Meaghan,
I am about 12 chapters into this book and I am drawn to the illustrations. I love how the author, Brian Selznick wanted to give you the feeling of watching a movie. This was evident with the first few pictures of the moon rising over the city. It was like an introduction to a movie where the camera slowly lets the viewer get a clearer picture of the setting. The smooth straight pencil sketches at times make the picture have a 3-D aspect to it and some of the objects pop out at you. I also think the extreme close ups ad to the intensity of the moment in the story and again, mirror what one would observe watching a movie.
At this point in the story, the natural and physical laws of our world have not yet been compromised by magical creatures or places. My prediction is that the mechanical man will be the key to the magical element of the story. I kind of feel that the train station is a magical place in itself. The way the author describes the goings on as a reader, I get the impression that it seems like a world of its own; although it is in reality a train station in Paris.
The characters are believable and the events in their lives explore issues of human condition. How horrible for Hugo to lose his father at such a young age and then to have his only living family member basically disappear on him? I think it is amazing that he has the stamina and will power to continue to do his uncles job. I just hope that one day he figures out how to cash all of those checks! The old man and Isabelle are interesting characters. The old man is slowly becoming a father figure for Hugo using the tough love approach. I think Isabelle wants to be his friend but is putting up her defenses as much as Hugo is. That combination of keeping up walls can lead to some awkward encounters. I also get the sense that Hugo is extremely quiet and there are times throughout the tale that Isabelle would have to provide Hugo with social cues so he could respond appropriately.
I can’t wait to find out when the magical element of this modern fantasy tale will begin! I hope Hugo can fix the mechanical man!
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5 comments:
Amy
I have read the first half of this story and I am also drawn to the illustrations. I especially love the closeups of the eyes. Many times you can determine what the character is thinking or feeling just by looking closely at the way they glance sideways or the way their eyes are opened in suprise. I agree that the pictures are like a movie. Most books depict one scene or event in each illustration. Brian Selznick uses multiple illustrations to depict one scene and those pictures tell a good deal of the story. I like how he will move from words to illustrations and then back to words. He doesn't use words to describe what is taking place in the illustrations, he lets the pictures tell a part of the story and then the words start where the pictures leave off. Somehow it seems to bring the reader into the story. It gives me the feeling that I am in this train station with Hugo, crawling through the small tunnels and in his dark room surrounded by the small stolen toy parts. I think Selznick did a beautiful job with creating illustrations that bring the reader in to Hugo's world.
I also love the way the author has strongly developed the characters and the setting of the story. You immediately feel for Hugo, who has been through so much sadness at such a young age. While the old man and Isabelle do not seem like friendly characters at first, you grow to trust them slowly, as Hugo does. You are right about the old man, he is taking on a fatherly role for Hugo, which is so necessary for a boy with no family left.
Maybe this is the educator side of me talking, but I wanted to ask you if you thought Hugo showed any signs of autism. He is fascinated, to the point of obsession, with rebuilding the mechanical man. It is all he can think about,he is up until dawn fixing the man and it is what keeps him going day to day. He seems to be extremely gifted in the area of understanding the ways in which machines work, but he lacks the ability to communicate well with others. He reminds me of Dewey from the Green Glass Sea. Like you mentioned, Isabelle may be able to help provide him with social cues as the story continues. He also seems to have a fixation with rubbing the buttons of his jacket when he is nervous. I'd like to hear what you think about this from the special education viewpoint.
Amy,
I've only read a few more chapters since the last time I blogged, but this story has gotten very interesting.
When the illustrations began to focus on the key on the Isabelle's neck, I knew that it had to be an important object in the story. This would be a great part of the book to share with students to show how an author builds suspense. I found myself flipping through the pages furiously as Hugo placed the key into the mechanical man. When Isabelle burst through the door the suspense was built even further. When the mechanical man finally began to write, and produced only scribbles, I could feel Hugo's disappointment. And I could feel his hope rise again as he saw that those scribbles gradually produced a picture, the picture his father had described years ago.
What really seemed to serve as the climax of this story was when Hugo and Isabelle began making the connections between her godfather and his father. I can only imagine why there seems to be so many shared stories between the two men. This would serve as a wonderful place for students to make predictions about how the two men are connected, as I felt myself doing naturally as I read. Are the two men related somehow? It would fit into the story, seeing how Isabelle's godfather had worked in the train station where Hugo's uncle had worked for so many years. Hugo and the old man also both have the gift of putting together mechanical things, a gift that Hugo's father and uncle had both shared. Could this be a family trait passed down through the generations? I was hoping that Hugo would be completely honest with Isabelle so that they could start putting the pieces of their stories together.
I can see why my students loved this book so much. It is filled with action and there is a mysterious feeling present throughout the story. I am a bit doubtful about my students' (and media specialist's) view that this book is of the modern fantasy genre. I can see what would give someone the feeling that it is fantasy; there is a mystical undertone to the story and illustrations. However, the world they live in follows the laws of nature and the characters do not have any magical qualities. Although there is the mention of magic throughout the story, it is the kind of magic that can be explanined through a magician's illusion tricks. I am doubting that this is an example of modern fantasy, but perhaps the story will take a turn. This would be a good example to use in the classroom when discussing the aspects of a fantasy book. Although some students may see it as fantasy at first, a careful genre study would prove it otherwise.
Meaghan,
In response to your first blogg, I find it interesting that you thought of Autism. As I first began to read the story, I was wondering that myself. Many of the signs are there; and the author shows this through multiple examples (i.e.: Isabelle giving the social cues, Hugo rubbing his button). The further I got into the story, the less I felt Hugo was a character reflective of a boy with Autism. Although he does exhibit signs, the way Brian Selznick describes Hugo’s interpretations about his interactions with other characters in the story; I feel are reflective of a boy who has lost everyone close to him in his life. I think he is able to process his interactions with other characters appropriately but his actions are very protective of himself. He is always son the defense and trying to hang on to the only thing that has some ties, some connection to his past. Here he is a poor orphan, who has to steal to survive; living a parallel life as he tries to compensate for his Uncle as he does his job each day, while trying to live out his adventurous side as a young boy. I think the rubbing of his buttons is a comfort factor and may calm him down in stressful situations. It is his outlet. Most people have outlets. I think his obsession with the mechanical man is reflective of the fact that this is the only connection that he has left to his father. I think he is so obsessed with it because to him, it is a piece of his father still with him. Without that, he is just an orphan.
It will be interesting to see how his relationships with the other characters in this story develop. Right now, I think Hugo is living on pure human survival yet is yearning for that storybook young boy life.
Meaghan,
In response to your second blogg, I also agree that this is not a modern fantasy book. The magical elements of aura and also the story element of suspense that is continuous throughout the book can be mistaken by a child as fantasy. I found myself wrapped up in a world of machines, movies, trains, whistles and clocks ticking and feeling that magical sense children must get when reading! I also enjoy how the author does not feel the need to describe each and every emotion or event that happens in the story. These pictures literally tell a thousand words without saying them at all.
As I got further along in the story, I also began to wonder what the connection Hugo, his father, uncle, Isabelle and the old man share. Had the character of Hugo’s father not been discussed, I would have assumed Hugo was really the old man’s son. I agree that this is an excellent book to use in the classroom when working on some of the more difficult reading strategies (e.g.: synthesizing, inferring, and questioning). The author did an excellent job developing the main characters in the story. I feel they are believable and you begin to become attached to them. I think the intense close up illustrations also assist with this. Usually, illustrations in chapter books are broader; cover more of the text. Each sketch seemed to focus on one specific aspect of either the character or story line. I feel that this assists the reader in developing a deeper connection to not only the characters but the setting, and events surrounding the specific part in the story.
The build up of suspense was constant throughout the book which made the pace of the story line move very quickly. I kind of felt like I was reading a version of an action movie within the text. While I am sure if this were to ever become a motion picture, it would not fall into the action movie genre, I felt the constant wondering if this was the page where Hugo gets caught gives the reader that sense of never ending action. The sketches and simplicity of the author’s words allows the reader to obtain a clear picture of the goings on around the main characters. I feel like even someone who is not very familiar with train stations would be able to make connections and gain believable insight into the story.
Meaghan,
As previously discussed, while there are some elements of this book that would fit into the modern fantasy genre, it is missing the most important one: changing the natural laws of life as we know it. There is nothing in this book that could not physically be done by any human being. I would to agree that this book which we chose as our last choice book fits into the genre of historical fiction. Before reading your last post, I would have said that this story seemed to fit into the first type of historical fiction; the setting is historical but there are not historical events or persons in the story. After reading the research you have done on the background, I was surprised to learn that George Melies was a real person! After learning this, this book would fall into the second type of historical fiction: both the setting and supporting characters are factual. While most of the characters are fictional, this story is about a man’s life who apparently had an immense impact in France during one of the most profound ages of art and cinematography. I wonder if Hugo Cabret was also a real person. I tried to research this but the only connection to this name was the book in discussion.
While the focus of this book was not a history lesson of Paris in the early 1900’s, I feel that the details to the setting provided the reader with appropriate authenticity. Although I am not a historian, the background knowledge that I do have about this time in history seemed to fit into the details about the setting, and era. The drawings also appeared to depict scenes that were reflective of that time in history. The clothes, objects used and physical buildings seemed to fit right in.
My awareness to the impact the mechanics and artistic talents had on France was also heightened after reading this story. While reading, I kept thinking about Cirque du Soleil and how I thought aspects of that were similar to the mechanics and art described in the text. I always knew that France had a rich history of puppetry, masks and other artistic characters. After reading this book, I feel the connections I was making throughout my reading were similar. This French influence in art seems to be the inspiration for many artists and art movements.
Finally, I loved the happily ever after ending. It was almost as if Hugo had been holding his breath from when his father died until he found his place with Isabelle and her family. Because of them, he grew into the career he was made to do. I particularly loved the part in the book when Hugo and Isabelle were having a discussion about the machine on page 374. Isabelle was comparing her godfather, George to Hugo. I loved the way Hugo compared machines to humans when he said:
Did you ever notice that all machines are made for some reason? They are built to make you laugh, like the mouse here, or to tell the time, like clocks, or to fill you with wonder, like the automaton. Maybe that’s why a broken machine always makes me a little sad, because it isn’t able to do what it was meant to do. Maybe it’s the same with people. If you lose your purpose, it’s like you’re broken.
I think this comparison is profound for a young boy to make and to piggy back off of one of our earlier discussions, was one of the factors that made me rule out the autistic tendencies. When you think about it, we are kind of like machines. We are here for a purpose and when we are sick, or hurt and are not able to do what we normally do, we feel broken. I once heard that France saw art as life on pause. This comparison described above is definitely reflective of this thought.
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