“The Invention of Hugo Cabret” by Brian Selznick – A Meeting of the Bizarre

Hugo is nothing but a small orphan living in a Paris train station, trying to retain his secrets, anonymity, and of course, his life. Though each day is marked by constant struggle, Hugo has an objective in mind: to bring back to working order a small automaton left to him by his death father. 

However, the machine is of incredible complexity, not to mention that it requires special parts to function. Hugo tries to overcome that challenge by stealing toys from a local store, but one day the owner, a mean old man, catches him red-handed, which ends up being the catalyst that sends them both on an adventure that gets increasingly curious and makes their paths cross with those of many other interesting people.

In the end, the book unravels into a grandiose mystery, at the centre of which is a small and never-before-seen robot, a hidden message, a small and overly-talented girl for her age. As you can tell, The Invention of Hugo of Cabret by Brian Selznick is more of a children’s book than anything else, but it certainly isn't meant for children only. 

Adults can find meaning in it as well if they look for it, a bit like with The Little Prince if you will. One aspect which truly adds in that regard are the countless illustrations used throughout the book to bring the story to life.

Contrary to what is the case with most other children’s books, the pictures aren't merely used to supplement the story, but rather to advance and straight up tell it. This reliance on the visual medium truly gives us something new and interesting to experience, even in a book with a story aimed primarily at children.

Though one would expect Selznick to create a jumbled mess from juggling all the different characters, events and storylines, but as it turns out, he is a master at controlling such things and makes each plot unravel at a steady pace. As the story advances, the plotlines slowly come to meet together, answering old questions and bringing to light new ones, until the very end where all is revealed.

In the end, The Invention of Hugo Cabret is hard to classify: it is more than a novel, a children’s story, and an illustration book. It is rather a combination of all three of them, and those who enjoy grandiose and fantastic adventure novels will definitely find something to like here.

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Brian Selznick Brian Selznick is an American author known for incorporating meaningful illustrations into his works, which mostly consist of children’s books. In 2008 he was awarded the 2008 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration in The Invention of Hugo Cabret.