The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Book Title: The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Author: Brian Selznick

Date Started: June 17th 2016

Date Completed: June 27th 2016

Genres: Mystery, Adventure, Historical
Quality Rating: Five Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Five Star

Final Rating: Five stars

Review:

I don't remember when I first read The Invention of Hugo Cabret, but I do remember it ticking all the boxes for things I loved: books, film, theatre, magic, adventures, mysteries, museums, clockwork etc etc. Hugo Cabret is definitely still my favourite out of Selznick's books, but each one gets across the author's utter fascination and passion for the art of storytelling beautifully. If you want your child to grow up to make stories, these are the books you want to be reading/showing them.

Brian Selznick has a very cinematic way of storytelling; of course his books are all half-told through beautiful double-page illustrations alongside prose text, but the emphasis on things working almost like a play in a set space has always impressed me as well. There's always a limited amount of locations, and a pivotal place that you become really attached to throughout the story and know like the back of your hand. It always strikes me as cinematic because he wants you to visualise it all: be able to literally see the characters moving in this physical plane. It also means that when we come to the whimsical and fantastical elements of the story it feels even more real, because we're been brought so closely to what's happening. He is a children's writer, but his work can be enjoyed by any age range because of this.

Half of this story is told through images: beautifully drawn illustrations by a very expressive artist. I think he could quite easily tell an entire story with just his pictures - but as it is the blend between visual and written storytelling becomes very engaging. There's just enough input from the drawings to be able to clearly picture these characters in the real-life locations, but Selznick is sure to let you have freedom in what you imagine. The fact that he uses real places in a way makes the book feel like a love letter to Paris, even though we don't explore much of the city itself.

For a children's book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret looks at some really complicated emotions, often explored through the eyes of a child. It's the story of a little boy who looks after clocks, but it's also about a man who's dreams crumbled before his very eyes, and the tragedy of the world taking away a form of expression. Even as a child reading this book for the first time, I remember being genuinely moved by Papa Georges' story. Without wanting to spoil anything, he symbolises a golden age within French storytelling, and a revolutionary era within storytelling altogether. Yet he is able to feel none of this because of what the world has done to him in the present: I'm not sure if it's being able to sympathise with his sadness as a person, or seeing it as a storyteller myself but Selznick tells a heartbreaking story - and then turns it into a beautiful, uplifting ending.

Selznick is very natural with his unconventional characters. Calling them unconventional feels a little strange, but stories featuring a man with an eyepatch or a deaf girl aren't that easy to come by. All of his characters are, to me anyway, more genuine and complicated than a lot of people in mainstream children's books these days, but the magic in how Selznick features them is that they so naturally fit into his narrative. He can put them in, and it might be addressed, but he's able to portray the normality of that for the individual.

Each part in this book brings another layer on top of the story. Puzzle pieces start to fit together each time, and something amazing is revealed, but then it comes to light that it's a small part of a whole other story. And the further and further you get in, the more and more invested you come. The use of illustrative storytelling definitely helps the pacing by breaking up the text, but it comes one of those books you just can't put down because you know you're getting closer and closer to finding out what's really been happening.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a book that has a little something for everyone, but will especially appeal to storytellers and lovers of film, illustration, magicians and old-fashioned adventure. Selznick fills each word and drawing with magic and mystery and the essence of dreams: if you want a story that will enchant and pull at your heart strings, look no further.

Image Source - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9673436-the-invention-of-hugo-cabret

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Book Title: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Author: J.K. Rowling
Series: Harry Potter #1

Date Started: June 8th 2016

Date Completed: June 15th 2016

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Mystery
Quality Rating: Three Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four stars

Review:

I barely remember anything from my first time reading Harry Potter. My mum read them to me every day after school right up to The Deathly Hallows because it just became a tradition (including my mum reading forward, crying at a certain death, and then spoiling me when I got home before reading it to me - I will never forgive that). But the books came out quite a few years ago, and going into The Philosopher’s Stone again I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. It ended up with the opening being just as magical as I could imagine, but as I read on things slowed a lot more after the middle.

When talking about Harry Potter to other people I’ve always kind of had a saying that Rowling is a masterful crafter of worlds, concepts and characters, but her writing just isn’t quite on the same level. Rereading the first book reinforced this for me, but at the same time I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing. Harry Potter is a book aimed for children, and so the simplistic reading level makes perfect sense, but one that adults can enjoy as well. I don’t think the lack of overt sophistication in the writing style is a huge drawback from the book, and it’s ridiculous success proves that.

Everything I write about this book is in hindsight: these books came out years ago, the majority of the Western world and a lot of the Eastern know the story. But I actually found knowing the outcome of everything that happens took away from my enjoyment of The Philosopher’s Stone on it’s own. Considering how complex the series becomes things like coincidences dotted everywhere and a seemingly random magical system (it gets worked out eventually, but feels a bit sporadic at first) just felt like a bit of a let down. Of course, every author grows with their works and I think the general experience I take from rereading this book is that you can start with a book aimed at children and can end up with a phenomenon that can be enjoyed by everyone.

One of the biggest things I forgot was how important the Hogwarts community and side characters were to the story as a whole. Yes, they don’t have a huge impact on the plot itself, but the mentions of classmates the golden trio spend time with and their individual personalities is a sense of welcomeness at Hogwarts that I don’t think comes through quite so obviously. In the films definitely, but it wasn’t something I really remembered from my first time reading the series either. But it was really the biggest reason why I still love this series: whatever audience you’re a part of, feeling so welcomed into a fictional world is all a reader can possibly ask for.

Rowling has created some of the most loved characters in my lifetime, and I think part of that comes from the fact that they all have their own personalities and genuine flaws. You feel annoyance with Harry at people sometimes, and you’re jealous of their skills at other points: people feel real and distinguishable from one another so of course it’s easier to fall in love with them, and root for them until the very end.

Harry is actually a lot more plain than I remember. And it’s actually a breath of fresh air in an industry that feels like it’s constantly pushing all the unique and strange protagonists it can to the front of the pile. Harry is, for most intents and purposes, normal past what his parents did. Yes, he’s the chosen one, but he comes from a generation of main characters that don't have to fight to be different: he’s strong both as a person and a character from being just Harry, and not needing to be anything more. I think it’s a really good message to send to kids: being weird in your own way is great, but you don't have to be what some people would call extraordinary to be happy and successful.

Ron is undeniably underrated across all platforms. He may be the lighthearted sidekick that gives the group direction every now and then, but he’s a lot more than that too. His character is a lot more complex than I think most people automatically think because of the films and maybe the brighter shine of other characters in the series. He’s genuinely scared of being overshadowed by his brothers; he worries about the fact his family have a lot less money than his friends; he wants to be a good friend but struggles a little to find his identity around the others. Even in the first book he grows a lot, but comparing where he starts to where he ends is a really uplifting story arc.

Hermione was one of the characters I related most to as a child, and I know I’m not alone in that. I think what’s so different about her portrayal of the diligent student is that she’s genuinely shunned for it, and often feels bad about herself for it. I love a clever heroine, and I think it’s wonderful they’re becoming more and more common in books for all ages, but at the time Harry Potter came out it was near revolutionary to have an intelligent female character that was not, at first, held up for her studiousness and determination to learn but continued being that person anyway. Hermione even gets teased by Harry and Ron about being a ‘know-it-all’ but it’s important enough to her that she doesn’t force herself to change, when I think it’s clear at some point that she wants to. As a role model, Hermione is undeniably one of the most influential ones our there in children’s fiction, and it makes me happy that I felt just as much comfort from her now that I did as a child.

Like I’ve said, up to the middle I was just lost in Harry’s world and was reliving the first time I discovered Diagon Alley and Platform 9 3/4 and Hogwarts. But once we were at Hogwarts, and there weren’t quite as flashy things to show off, I really felt like the pace of the book ground to a halt. Maybe that’s a little unfair - I was still reading and it was still enjoyable. But I didn’t find myself unable to put the book down and I wasn’t racing to get ahead. Admittedly, the book becomes a lot more plot-driven after the midpoint, and knowing what’s going to happen does lessen the effect as a consequence, but even so I would’ve liked to be stuck to the story a little more than I was.

The Philosopher’s Stone is great fun, and the essence of fantasy adventure for kids, but it’s nothing compared to where this series goes. It isn’t really a criticism: it’s wonderful the books grew with their audience and came so developed and complex, but rereading it I have to be honest and say I was a little disappointed.

Image Source - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17372039-harry-potter-and-the-sorcerer-s-stone

Skulduggery Pleasant

Book Title: Skulduggery Pleasant

Author: Derek Landy
Series: Skulduggery Pleasant #1

Date Started: June 6th 2016

Date Completed: June 7th 2016

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Action, Thriller, Horror, Adventure
Quality Rating: Five Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Five Star

Final Rating: Five stars

Review:

Let me start with a little ramble about me before I start a longer ramble about this book. When I was about eight my mum won a book for me and that book went on to become my Harry Potter - don't get me wrong, Harry Potter  was a huge part of my childhood too, but Skulduggery Pleasant grew up with me. Val was only a few years older than me and these books ended the year I had to start thinking like an adult; about university, and jobs, and money. Skulduggery ending was like me kissing my childhood goodbye, and yes I sobbed when it finished. So when I decided to reread the series during my final A Level exams I was kind of terrified it wasn't going to be what I remembered through those rose-tinted glasses before debt and uni because a thing. I needn't have worried. It was everything I remember and more.

Derek's writing is very vibrant and vivid without needing to be overly descriptive. I think it's mainly because he knows his characters inside out, so he can immediately show their mannerisms and relationships to others and the world without needing to explain too much. It's also some of the only writing that genuinely makes me laugh out loud - as someone who's been rereading parts of this book for about a decade, there are jokes I'm so used to that still actually make me laugh.

The world building in the series is also very solid, despite the fact that it ends up as the most basic foundations for what the universe becomes. We have thought-out magic systems, believable politics, and classic hidden rooms, sacred artefacts and mysterious books and keys and weapons floating about the place.

I've never been able to quite put a genre on Skulduggery and its story without stringing together adventure-action-mystery-fantasy-film-noir-and-horror into one terribly named hybrid. It's got a little bit of everything and somehow it'll make you love every part of it, regardless how you get on with each individual genre. I'm not a horror-lover, but I appreciate the creativity of a right hand without skin that can literally kill people just by pointing it at them; I'm also not so attached to classic adventure, but there's something indulgent about the reckless freedom Stephanie has in the book. There isn't really a way to explain these books without saying they're a combination of so many different things weaved so seamlessly into one another.

Like I've said already, this series grows into a much more complicated and dark tone as the story goes on, but you know I often don't give enough credit to how mature and well-crafted the first book is itself. I know things get more brutal, but Skulduggery Pleasant isn't a walk in the park either. It treats serious subjects with respect but also allows it to be understandable and accessible for younger readers. When you throw in its unpredictable nature with brilliant twists, a genuine tension and threat, and an awesome climactic battle, there isn't really much more you can ask from a book about skeleton detective and his magical world, and the little girl caught in the middle of it.

Skulduggery Pleasant's characters are really the high points of his books. Each one has their own personality, and each one is as phenomenally developed and executed as the next. He doesn't hesitate at including genuinely unpleasant people, or painfully normal ones, or absolutely exceptional individuals: he's writing a world, and in a world there is this brilliant diversity that instantly lifts everything up as more believable and engaging.

I forgot how normal Stephanie was to start with. That feels weird to type out even as I write this, but she really is just a girl who gets caught up in a huge world because she got on well with her uncle, but happens to have enough determination to make a difference in it (and it's not brute stubbornness or recklessness, it's actually intelligent determination - I'm getting rather bored of the stubborn and reckless but frankly stupid protagonist who saves the world mainly through luck lets be honest).

There isn't too much to say about Skulduggery past that he's just as much of a mystery at the start as he is at the end, but you love him anyway. He might be a little more subtle with his arrogance here though. Smooth bastard.

And though she doesn't come into her stride until later in the series, I did want to mention Tanith. I don't think I appreciated her position as an outsider who has to make tough decisions when I read the book years ago. But having come through the series with her being one of my favourite characters, and looking back in detail at her here has given me a real appreciation for how Derek writes women. Not just Tanith of course, but I've always connected with her especially, and the way that I've seen her be developed so much farther than I'm used to, and in ways that you don't often see from female characters in long series like this just reminded me how much I admire Skulduggery for its quality, as well as enjoyment.

The pacing was really good the whole way through. We start off quite calmly but with a clear sense of atmosphere heading towards the gothic suspense genre, and almost immediately tension and mystery starts building pretty consistently. There's never a useless of boring chapter, there's always something important or interesting happening; a good balance between action and dialogue, drama and humour, light-hearted and darker moments. Derek's very good at structuring his stories so whenever you break off or jump back into the story, you're pulled right back into the middle of the chaos, but you're still in a good position to understand what's happening.

There's something for everyone in this series: action, mystery, humour, fantasy, the list goes on. It's one of those books I skim read all the time whenever I'm bored or need a pick-me-up and it's so easy to fall into. As the first book in the series, it's inevitably a little lighter, quicker and simpler than what the series becomes, but it's still so, so, so good.

Image Source - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/924059.Skulduggery_Pleasant