HUGO
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
short plot of the book
quick information
The Invention of Hugo Cabret is an American historical fiction book written and illustrated by Brian Selznick and published by Scholastic.
Published: January 30, 2007
Author: Brian Selznick
Adaptations: Hugo (2011)
- Characters: Mama Jeanne, Hugo Cabret, Geoges Méliés, Isabelle,Etienne
Genres: Fiction, Graphic novel, Children's literature, Mystery, Historical fiction
Awards: Caldecott Medal
these quotes are not in order from the book for they are in order from which i think are most meaningful.
Hugo Cabret: I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured, if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too.
Hugo Cabret: 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.
Hugo Cabret: [Angry and disappointed that the automaton hasn't written anything of sense] What an idiot! Thinking I could fix it!
Isabelle: Hugo...
[Hugo looses his composure and begins smashing various items in the room]
Hugo Cabret: It's broken! It's always been broken!
[Sits in chair, covers his face and begins to cry]
Isabelle: Hugo, it doesn't have to be like this. You can fix it.
Hugo Cabret: [crying] You don't... you don't understand. I thought... I thought if I could fix it... then I wouldn't be so alone.
[Hugo's sobs fill the room. Suddenly, the machine begins to draw again]
Isabelle: Hugo, Hugo look! It... it's not done!
[they watch as the automaton begins to draw a picture]
Hugo Cabret: [voice breaking] It's not writing! It... it's drawing!
[they see it is a scene from the movie "A Trip to the Moon."]
Hugo Cabret: That's the movie my Father saw!
[the automaton signs Georges Méliès'name]
Isabelle: [amazed] Georges Méliès. That's Papa Georges name. Why would your Father's machine sign Papa Georges' name?
Hugo Cabret: I don't know.
[picks up drawing and looks at robot]
Hugo Cabret: Thank you.
[turns to Isabelle]
Hugo Cabret: It was a message from my Father. And now I have to figure it out.
Isabelle: [last lines; at the part Isabelle smiles as she watches Hugo doing magic tricks, she sits and starts writing in her notebook]
[voice over]
Isabelle: Once upon a time, I met a boy named Hugo Cabret. He lived in a train station. Why did he live in a train station, you might well ask. That's really what this book is going to be about. And about how this singular young man searched to hard to find a secret message from his Father, and how that message lead his way, all the way home.
[Screen leads up to where we can see the automaton sitting at a desk, perfectly fixed. The screen fades to black]