in this text? (i.e. tragic death of a parent, alcoholism, lying, stealing, disobedient children)
3. If there is one, what do you think is the main underlying message(s) of this book?
4. What do you think were Selznick’s intentions when deciding on the amount of room left for gutter spacing? How would the reading experience have differed if he had used up entire pages rather than a 1/3 of a page in the center?
Andrea Fitzpatrick
Word Count: 527