On Brian Selznick’s “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” (2007).

[Crossposted from a four-star review on Goodreads.]

Engrossing and thrilling and wonderfully evocative of 1930s Paris. Best part: how the book nails the magical aspect of cinema (though there are many other movies that do this better, for obvious reasons). Don’t be daunted by the length; I finished it in three hours — but that’s because I was reading it out loud to my daughter. You adults will be done with it in less than an hour.

I had no idea it was going to be about Georges Méliès, so it was a treat to have the various aspects of his story — the boot heels, his career as a magician, etc. — be included in the book. (He becomes somewhat peripheral, in an odd sense, from the second half of the story; his wife Jeanne Méliès is transformed into a far more vibrant character at this point.) Fans of French cinema will enjoy the many cinematic references, including the stills of Méliès films reproduced in the book (and the unexpected homage to Truffaut).

Why only four stars? (Actually, I would have given it something closer to 3 and a half.) The crosshatched illustrations are beautiful, but there’s an uneasy fit with the text. By this I mean that Selznick illustrated many of the action sequences — and the contents of an important notebook, which is crucial to the book — but chose to leave out instead. Many times I would turn a page in anticipation of the subsequent drawing, only to be disappointed. The book isn’t as emotionally engaging as I would have expected, probably because the development of Hugo as a character more or less gets dropped in the second half.

Popularity: 1% [?]